Shatter Me by Teherah Mafi

Published: November 15^th, 2011 (HarperCollins)

Pages: 338

Rating: 4/5

Goodreads ~ Amazon

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. [Description from Goodreads]

Review:

Juliette is like a leper. Untouched. Unloved. Unnoticed. Until Adam.

{Paperback cover}



Adam changes everything. Adam isn’t afraid of her like her parents were. Adam doesn’t manipulate her power like Warner does. Adam isn’t like everyone else. Adam is a dream resurfaced from her past. And with his help, Juliette can change the cruel world they live in.

Ok, I have to say, when I first read the summary of this book, my first thought was, “A girl whose touch is lethal? There ain’t gonna be too much romance in this book!” But my stars, how wrong I was! The romance was breathtaking! Shatter Me was both poignantly and beautifully written, and definitely one of my top favorites now.

The minute I picked up the book, I loved Teherah’s unique writing style. She likes she loves she adores overusing the strikethrough button, and I don’t blame her- I enjoy it too. *hehehe* At first I thought that maybe it might be distracted, but it actually makes the writing more entertaining and engaging. It’s like you’re reading Juliette’s thoughts and opinions as they change and morph each second, much like we think. We often don’t think a thought without it changing a little as the situation progresses. I love how Teherah uses this as a tool for us to almost feel like we are in Juliette’s mind; like we can see her thought process. If you’re sitting with a “whaaa?” expression on your face right now, I’m sorry for confusing you, but that’s how I interpreted her writing style. I’m sure others have different opinions on the strikethrough style she uses, but interpretations aside, the style has a really cool effect. *grin*

The characters were amazing, though I did have a few qualms about them. Juliette made a great protagonist, but she was very dark and just…sad. Depressing. I got a little weary of her self-pity act after a while. It was like she was beyond the point of believing that someone could ever love her, even after all that Adam had done for her. It was a miracle he stayed around that long when she was so wrapped up in her inward pity-part. I guess Juliette was just different from other dystopian girl characters. Many of them are butt-kick kind of gals, but not Juliette. She’s weak and she shows it. Honestly, that aspect was a refreshing change. Finally, a girl who is dependent on someone else.



{Book 1.5}

Now, Adam, on the other hand…*sigh* Good gracious, the man was HOT. This unspoken competition between YA authors to conjure the perfect dream boat of a guy is quite the challenge, but at the moment, Teherah Mafi gets my vote. Adam was protective and gentle and hot caring and sexy sacrificial. There were some scenes between him and Juliette that just blew. Me. Away. Gosh, what in the world is Teherah doing writing YA fiction? Someone get her writing romance, pronto!    

One of the only things I disliked about Shatter Me was the sickening and somewhat confusing relationship between Juliette and Warner, her captor. It’s clearly painted that he’s a sick, twisted, malicious psychopath, and yet I kept hearing about how she reacted to his touch, and how she was almost attracted to him. What the heck, Juliette?! It was truly awful. Awful enough that, combined with my issue about Juliette, I have to give this book four stars instead of five. *sad face*



{Book 2}

All in all, Shatter Me was a fantastic dystopian read. I’m jumping up and down waiting of book two, Unravel Me. I also can’t wait to check out book 1.5, Destroy Me. As long as Juliette doesn’t make out with Warner again, I’m good. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is hungry for more dystopian/futuristic thrillers, and definitely anyone who loves a good romance. *wink*

Quick Content Review: *may contain spoilers*

Language: Moderate (some swearing, mainly from one insignificant character)

Violence: Moderate (lots of shooting, some torture, some merciless killing)

Sexual: Moderate- Heavy (lots of kissing, sometimes heavy. Two characters don’t have sex, but they come awful close to it.)