Review: Shatter Me
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Rating: 5/5
Genre: Dystopia
Recommend To: Dystopia and Romance fans, people who can stand unusual writing
My initial thoughts….. asdfghjklpoiuytrewqzxcvbnm
After organizing this into actual words I got this….. OMG WHAT JUST HAPPENED HOW CAN THIS BOOK BE POSSIBLE IT IS TOO GOOD TO EXIST BUT OH SWEET JESUS AM I GLAD IT DOES.
After organizing and tweaking this garbled sentence a little bit more I finally got this… This book just blew my mind. The plot, yes it was dystopian but seriously? Can you really group it into one category? The characters, Juliette, Adam, Warner, James, Kenji just all soflawless. The romance…the action……the feeling. It was almost overwhelming to absorb the little details that made it so seamless. For example, Juliette counts. She counts everything like a crazy person. But wouldn’t you after spending 3 years in an asylum feel like a crazy person? Wouldn’t you just to keep yourself in the present start counting? The way she remains herself after all the terrible (yes terrible) events that happen to her she remains human. And that is just one reason why this book deserves a billion stars. Oh and also what made this fun to read was the mixed reviews and reactions from everyone. The spectrum ranging from hate to absolute love was just entertaining. I rank on the love (I am gushing about it), but I know others had a tough time and thats fine. Opinions are fun.
The Plot: Juliette Ferrars is our leading lady in Shatter Me. And believe me when I say the things she goes through are enough to break anyone. Not only is the world on the verge of collapse, Juliette is “afflicted” with a curse so awful not even her parents would touch her or love her. In fact they were the worst if you ask me. Her classmates would bully her, yes, but her own parents would stick her hand in the fire to check if she, a child, was a monster? Who is the real monster here, huh? Okay sorry, back to the plot not my horrified ranting. Anyway, she gets tossed into an asylum after being subjected to awful poking and prodding and tests and other disgusting, unbelievable things. (This book is kind of a smack in the gut if you hadn’t realized that yet). This is where our story starts (yeah sorry that was all backstory, and maybe a little spoilery) when she gets a new roommate Adam (yum). And then a series of events unfolds which I will not go into because I want you to READ THE BOOK.
The Characters:
Juliette: First of all, I love that name. Reminds me of Romeo and Juliet and doomed love sort of thing. IDK why I like that, but I personally think it gives an awesome feel. Anyway, she is just pushed to the breaking point so many times, but gods, she is just so strong. And vulnerable but at the same time you wonder wow, if I was put through that much, would I come out as nice as her? Or would I be like Warner? After that she is very caring, pretty intelligent (although sometimes she doesn’t use it), compassionate, and concerned with people. She doesn’t believe humans are unredeemable. She doesn’t want to hurt anyone, which actually makes her the perfect candidate to carry such a lethal ability. She won’t hurt anyone innocent.
Adam: Ahh Adam. My thoughts ranged from omg what a jerk, to omg I can’t believe you just did that, to omg you are so gorgeous and perfect for Juliette, keep her safe forever. Strong, brave, determined, and ahhh gods his relationship with James. But at times....idk...his character came off almost flat compared to Warner.
Warner: Now if Adam is perfect for Juliette, then Warner is….not perfect for her. He’s just perfect. Yeah you hate him, but geez, he is such a wounded person you can’t help but want to hug his little psycho self. You can tell he had a messed up childhood and is what Juliette could have been, but isn’t. Anyway, he has an obsessive infatuation with Juliette and it was fantastic. That sounds really weird and bizarre but it’s true. The way he was written just absolutely fanatical about Juliette was plain awesome and it gave depth to his originally believed heartless character.
James and Kenji: I’m sticking them together because they were both adorable. I don’t want to give too many spoilers but I’m terrible at doing that and so I will spill. James is incredibly loveable. Especially for my horrible weakness when it comes to little kids and the younger siblings of characters. It’s impossible for me not to get attached to them within the first five seconds of meeting them and I assure you, you will love this little boy and his hyperness so much. Kenji is also a cutie pie. Starts out as a sarcastic, funny guy who just makes you feel good. And then…we learn. Mind blowing.
The Romance: Hallelujah. I love this kid of heartbreakingly, achingly good stuff. How am I supposed to speak of this without spoilers? Okay, whatever, caution to the wind. Read at your own risk. Ahh when I found out Adam had loved her forever and hisbackstory and how he was justsearching for her his whole life. Almost makes me wish life was a fairy tale and that people didn’t hate me. Just kidding but the romance was just so immaculate and pure. The two of them, old childhood friends who never spoke but were justthere for each other. But then comes….Warner. My poor baby Warner. So besotted, and completely captivated by Juliette that he actually begins to feel? Half of me almost wanted Warner to win her even though he was just so messed up. Trying to use her as a weapon and exact revenge. That sort of thing. Actually now that I think about it, most of you probably hated Warner except for the ones who read Destroy Me. Whups. Go read that review too, sorry about that. All you need to know is that Warner has a reason for being so sad and twisted, and even though I think Adam is totally the perfect, sweetest guy out there for Juliette and she belongs with him in the end, Warner and Jules havechemistry.
The Style: Very different andvery original. I can see how some people might be bothered by the style. They may call it “juvenile” or “choppy” or even “aggravating” but I think it was just plain interesting. After all the human mind doesn’t work in perfect sentences. And Juliette hasn’t had human contact for months. She’s been alone with her thoughts. Plus she probably wants to avoid thinking about her awful memories thus the cross-outs in an effort to repress them. Plus the numbers, as mentioned before. She thinks about everything in terms of numbers which I, for my part, thought was an amazing, unique touch not many authors would have thought of. Finally the metaphors and similes. Yeah they came constantly at you like rain (see what I did there?) but I thought some of them were unusual, beautiful and lyrical. Many were slightly repetitive, and it was all very fluffy, but overall a gorgeous use of words.
Overall: Awesome book if you like dystopia, sci-fi, romance, superpower stuff, all just bundled up with a side dish of originality and sorrow. If that is your type, then this is the book for you. I know it was one of my favorites. The characters, plot, style, everything was just incredible. Seriously.
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