Book Review: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Title: Shatter Me
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Release Date: November 15th 2011
Source: Publisher for review (Thank you!)
Format: Paperback

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.

My Thoughts:

SHATTER ME was simply brilliant! I’d heard fabulous things about this before I started reading it and yet, there was still a small part of me at the time that thought ‘what if I don’t like this; what if it’s another one of those books with beautiful covers, but with a pointless story’? Why did I think that before? Why on earth did I even hesitate before opening the cover ? As soon as I laid eyes on the first word, I was sucked into the novel itself; it left me no room to ponder anything other than what was written on the page. No, I was not in my room anymore; I was in the cell with Juliette.

Juliette has been locked up for 246 days, and hasn’t touched another human being in 6336 hours. (I love how numbers play such an important role in Juliette’s life!) The Reestablishment has taken control of the country, and the world is in ruins; death is common and resources are scarce. A promise to take care of the nation has turned into forceful dominion. Juliette is suddenly released and forced to join forces with the Reestablishment, who wants to use her lethal touch power as a secret weapon. But Juliette has plans of her own. And they do not include succumbing to Warner’s sexual desires or to use her gift to kill people.

All the characters were incredible! I had some kind of feeling towards all of them (whether it be love, hate, or pity!) and everyone possessed some sort of individual charm. Juliette was such an amazing protagonist; she was so compassionate, sympathising and goodeven when the entire world isolated her. She never felt like she belonged anywhere, and how she wished to be loved! It was like, she felt that if she was nice to everyone else, maybe one day, someone, anyone, would begin to accept her. Just reading about how lonely she was before she met Adam, was heart-breaking. And Adam. Oh, how caring, and loving he was! When the whole world, even her own parents believed she was a monster, he was the only one who stood by her, protected her and treated her like a human being.

The secondary characters were fantastic as well! Kenji * swoon*<3 I think I’ve just found the perfect literary boyfriend for myself! He’s witty, sarcastic and always there to lighten the mood. And yes, he has a spectacular face. So while everyone’s drooling over Adam, I think I’ll just casually claim Kenji as MINE. As for Warner, well…I certainly pitied him. In a way, he was similar to Juliette (I can’t believe I just said that!); wanting to be accepted and loved. I’m definitely looking forward to how his character will develop even further through the next few books.

You know my favourite part? TaherehMafi’s writing. It was so original, so creative and hynoptising. The crossed-out words, the fluency; as they words roll off your tongue, it felt like the characters have come to life and the situations felt so real.You have to read it yourself to understand what I’m getting at, but basically, her writing was just genius!

I feel like I can go on forever, gushing tirelessly about how amazing this book was, but before I get too carried away, I think I’ll end my review here. With phenomenal characters, an exciting plot, unique writing style, you won’t ever feel the need to stop reading. Definitely one of my favourite books this year! 

Quotes:

“All I ever wanted was to reach out and touch another human being not just with my hands but with my heart.”