Friday 7 December 2012

Review: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
Publisher: Harper Collins
Publication date: 15th November 2011
My rating: 4.5 stars


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.

Shatter Me was another book after finishing it I wanted to pull my hair out and scream why DID I NOT READ THIS SOONER!!! Seriously after receiving a copy of Unravel Me I decided to get my butt into gear and do some serious damage to my mountainous tbr pile and I’m so, so, so glad that I decided to pick Shatter Me up. I was a little wary at first as me and dystopians never really click, but I’d had a good run lately but then picked some not so great ones. But with Shatter Me it was a whole another reading experience, I was happily hooked from the first page.

Juliette has been locked away without touching anyone for 264 days; she’s locked away for her own good, as her touch can be deadly. (Remind anyone of Rogue from X-men?). But then she’s given a roommate Adam out of the blue, she hasn’t spoken to a soul in what seems like ages and so it’s a shock to the system having someone so close trying to talk to her especially someone from her past. But things get stranger when Juliette’s yanked out from the asylum and things she assumed about her roommate aren’t what she expected.

The whole world Juliette found herself in was so crazy, because of her ability Juliette saw herself as a monster but others such as Warner the guy who took her out of the asylum thought she was the best thing ever. Warner, I never could really hate him, despite everything he did and his whole end plan he never really got under my skin, in places I did want to thoroughly pummel him for putting Juliette and Adam through so much and he was very much deluded, but I think I don’t know his character that well to go into a full blown Warner hate campaign. I’m sure there are several valid explanations as to why he thinks the way he does and why he’s proposing such a heinous plan. So I’m just waiting to get to know him that bit more before I make my judgement. Also I may have heard some interesting things coming through Destroy Me and Unravel Me which may have got my interest piqued.

Adam *sigh* there seems to be a strong pattern emerging through ya books that all male characters with the name Adam seem to have the ability to make me melt into a puddle and I tend to lose my stream of thoughts. Adam strongly reminded me of Four from Divergent, he was tough, would defend what was right, even if that meant going against the right path or rules and did I mention hot?

The writing style of Shatter Me I would say was unusual; there was an overload of metaphors all over the place, which took me a while to get my head around. I found myself breezing through the book, but then the overuse of metaphors would jumble everything up for a while. I’m sure some of them clashed too, which made things a bit confusing. Also the use of strike text, I was like what is the point of this, is this really necessary? But as the book progressed we saw far less of it and I did begin to miss it. These are my only minor gripes with Shatter Me, I know these really irritated some readers, but I do think that if you are able to overlook this then Shatter Me is a worthwhile read.

Overall Shatter Me was a thrilling read, I love books which are full of action, are fast paced, have a sizzling romance and always keep you guessing with what could be lurking around the corner. I salute Tahereh Mafi for creating such a gripping read. Please excuse me if you don’t hear from me for the next few days as my face will be stuck in Unravel Me!

Also how cool are these banners by Rachel over at Parajunkee. I’m so torn between Adam and Warner, so I think I’m going to put both of these banners up!    

         

25 comments:

Unknown said...

Wait. What? Is this your first time? And HELL YAH, Team Adam.

Unknown said...

new follower through GFc as lucyatmax/no pic. I can be found and followed at bethatfromtheheart.blogspot.com I will be adding this to my tbr pile, thanks so much...Lol I love when that feeling strikes and I enjoy a book that much!
Happy Reading!
Beth

Anonymous said...

YOU HADN'T READ SHATTER ME BEFORE THIS?????? :O
WHY?
:P
I'm so glad to hear that you enjoyed it though! I had a tough time with the writing too at first, but then as the story progressed it started getting better. How can you even think about being Team Warner? :P Team Adam all the way! ;)
I cannot wait to hear what you think of Unravel Me! :)
Lovely review, Jasprit! :)

Vegan YA Nerds said...

Ok, so maybe I am now the last book blogger to read Shatter Me! Despite all the positive reviews I didn't know if I wanted to read it but I have since bought a copy - I hope I'm not kicking myself for waiting so long!!

This sounds great and now I want to know which team I'll be on!

Maja (The Nocturnal Library) said...

You should definitely read Destroy Me first! It will help you understand Warner in Unravel Me, and it's such an excellent e-novella.
I love that you loved this, and I know the feeling of being pulled into Tahereh's world all too well.
Welcome to the Shatter Me Adoration Society, Jasprit!

Jasprit said...

I know Joy I suck at reading books on time! :(

Jasprit said...

I can't believe U waited this long either! I'm glad I wasn't the only one who had issues with the writing, I've heard some interesting things about Warner, so can't completely write him off just yet ;)

Tanja - Tanychy said...

The same happened to me! :) I read this book a month or so ago, when other people were crazy about Waren's novel :) I'm happy that you like it and I can't wait to see your review for Unravel Me :)

Eunice said...

Jasprrriiiitttt! I thought you've already read this! I'm so glad you enjoyed reading Shatter Me. I loved this one although I'm a little anxious now about the second books since it seems like there would be some heavy love-triangle in there. Anyhoo, I so agree with what you said about characters named Adam! They can totally melt me into a puddle. Haha! Fantastic review, hun! :)

Unknown said...

Same here Jam just read it a couple of weeks back, and we have the same reaction: why didn't I read this earlier? Lol. But now i'm glad I did. :)

Jenny said...

Yay! So glad you liked this one Jasprit! The writing style and all the crossed out text took me a while to kind of settle into as well, but once I did it all just worked for me:) I'm so jealous you have a copy of Unravel Me waiting for you already, I can't wait to see what you think of it!

Henrietta @ Leisure Reads said...

I tried reading this but couldn't really get into it because of the metaphors. I'm glad you enjoyed the book and felt ready to devour Unravel Me :)

Heidi@Rainy Day Ramblings said...

I know I am going to be kicking myself for not reading this one as well, I have heard everyone raving about it and I know I will get caught up in the writing... sigh I better go pencil in some time on the blog.

Theshortone08 said...

Hah! I thought of Rogue as well when it first mentioned that she couldn't touch people.
I think the slashing through words and sentences was her changing her mind.
I'm dying to read Unravel Me and Destroy Me!

Keertana said...

Wonderful review, Jasprit! I'm so glad you enjoyed this one! :) It just wasn't for me, although I do want to go back and give it a shot since there are SO many positive ratings of it. I think it was the writing style that threw me off, but I'm thrilled to see you join its crowd of adoring fans! :D

Celine said...

EEEEEEEE YAY! Shatter Me! I love love loved this book. I adore Tahereh Mafi's writing style and how there are many words crossed with lines. I absolutely can't wait for Unravel Me so I can meet Juliet, Warner and Adam again ;)

Awesome review, Jasprit ♥ So glad you enjoyed it!

roro said...

i know some bloggers hated the srike outs and the prose but i liked that about the book . i need unravel me. lol adam rock but warner needs a hug too ^^

Awesome review, Jasprit

Shirley said...

OMGGG YOU ONLY JUST READ SHATTER ME??! HOW COULD YOUUUUU?! YOU SHOULD'VE READ THIS SOONER! hahaaa but all is forgiven since you've read it now :D

Gahhh EVERYONE's either changing to Team Warner or starting to LOVE Warner after Destroy Me/Unravel Me, and I'm afraid I might too :S I didn't *hate* Warner either-I guess I didn't really *care* about his character? But I'm really interested in how he's able to convert all TEAM ADAMs to TEAM WARNER. AND YES! THOSE BANNERS ARE AMAZING<3
Fab review Jasprit! I'm SO glad you enjoyed this<3

dope said...

Cool review!I'm team Warner all the way! XD P.S Do you have the link to those banners? :)

Book Passion for Life said...

Nooooooo!! Jas, you can't be torn. I see why people could be after reading Unravel Me - Warner has that sex appeal now even though he's the baddie but no, she has to pick Adam!! Lol. *Mini rant over* LOL Great review lady!

Jasprit said...

Heheh I remember your reaction when I first told you about Warner lol I still love Adam, but I don't know there's something about Warner, oh well we'll see how things go in Unravel Me! ;)

Jasprit said...

Hey Nobonita sure here you go :)

Anonymous said...

Oh wow, brilliant review Jasprit! I think I'm one of the only readers who hasn't joined the Shatter Me Adoration Society (as Maja cleverly called it) but, well... I also didn't manage to read more than the first few chapters. I definitely will get back to it someday with your high praise though, especially since you were left on the edge of your seat with the fast paced action. :)

Unknown said...

Jasprit,

I'am also torn between Warner and Adam. Glad that you love this book too. I can't wait to read the next one. Another cool review :D

-Dannielle

Jen (Books and Other Happy Ever Afters) said...

Ugh, sadly, I'm one of those people who haven't read Shatter Me yet! >:( I'm really glad you enjoyed this one, Jasprit. Hehe, Adam. I agree, guys named Adam are making me melt into puddles, too.. (Where She Went, cough cough). I've heard that Tahereh's writing is really rich, but if the metaphors are overwhelming, that might knock a star down for me when I read it. :// I'm still really happy you enjoyed it! Thanks for the lovely review, Jasprit!

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