Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Release Date: November 15, 2011
Publisher: HarperTeen
Series: Shatter Me #1
Format: Hardcover
Number of Pages: 338
Synopsis: Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days.
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.
In this electrifying debut, Tahereh Mafi presents a world as riveting as The Hunger Games and a superhero story as thrilling as The X-Men. Full of pulse-pounding romance, intoxicating villainy, and high-stakes choices, Shatter Me is a fresh and original dystopian novel—with a paranormal twist—that will leave readers anxiously awaiting its sequel.

Review:
   Shatter Me, like most HarperTeen books, had an abundance of hype for its release. There were rave reviews left and right, and it seemed like everyone loved this book. I will say, yes, it was a good book, however, I didn't love it.

   Juliette Ferrars is a monster different. Her touch causes excruciating pain, usually leading to death. Because of her strange power, she's been locked up in an insane asylum (try saying that out loud--talk about a tongue twister). She gets a cellmate named Adam Kent and they bond and eventually fall in love. In the outside world, rebellion is rising against the awful government. The leader of the government, Warner, happens to have his eye on Juliette and her power. He wants her to fight with him, for them to be partners. Juliette must decide on whether she wants to risk her and Adam's lives to escape or fight with Warner and be in power.

   My first problem with this book was Juliette. She was annoying. I am a reader who tends to only like protagonists that are strong and independent. Not ones that cry a lot or go boy crazy. Although Juliette wasn't fully a crybaby nor a boy crazy heroine, she hinted at it quite a few times. I didn't like how dependent Juliette was on Adam during most of the book. I wanted her to fight for herself, to take control of her surroundings, to be smart and succeed. It just sort of drove me insane how hesitant and emotional she was. I do understand where she's coming from, but that didn't really cancel out my dislike.

   The romance was very sweet, although I felt like it was more physical than anything else. Juliette and Adam do truly love each other, however, I think I would've liked their relationship more if I got to see it develop. I don't think that I really knew when they fell in love. It just suddenly happened, instead of it being gradual. Warner is the antagonist, the bad guy. I. Loved. Him. I think I may be insane, but really, I just felt sorry for him, and I wanted him to have a happy ending, despite the fact that he was totally evil. Did anyone else really like Warner?

   Another thing that drove me crazy was the writing. Tahereh Mafi is a wonderful writer. She truly is. However, she crossed a line. It's not that she crossed out a lot of sentences. I was okay with that. I felt like it was a refreshing style of writing and I understood why it was necessary. However, I was not okay with the lack of punctuation, most specifically commas. She would write run on sentences that I could barely endure. It's not accidental or anything, so I suppose it's her writing style, but I hated it. I hated it very much. It disrupted my reading experience quite often, reading passages like:

   "But his hands become arms around my waist his lips become a cheek pressed against my cheek and his body is flush against mine, his skin touching me touching me touching me and he's not screaming he's not dying he's not running away from me and I'm crying
   I'm choking
   I'm shaking shuddering splintering into teardrops
   and he's holding me the way no one has ever held me before."

   That's a pretty long passage. And there's not one comma or period. It drove me bananas!

   Although it may sound like I'm just complaining about this book, I really did enjoy it. The characters were brilliantly created, the world was realistic and scary, and the plot was awesome. I especially loved the plot. It twisted a lot and I really liked the ending.

   Tahereh Mafi's debut is thrilling, romantic and refreshing. I am very excited for the sequel!

   4 keys.