Review: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Title: Shatter Me
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Publisher: Harper Collins
Published: Nov 15, 2011

Summary:  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.
  
Review: Blown away by this book!! I can't express enough how much I loved everything about Shatter Me: the characters, the exciting plot, the writing.. it was all magnificent! So I'll break it down a bit :-) 


First I was captured by the very first page with the quote from that introduced the feel of the book. I'm a total sucker for quotes and you know its a great book if you keep highlighting sections and can't get the quotes out of your head! The author, Tahereh Mafi, wrote Shatter Me through 17 year old Juliette's viewpoint. I LOVED how words were crossed out, as if she was thinking those things, but just couldn't say them. Tahereh makes the reader become the main character. We are inside Juliette's mind through visual & emotional writing- I can't express how much I love feeling like I'm in the books.

Juliette has been locked away so that she can't kill anyone else. Her touch, her hands, her power can kill. Juliette is a danger to everyone...well, almost everyone. Tahereh gives the word "superheroes" a new twist. Juliette is striving to be normal under a condition that doesn't allow her to be. She thinks her touch is lethal, its a tragedy... but what she doesn't understand is that her power can also save. 

Shatter Me is impossible to put down. I challenge you to try it! lol (I actually had to escape a Christmas party so that I could continue reading. shhh...) The plot will have any person cheering and screaming and sitting on the edge of their seat. When the coast is clear, it isn't. When nothing seems to be looking up, it does. When you least expect something, expect it!

The characters... 
 
Ever read about a certain character and think "I want to be just like them!"... well, I had that feeling a few times about Juliette. She didn't have an easy life. Actually it sounded more like hell... but her characteristics and personality made me think, "wow! I wish more people were like her." She is such a badass; she wouldn't give up... ever. And that's a great quality to have. 

 Adam. A very sweet character. He would be the guy any mother would want their daughter to date. He saw Juliette for who she truly was: a smart, sensitive, loving girl who'd do anything for anyone even if it causes her to suffer. He risked his life to find Juliette. And he's a wonderful older brother to the only family he has left. I really like the character Adam... esp Adam with Juliette :-) The love story is just super sweet and touching!!


I look forward to book #2. I'm curious (and a bit scared) to see how Warner (who captures Juliette to use her as a weapon for his own good) comes into play. I think the next book will be very action packed!


I couldn't help but think how awesome of a movie this book was make!! We can only hope right??