Book Review: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

I only know now that the scientists are wrong. The world is flat. I know because I was tossed right off the edge and I’ve been trying to hold on for 17 years.

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.

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My Thoughts

Shatter Me has been hyped up by many readers and recommended me to me so many times I finally put it on hold through my library. I was shocked to find out the book was published in 2011 and still has this much pull in the reading community. It would have been a 10/10 hit with me if I would have read it when it was published in 2011, but it is 2022 and my tastes have evolved.

I have complicated feelings about Shatter Me. There are elements I liked, like the premise of the book, and things I didn’t. Such as the pacing of the story and the writing style. Both of which take a hot minute to adjust to. I recommend trying to read Shatter me quickly, I put it down for a week or so and had to remember what the writing style was like and adjust. BUT though I have those complaints, I can see a plot that I would enjoy if I keep reading the series. For me, this was a 3-star read.

My dislike of Shatter Me most likely comes from my own assumptions that it would focus on the dystopian society/world and not so heavily on romance. I almost DNF and read a summary online, but pushed through. Cover to cover, Shatter Me reminded me of “the dystopian YA formula” that has some romance, hidden twist, and a cliff hanger—like popular titles: Divergent, Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, and The Knife of Never Letting Go. I know there are twists and turns coming in later books, I can sense it. It is that curiosity that might keep me reading.

Juilette has a lethal touch, and as dystopian YA goes, there are exceptions to her power. We meet Juilette in an asylum, where she is being kept after a tragic accident. Do to the long period of isolation and a lifetime of coping with the consequences of her ability, Juilette is in a dark place her mind a collection of pieces of who she is. As the story progresses, she slowly starts to become someone new. And the narrative reflects that, which was a nice touch on the author’s part.

So, Should you read Shatter me?

Shatter Me is from a point in YA that I believe no longer exists. If you are longing for a dystopian love triangle with other goodies in the mix, look no further than Shatter Me. That being said, Shatter Me is not a book I would be quick to recommend. I will have to read the rest of the series to state that with confidence.

Have you read Shatter Me?

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