YA Book Review: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
© 15 Nov 2011 by HarperTeen

Goodreads description:

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...


This book draws you in from the beginning--so much so that I started reading after dinner on a Friday night and didn't get up from the couch until I was done. It's a bit difficult for me to get everything that this book made me feel into words...but I'll try!

I found myself immediately wanting to know more about the main character, Juliette.  From the beginning, all you know about her is that she has been locked up in solitary confinement for 264 days because she hurt someone.  From the beginning, I wanted to know who this girl was and what she had done to garner this harsh treatment.  I felt an immediate connection to her and her suffering. You get the feeling from the beginning that there is a lot of depth to this character that is there for you to discover.  I do wish we would have seen a little more personal growth in Juliette.  She starts as a very awkward girl (which makes perfect sense given her situation), but I would have hoped she would come into her own throughout the book.  I think we got a glimmer of it at the end and I look forward to her blossoming in future books.

As the story evolves, you learn more about her and meet a cast of other characters.  Our swoon-worthy male here is Adam, who is thrown into the cell with Juliette.  Juliette remembers him from her past, but she is convinced he doesn't remember her.  Adam definitely grows on you quite quickly and there are some twists and turns that push and pull our MC in regards to Adam.  I don't want to give a lot away, but let's just say that Adam has got a whole lot going on.  You'll be more and more surprised by this character throughout and fall hard for him...or at least I did! And the relationship that develops between Juliette and Adam is electric.  I mean, seriously phenomenal.  It may be the sexiest relationship that I've read in awhile.  The tension is insane and there are some seriously sexy scenes in here.  The hole that Adam fills in Juliette's life is touching and moving and just...perfect.  I'm trying so hard here not to give too much away!!

Our other male character here is Warner--our big bad evil dude.  Man, this guy gives me the creeps! I so badly wanted Juliette to reach out and hit the man.  However, as the story progresses, you get the feeling that there is a lot more to Warner than meets the eye.  His motivations, choices, and struggles...just an all around creepy bad guy with some personal issues I suppose. It's actually really difficult to hate him.  You WANT to...but it's almost impossible.

I went into this story with little in terms of expectations (generally a good thing) and was really happy that I got the chance to read this!  It was a well-paced story where the background and motivations of the characters are unveiled slowly without holding up the book.  I found that I couldn't put this down as I was reading!  Definitely recommended for fans of Elana Johnson's debut novel Possession and other dystopian novels.

My Source for this ARC: