Book Review: “Shatter Me” by Tahereh Mafi {a.k.a. one of the best books EVER.}
Title: Shatter Me (Shatter Me #1)
The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.
The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war – and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.
Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.
Juliette was such a strong person on the inside (and out), that her narration, even when she was feeling vulnerable and weak, lit up the pages like fireflies. I couldn’t really compare Juliette’s narration to anything I’ve read before, but she had a very bold personality alike Tris (from Divergent), that ultimately made me hooked and commanded to continue reading constantly.
Adam, who I was certain I might hate after the first few chapters in the Asylum with Juliette, turned out to be my second favourite character of the book. I’m definitely hoping that him and Juliette do get a chance at things in book two (no spoilers please!) because they did have something I just can’t explain that was just, to put it simply; beautiful.
As for Warner, he was in my opinion, a broken person. I think that he had been through a lot that we haven’t maybe seen yet and that he did have some sort of fascination with Juliette that came across in two different ways in alternate chapters; strange and adoring. It was nice getting to have a peak into his imagination in the back of Shatter Me with the journal/log entries. I do really want to see his character explored a little more and yes, even though I am team Juliette/Adam for now, I want to see how things with him and Juliette would’ve played out.
Kenji! He was quite the character. He reminded me a lot of Patch from Hush, Hush, just because of his charisma and how I can imagine him making a joke of everything, not forgetting that he hit on Juliette multiple times with Adam around, and would risk her deadly touch. He was just a real fun character to have as a sort-of sidekick and the ending chapters for me when a secret of his was revealed, I was totally taken aback! In a really good way.
I can’t put into words how brilliant enchantingly phenomenal Shatter Me truly is. I can’t wait to start Unravel Me as soon as I can, but will say that even after that last page was closed, I’m still thinking about it! Tahereh really does know how to write a story to get hooked on. Time to join the fandom for this one, I guess! Big fan.
I am getting ready to start Shatter Me sometime this week. I am so excited, and I'm glad you liked it so much. Great review!
You're in for one amazing book! I really did love it so much. Thanks so much for stopping by 🙂
I completely agree! This book was so breathtaking! I read it when it was first published, and I actually just re-read it in anticipation for the final book in the series to come out. It’s still absolute perfection! Please, make sure to read the novella, “Destroy Me” before reading the second full-length book in the series, “Unravel Me.” So many people I know didn’t bother with reading the novella, but it's a must-have! It’s detrimental to the character arc in the series. Completely redefining! Tahereh Mafi is a genius! I’ll admit, I’m totally fan-girl gushing here over this series and this book. 🙂