Shatter Me

By Tahereh Mafi

X-Men meets The Handmaid's Tale in this first instalment in an epic and romantic YA fantasy trilogy perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Victoria Aveyard's The Red Queen, Netflix's Stranger Things and Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows.

A fragile young teenage girl is held captive. Locked in a cell by The Reestablishment – a harsh dictatorship in charge of a crumbling world. This is no ordinary teenager. Juliette is a threat to The Reestablishment's power. A touch from her can kill – one touch is all it takes. But not only is she a threat, she is potentially the most powerful weapon they could have. Juliette has never fought for herself before but when she’s reunited with the one person who ever cared about her, the depth of the emotion and the power within her become explosive . . .

"Addictive, intense, and oozing with romance. I’m envious. I couldn’t put it down.” - Lauren Kate, New York Times bestselling author of Fallen

'Dangerous, sexy, romantic and intense. I dare you to stop reading!' - Kami Garcia, bestselling author of the Beautiful Creatures series

Tahereh Mafi is the New York Times bestselling author of the Shatter Me series which has been published in over 30 languages around the world. She was born in a small city somewhere in Connecticut and currently resides in Santa Monica, California, with her husband, Ransom Riggs, fellow bestselling author of Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children, and their young daughter. She can usually be found overcaffeinated and stuck in a book. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter @TaherehMafi

• Language: English
• Publisher: Electric Monkey
• Release date: Mar 6, 2018
• ISBN: 9781780318684

Tahereh Mafi

Tahereh Mafi is the #1 international bestselling and National Book Award nominated author of over a dozen books, including the Shatter Me series, the Woven Kingdom series, A Very Large Expanse of Sea, and An Emotion of Great Delight. Her books have been translated into over thirty languages. She lives in Southern California with her husband, fellow author Ransom Riggs, and their daughter. You can find her online at taherehmafi.com.

Reviews for Shatter Me

[alcarinqa_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Read the full review hereA wonderful, gripping read that I tore through in under three hours. Shatter Me is a different kind of dystopian novel, set some ten years after the collapse of human society due to climate change, fuel shortages etc. The story is riveting - starting with Juliette’s isolation and then slowly revealing the circumstances under which she was imprisoned. I think this is a great way of telling the story because it hooks the reader in.Juliette is an interesting character because her isolation has made her borderline insane. She is deeply untrusting and closed off to the world (and to be honest I can’t blame her). Her disjointed thoughts and damaged thought process are effectively portrayed by alternating short, halting sentences with paragraph long sentences. Striked out sentences are also used to signify the thoughts that Juliette doesn’t want to have or doesn’t think she should have. It takes some time to get used to this writing style, but it’s worth it.

[cindywho-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Juliette is loopy and is imprisoned in a dark post apocalyptic future. She's got a special power that fuels the books obsession with touch that segues into the not on all sides love triangle. It's overwrought but weird enough to lead me on.

[marjorie.mallon · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

3.75 stars. I enjoyed this overall, even though I found the beginning a bit slow. There were parts of the book that I found quite beautiful. The following quote is my favourite:

“I spent my life folded between the pages of books.
In the absence of human relationships I formed bonds with paper characters. I lived love and loss through stories threaded in history; I experienced adolescence by association. My world is one interwoven web of words, stringing limb to limb, bone to sinew, thoughts and images all together. I am a being comprised of letters, a character created by sentences, a figment of imagination formed through fiction.”

I found her style of writing quite interesting, the strike outs were different, suggesting her desperation at the bleakness of her surroundings, the loss of freedom etc. The line a stark, black strike through, like a prisoner counting off their time in captivity. Interesting.

Will definitely read the second in the series. Great titles too, and fantastic art work on the cover - love the eye!

[kerilynned · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Another really great read! I wasn't expecting it to be so good! I have had this one on my list for a long time now. When I started to read it I realized I couldn't even remember what it was about! I was surprised to read it was a dystopian novel. I haven't read on in quite awhile so it worked out! I'm really interested in seeing where this story goes and how things develop. I especially love the relationship between Adam and Juliette. I love that they have a really great history so it doesn't make it so much of the instant love.

[roses7184_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book blew me away.

Shatter Me has undertones of dystopian fiction, but it is really its own entity. How do I explain this? Imagine that your favorite paranormal, superhero, and dystopian books were put into a blender to make one single book. That right there? That would be this book.

Now I think it's important I start off with the writing style in Shatter Me because that seems to be the one thing that might keep people from falling in love with this gorgeous book. I'll admit, Tahereh Mafi's writing style is unlike anything I've read before. It's eerily prosaic, wonderfully descriptive, and oddly disconcerting, all at the same time. Replete with strikethroughs and repeated phrases, it feels sometimes like you might be going crazy yourself. I think it's important to remember that the reader is inside Juliette's head during the story. This is a girl who hasn't seen another person, hasn't touched another person, for what seems to her to be an endless amount of time. Being in Juliette's head can be off putting, or it can be beautiful. It all depends on how much you allow yourself to be immersed in the girl, and the world, that is built here.

Juliette's character is what really brings Shatter Me to life. Constantly fighting a battle between the madness that she thinks still might consume her, and the giving person Adam knows her to be. Juliette is equal parts strong willed and vulnerable. The knowledge that her power can harm others cripples her, and she constantly wavers between feeling like a monster and a normal girl. Juliette truly has a power that can be used for good or evil, and both opportunities are presented to her. It might sound cliche at first glance, but I assure you that the girl on the pages is anything but that. Juliette's wariness at trusting others, her need to help even if she isn't sure if she should, her constant questioning of herself even when she's fairly sure that she is right, is all the product of her past. Tahereh Mafi builds up a girl who is believable and unique wrapped into one package. Juliette isn't perfect, and I loved her for that.

Shatter Me is definitely dsytopian, and the world that is built around Juliette's story is amazing. Cities crumble to the ground in the wake of The Reestablishment. People cower in doorways as what is left of society is patrolled, and essentially owned, by the soldiers who are loyal to the movement. The explanation as to how this came about hit very close to home for me. To say that this world is possible, well that's an understatement. I won't spoil anything, but I will say that there is a distinct possibility we really could get to that point. It made me ponder that, and that made me fall even further under the spell of this book.

If you can't tell from my musings above, I fell madly in love with this story. Devouring 120 pages in half an hour let me know that I was in for the long haul. I admit that I know that it won't be for everyone. As I mentioned, the writing style is different and might put some people off. However I can honestly say that if you give it a chance, if you allow yourself to fall wholeheartedly into Juliette's world, you might just find a story that will immerse you like it did me. Shatter Me is a refreshingly unique read that I enjoyed thoroughly. If there is indeed a sequel coming, I can't wait!

[simplykelina · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I had been putting starting this series as I thought I was going to hate it. I was wrong! I am not normally a fan of Science Fiction and Dystopian, but I ended up enjoying the plot on this one.I was intrigued with the story right away, especially with Juliette being imprisoned. However; I was not a huge fan of the writing style or the scratch off sections. This did not come off as a journal, so to me it did not make sense. I know Juliette is carrying a journal, but the story is not written from the POV of the journal. I did not think it brought anything to the story, and I could have gone without these parts. I also do not love when words are reported over and over again in a sentence. The author did that very often.I ran through the first few chapters, then did not feel like picking it back up as it slowed down. I started reading this in physical copy and then switched to audio to help get through the middle. I ended up loving it on audio, and recommend giving it a try if you have been wanting to read this. I think the narrator for the audiobook brought the character and emotion to life, and I enjoyed her.I know others had issues with the lack of the development within the world. I actually liked that it was not complicated or something that half the book described. I did not have a hard time understanding the world. The ending reminded a lot of The Hunger Games. Hoping the rest of the series is as good and does not go downhill like the Hunger Games though.

[loosemoose-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

For exactly 264 days, Juliette has been imprisoned in a small room because she touched someone and that person died.


Before I actually got around to reading this book, I had already heard a lot of bad reviews about it. Which is why I was hesitant to read it. But now that I've actually read it, I've realized that I really liked it. It was awesome, but it wasn't perfect, the book definitely had it's faults...
Problem number 1 was this. The strike out thing annoyed me so much, I actually cringed every time my eyes over them. I understand that they were used to emphasize stuff or whatever but it was used to much, which made all of them quite annoying. And the occasional use of numbers (1,2,3...) instead of writing out the actual word was very annoying as well.
Problem number two was Juliet. She was such a depressing person. And she was so... weak. I mean, she never even fought back. At least not until the end of the book. But most of the time she was letting people at her school, Warner, and her own parents walk all over her. I understand that she didn't do anything because she was "good" but I think its pretty unrealistic to let people walk over you, that much, and not say a word.
Problem number three was Warner. Well, Warner wasn't really one of my problems with the book. He just confused me, a little bit. Because, honestly, I don't know if he really is an evil person or if he's just really confused. And it seems to me like he could be apart of a love triangle with along with Adam and Juliette because during the entire book Juliette never exactly treated him like he was the villain. She just sorta went along with whatever he said and went on about how cute he was. A part of me feels a little sorry for him because hes so confused but another part of me did a happy dance when Juliette shot him.
But I absolutely, positively loved Adam. He was a pretty awesome character. Strong,hot, tall, tattooed, loyal, protective. He was just the perfect package (fans self). Adam really made the whole book worth reading. He was just awesome (did I say that already?).
Even though, it wasn't exactly the Dystopian novel I was expecting, Shatter Me kept me interested enough to read it in all in a matter of hours and it defiantly left me wanting to know whats going to happened to these guys in the next book. Which unfortunately come out next year.

[mmoj_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed the writing style of these book. As you can read from the back cover the main character is writing but also crossing out words so you have to weed through what it is what emotions the author is trying to convey. Which actually makes for an interesting read. Lots of movement combined with characters you want to know more about make for an enjoyable read. While some of the book is a little young - it is about teenagers and I haven't been a teenager for quite awhile and even when I was a teenager I was busy reading "adult" books so that's probably why I think the characters seemed a bit young. Even considering that it didn't take away my reading enjoyment. And I will be reading the rest of the series.

[emma_manolis · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Why did I read this? I had heard it was written in a unique style and that intrigued me. Turns out it was just a lot of strikethroughs.

Thoughts: The strikethroughs got on my nerves and here is why. The book is written in first person, so the main character is really already telling us all of her innermost thoughts. There isn't another layer to that. I found the strikethroughs to be unnecessary and even found myself getting irritated. If that's what you really are thinking then just say that! I hate when people just don't get right to the point! Luckily this tactic appears less and less as the novel advances.


I was also, at times, irritated by how flowery yet awkward some of the sentences were. Then there were moments where I was like, "Holy amazeballs this is the most amazing this ever and I can completely relate to everything she is saying! How is Tahereh able to put this into words so freaking well?!" Example?

"I spent my life folded between the pages of books. . . My world is one interwoven web of words, string limb to limb, bone to sinew, thoughts and images all together" (70).

What a fabulous bookish quote! That was the moment I just suddenly connected with Juliette and I knew I was sticking around to find out what was next. Speaking of characters, how awesome is Warner? There may be something wrong with me because I just love evil characters. They seriously crack me up! Warner was sick and twisted and I really hope he sticks around awhile longer.

The story itself is fun and exciting. I was okay with getting lost in this world and I want to know why people are the way they are and how the world got to where it is. I'm not sure what else to say except that I really liked Shatter Me and you better believe I'll tune in for the next installment which will arrive at a bookstore near you 10.2.12!!!!

Advisory: I may have just made this up but I believe there was some cursing.

[verkruissen · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Loved this book! X-men sort of feel to some parts. Can't wait for the next book!

[srsharms · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I'm sorry, but no. I loved the writing style — it was flowing, beautiful, & showed a lot of potential. It's primarily a romance, which I enjoy. But good grief, the terribly cliched, anti-feminist YA tropes!! The heroine is the only 3-dimensional girl in the book. She is "alarmingly beautiful," so every male wants her. She also has a new panic attack every page for at least two thirds of the book. So, lovely writing aside...no. ★★☆☆☆.

[megsgalaxy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was so excited when I saw Shatter Me--the only copy left, mind you--on the shelf in the bookstore. I'd heard so much about this book, and all the reviews, plus the ratings on Amazon.com, were good. So eagerly, I bought it, and started reading it to moment I got back home. The beginning was amazing. Mafi, with her unique style of writing and describing things, managed to create a stunningly realistic dystopian world in which Juliette, the main character, lived in. The story progressed on beautifully, keeping me enthralled with every chapter, and I even thought that the slight 'romance' (if I can even call it that) between Juliette and Warner was entertaining. Until Adam came into the picture, and the author began to reveal more about Adam and Juliette’s past together, when they were still in school.I was really touched by Juliette's good heart that drove her to help the other girls in her class even though they didn't deserve it. Juliette talks about Adam, the quiet boy who'd caught her attention one day when she saw his father bashing him up at the school. And, Adam's drawn to Juliette, because of her kindness toward her classmates, even though they bullied her and wouldn't come near her because of her curse—ahem—gift. But, like nearly all YA novels now, there had to be romance. Not some romance, but a lot of romance. Not that I’m against romance. I love romance, just as long as it’s realistic and flows well with the story. Shatter Me had romance that didn’t fit into that criteria.When they were confessing their feelings to each other, they were in Juliette's room in one of The Reestablishment’s buildings. She'd been transferred from her cell to this grand building where she was treated better and given clothes/dresses to wear, good food, and her own bathroom. A huge improvement compared to her previous living quarters. After that, they started to have feelings (except that these feelings started a long time ago; while they were still in school) for each other. The romance was believable, and, being the hopeless romantic that I am, I enjoyed the affection between them. The romance should've just stopped there. After the two escaped the building and went back to Adam's home, things started to get more serious. Even with Warner's men and soldiers after them, they could still think of having sex. In life or death situations, one usually doesn't think about romance. Surviving is their main goal. But, no! That, obviously, wasn't what was on Juliette's mind. Thankfully, Adam's younger brother, James, was there to save the day and bring them back to reality. Nothing more but cuddling and kissing are seen between the two of them after that, and I'm grateful. I mean, come on. The Reestablishment is after you and all you're thinking about is making love? Plus, Juliette and Adam don't really know each other. It's just based on what they remember from their pasts. Okay, I'll give it to Adam that he sounds like a really nice and caring guy. And I'll give it to Juliette that she sounds really kind. But this begs the question: What happened to taking things slow and letting love sink in? The unrealistic and unnecessary romance was a major turnoff, and I found myself drifting farther and farther away from Juliette, whom I was just beginning to admire. I wish I could’ve just ignored that, but it totally ruined an original plot and what could’ve been an amazing story.

[thewannabeknight · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Juliette has been locked away for over 200 days because of a lethal incident she couldn't control. An incident involving what happens to people when they touch her skin. When a male roommmate cellmate moves into her confined space, it's only the beginning of a new chapter of her life. Not only does she have to relearn how to interact with another human being, his presence heralds a time of change; The Reestablishment, who have taken over the outside world, want to offer Juliette a place on their side. But Juliette, with her roommate's help, will finally find it in herself to fight to live her own life.Whew! That was my first reaction when I first picked up this book. I've seen a lot of positive reviews and hype surrounding this book, and let me tell you--this one deserves it all. This book was so fantastic that when I was stalled on my own thesis novel, I picked it up and suddenly, it was as if the world was made new. All of the changes that had been suggested in my most recent workshop, I saw come alive in Ms. Mafi's writing. It was as if this book were a manual on how good writing gets done. Like it was speaking to me as a writer. (My classmates and friends will tell you--I recommended the darn thing to every single person who would listen.)That said, I have to talk about the quality of writing. The story was compelling from the first page--I immediately wanted to know about Juliette, her world, how she would change by the end of the story. And she kept me in suspense the whole time. I'm still in suspense, but it's even worse now because I want to read book two! (Argh!) I thought the backstory was dispersed evenly throughout the first half. I never felt as if there were info-dumps, or that the story got bogged down in description or history. There was an even pacing and flow to the narrative, as if the story was always moving, and I never felt bored. (I even read the book faster than my usual snail's pace!) And, of course, it's told in first-person, and the language itself is very distinctive. Ms. Mafi's descriptions play with hyperbolic metaphor, but not in a bad way. Sometimes it can be a little overwhelming, but these moments are overshadowed by moments when I feel the narrative is painting a picture in strokes of vivid, exquisite language. Sometimes I just wanted to hug my book, sigh, and sit back in my chair to savor those poetic lines.The story itself is pretty cool. Juliette is a bit like Rogue from The X-Men, and the fact that someone wants to use her to hurt people is a very good motivation for her to finally take a stand against people trying to control or confine her. Warner is a twisted guy, and I pretty much was expecting the little "twist" near the end, but I think it was meant to be all-but-stated. Kenji is funny, but doesn't show up until late in the story. As for Adam, he's a pretty good male lead. I don't really see anything very distinctive about him, but I actually love him for the way he treats other people. Just your typical, upstanding good guy. Who wouldn't want to curl up against him?And, yes, there is romance! And I didn't mind it at all! Actually, I barely noticed it for at least the first half of the book. It got more prominent in the second half, but I think it emerged seamlessly so that I wasn't all "what the--why are they??" as I sometimes am. Ms. Mafi did a good job of keeping the story grounded in the immediacy of the situations and events so that I didn't feel overwhelmed by the romantic elements. And that's just how I like my romance. And the couple's backstory breaks my heart and warms it at the same time. Lots of "awwwww" from me, imagining them as sad little kids. ;)I'm pretty new to the dystopian genre, so I can't really comment on how well it hits the dystopic button. But I can say that I felt like there was a good amount of worldbuilding. There are things wrong with the world, and there's an explanation to why things are wrong with the world, and it all seems logical to me now that I've read to the end. However, I don't really quite understand the structure of the institution where Juliette is locked up in the beginning. But I'm hoping this gets addressed in later books.Something I loved about this book was the relationship portrayed between self-perception and power. Juliette is on the verge of insanity at the start, and she is afraid of herself, and how she can hurt other people because people deem her worthy of being locked up. Warner treats her like a pet tiger, Kenji refers to her as the "psycho chick." Adam treats her like a human being. It isn't until Juliette believes she can be on the same level as human beings that she finds the inspiration to fight against the system. It isn't until a person values her or himself that one can see true worth. It's very well-threaded throughout the story.Well, I think I've rambled on quite a bit. Bottom line: Good book. Very good book. It will hook into you, then make you hungry for a sequel. And it's a fast read. What's not to like?Review copy acquired from the publisher at San Diego Comic Con.

[missaligirl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Let me take a quick second to gush over this cover. The original cover of Shatter Me did nothing for me and I almost passed over the book just because of it. When the cover was redone, I had to stop and take another look. It is absolutely stunning. I am so in love with it and the covers from the rest of the series.Okay, now about what was inside that beautiful cover, or in my case...on the recording.I think that had a read the physical copy of this book I may not have liked it. In fact, I am fairly convinced I would not have liked it. Why? Well, Juliette thinks in prose and metaphor. Almost exclusively. She also has an obsession with numbers, counting and eyes. She is always, always, always counting and thinking about eyes. Oh, and breathing. She thinks about breathing a fair amount as well. Then there is the weird striking out of thoughts. In the physical book there are lines that are actually crossed out, on audio it is just a bizarre zipper sound and I had to figure out what the hell was happening. I think all these things would truly have annoyed me if I had been reading rather than listening. “Killing time isn't as difficult as it sounds. I can shoot a hundred numbers through the chest and watch them bleed decimal points in the palm of my hand. I can rip the numbers off a clock and watch the hour hand tick tick tick its final tock just before I fall asleep. I can suffocate seconds just by holding my breath. I've been murdering minutes for hours and no one seems to mind.” However, Kate Simses does such an amazing job performing this read that I easily slipped into the crazy mind of Juliette. Simses should win some sort of award for this read. Do they have audio book awards? They should, and she should win one. She took me to a place I don't know I would have gone in my own head.Juliette has been imprisoned in a mental institution, left in solitary confinement, for 264 days. She has not spoken to anyone and she has not touched anyone. But not touching is a good thing since her touch is a killer. It's how she ended up in a small dank cell with only a tiny window to peak at the outside world. An outside world that has fallen to rot and famine and severe military control.Juliette lives inside her mind, within this cell. Her mind and a scruffy notebook she scribbles thoughts in are her only companions here. Until Adam is tossed in the cell with her. Adam with beautiful eyes that hide from Juliette his true intentions on being in the cell with her.Adam's arrival triggers a series of events that lead Juliette out of the institute and into the military where she is to be a weapon. A tool. A destructive and dangerous torture device. A device that Juliette desperately does not want to be.Juliette is an interesting chick. She likes to believe she is not insane, but I kind of think she is. I love her none the less. She's caring and she's brave while she's terrifying and powerful beyond what she even knows. Her every day struggle to live without touching anyone or being touched, is one wild ride. She thinks she's a monster, she's been told she is by everyone but at her heart she is just a selfless girl trapped inside a venomous body. Mafi has done an extraordinary job of writing Juliette, the way her mind works and where it goes. Utterly breathtaking.Adam and Warner are opposites in many ways yet completely the same in others. Yes, this does appear to be the beginning of some sort of love triangle. Adam being a sweet guy would be the obvious choice for a love interest. He would be a good pick but my money says there is much more to Warner (the bad guy) than his militant tyrant mask portrays. I think he's going to be breaking his fair share of young hearts by the time this series is over. My scales are slightly tipped in his favor.On a side noet ~ Some of the other characters are fantastic. I'm a tad bit in love with James & Kenji. “I’ve come to believe that the most dangerous man in the world is the one who feels no remorse. The one who never apologizes and therefore seeks no forgiveness. Because in the end it is our emotions that make us week, not our actions.” The pacing, action, drama and trauma in Shatter Me kept me at the edge of my seat. I was constantly anxious to see what would happen next and pleasantly surprised at how I rarely saw what was coming.I know this is a love it or hate it type of book and I would suggest that if you are apprehensive about reading it, sample the audio. I have fallen face first into this series and look forward to its future; counting, breathing and eyes eyes eyes included.

[afza_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I've been really lazy these past few days. So please pardon this teeny-tiny review: - The writing was really weird. At first I was annoyed with it, but after reading the book for hours straight, I kind of found myself liking it, even if some most of the metaphors didn't make sense.- The strike-out sentences were really annoying. I didn't warm up to those at all.- Aside from the romance, the story wouldn't have much of a plot. Which is kindofsortof pathetic, because the with Juliette's power, the book could've definitely focused more on herself and taming her abilities and finding out who she was and stuff. (Like how exactly did this happen to her?) - Juliette is a weak, senseless crybaby. She cries a whole lot in this. She's not exactly strong.- The kissing/romance scenes were a bit ... steamy. I've never read anything so ... arousing? sensual? in a dystopian teen fiction novel. I'm a pretty great romance fan, but I just found them a tad bit overrated. - Why is Juliette's touch immune to (view spoiler) Why didn't we get any foreshadowing of why? Let's hope to find out in the next novel? otl, despite all these fallacies, the book was really enjoyable. And exhilarating. I loved the action in it, even if Juliette isn't a kickass heroine.I like Warner.I know I'm a senseless woman who doesn't care about her privacy and/or sexuality. But he's so tortured. And I admit, he is kind of creepy.I like-ish Adam.He's just so ... sappy.[This review was posted on Goodreads.]

[tripsis_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book. How the bloody freakin’ hell do I review this book? This amazing, gorgeous, breathtaking, nail-biting book.Shatter Me is written with such unique voice. It’s from Juliette’s point of view and immediately we can tell that she’s empty. She’s not psycho, she’s not brain dead, but she’s empty. She’s lost her passion, her spark, and her sense of true emotion. But then her thoughts are shown in such an awesome way in the book! Tahereh Mafi uses crossed out phrases to distinguish between what Juliette says and what she actually means. We can see how she’s holding herself back and trying to stop herself from thinking certain thoughts. And man, the prose. The way this book is written is almost poetic. It’s not written in verse, but sometimes it feels like it is.Okay, so after I dug into Shatter Me, I was really enjoying it but I wasn’t fangirly. I honestly don’t know how to explain it. I was loving it, I was getting through it quickly, but maybe something was missing. The book wasn’t exactly ‘slow,’ but I think after a while I was really just itching to find out more about Juliette and we weren’t getting the info. I mean we learn bits and pieces about the deteriorating world and society, and there’s an incredibly breathtaking and delicious romance that had my heart racing and brought back memories of my boyfriend and I. But really I wanted to know more about Juliette. Why is she the way she is? Why is it that she can kill people with her touch? How the heck did this happen! For most of the book we’re kind of deprived of this information. But then holy crap.It’s suddenly like someone flipped on the X-Men switch and it’s freakin’ amazing. I let out an outrageous fangirl scream that probably disturbed my poor neighbours. I slammed the book shut and dug into some ice cream. (Coffe Heath Bar Crunch, by the way.) Okay maybe that makes no sense. Maybe I’m just weird. Why did I slam the book shut? I was just so enveloped in delicious awesomeness that I felt like I had to take a moment to bask in the beauty. Seriously. All of a sudden, all the answers are pouring out. Everything is getting intense. I’m getting the answers I was so long waiting for — and they’re amazing.Do you ever feel that way? Like a book is just so good that you have to take a minute to stop and think about it? Imagine the possibilities? Maybe prolong the inevitable ending just a moment longer? That’s how I felt.I feel like I’m not being very specific in this review, but that’s only because it was that good. It’s so good that I don’t know how to dig into details. I just don’t know where to begin. Especially because, in my opinion, the best parts were at the end. So naturally I’m trying to avoid spoilers! But one thing I will say is that Adam is the best character ever! He reminds me of my own boyfriend: selfless, determined, funny, sweet, absolutely and incredibly amazing and perfect and way beyond words. And the romance is so.. so.. TAUNTING! You’ll be squealing and begging for more and more and more, and wishing you had someone you could share that with. Well, I was! I also adored Juliette’s character. She’s constantly moving between a little nervous and insecure (due to being prodded, tested, and locked up in isolation), and powerful – and loving it. I adored the moments when she suddenly has a moment of power. It’s not an evil kind of power, it’s just a really strong “take action” kind of power. I can see her starting to become an awesome kick-ass female character!I was terrified of this book ending. I wanted to hang onto every last word and just soak up every piece of information and story that Tahereh had to offer. I’m now desperately and impatiently awaiting the sequel, Unravel Me.

[jes5890 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

There was great potential in this idea, and if it's actually executed in the rest of the series then it would most definitely be worth reading. It's enjoyable enough to want to see if something actually happens in the next book but a bit of a disaster in itself. My biggest problem was with the writing style. I realize the numbers are a bit of a theme, but the repeats get annoying get annoying get annoying (see?). It was also annoying that the first hundred pages were mostly simple sentences, fragments, and repeats. There was no description. There really wasn't even anything going on. Actually, that applies to a lot of the book. The plot was nearly non-existent it was so slow. It basically consists of every character sitting around doing nothing, though sometimes saying that they did something rather that showing the characters doing it, until they FINALLY do something, which is the climax of the story. It was entirely too predictable what happens and is filled with a lot of unnecessary fluff. I really hated Juliette. Want a strong female character? NOT HER! Honestly, when you give a slogan like "My Touch is Power" you expect your heroine to be more than the whiny mess that is Juliette. All she does is cry and ask them to kill her...many times...it's really pathetic. Seriously, she tells herself she's strong in one sentence and then just a few sentences later she tells them to shoot her? Adam wasn't much better than Juliette. Warner was also pretty sad, but in a creepy way since he's our antagonist. There is absolutely no way Warner will ever be a real love interest, especially since Juliette and Adam have their insta-love. Okay, okay. Apparently their love developed through all those years they never talked or interacted AT ALL, but do we see that? Not really. We're just told that it did and expected to take that without seeing any kind of development. Kenji...Insert Jar Jar Binks. I think that is the best explanation of his character. I literally threw this book across the room more than once. The ending makes up for the travesty that is the rest of the book only because it sets you up for expecting something to finally happen in the next book and there is the slightest change in Juliette's persona that might make her develop into a character that would be acceptable. Even though I haven't read the second one to know if it's any good, it'd just be better to start with it than waste time with this one. It really only provides a brief history and you'd get the same from a good paragraph synopsis as you do from the whole book.

[hermyoni · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have had Shatter Me sitting on my shelf for months now but have never gotten around to reading it. Due to technical difficulties with my laptop I couldn't access the book I was reading and in a huff went to my neglected shelf of unread books in search of something to occupy my suddenly free time. I kid you not, not even 3 hours later I was done. Shatter Me was so incredibly good that I almost feel silly for putting it off for so long.Shatter Me wasn't the most unique book on the market but it was very well written and sometimes that is all that matters. The Writing flowed brilliantly and I honestly can't even recall a single scene that felt out of place. One of the things I really enjoyed about the writing was the use of flashbacks. Instead of bogging down the first half of the book with scenes from Juliette's childhood and setting up her solitary existence we see tiny flashbacks into her life before the Reestablishment and The Asylum not only through her own memories but those from Adam as well once he's introduced.Speaking of Adam, I know I should be all for him (hot,smart,compassionate) but I don't trust him one bit. He just seems to perfect and that instantly made me suspicious. Shockingly who I did end up liking was Warner. I totally ship Juliette and him and as of this moment I hope they end up together. Warner is painted as the villain and maybe he even has done some questionable things that would make him one under normal circumstances but I am just not convinced that he actually is. As for Juliette she was a great female protagonist. Her behavior in the beginning of the book is understandable considering the circumstances but once she felt that tiny bit of "freedom" her character really blossomed. I both rooted for Juliet and felt heartbroken at the trauma she's been through. I can't wait to see more of her in the next book.Overall Shatter Me was a great book and a series I will definitely continue to follow. Whether you are young or old I wholeheartedly believe you will find enjoyment reading this book. Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi is a highly recommended read that I will be rating ★★★★★. Worth the read, worth the price and definitely worth your time!

[librarystalker · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I LOVED this book by Tahereh Mafi. I had all the things you look for in a dystopian novel but also provided a fresh new writing style. Shatter Me definitely goes at the top of my list.

[lisagibson_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Okay, I read this book awhile back. I've been terrible about updating this blog. However, I will say that this book really stuck with me. I loved it from page one. My fingers flew to turn the page. It was suspensful and just a great story all the way around. There were times that the descriptions got to be a bit much, but I really did love this book. I can't wait to read the other books in this series. I'm giving this one 4 1/2 air kisses (since Juliette can't touch anyone). :)

[les121 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I decided to try this book because of reviews that lauded its unique writing style. The writing is indeed intriguing, especially in the beginning. At times, I wasn’t sure whether to call it brilliant or ridiculous, but either way it drew me into the story.Unfortunately, I became completely fed up with this book about halfway through. The main character Juliette has practically no agency and is constantly pushed around by the male supporting characters. I understand that she’s borderline insane (a mindset that is wonderfully embodied in the strange, frenetic writing at the beginning), but it’s not until the very end of the story that she finally gets herself together enough to actually do something. For the vast majority of the book she is simply reacting to Warner’s antics or being dragged around by her crush Adam. When she does finally take control of the situation in the last few chapters, it was too little, too late - my opinion of the book had already taken a nosedive.Juliette’s relationships with the two male leads are also seriously problematic for me. With Adam, Juliette’s condition feels like an excuse for the pair to be intimate without having to establish a real, emotional connection based on non-physical interaction. While the author does try to show that Juliette and Adam have had a connection since childhood, it’s not enough to convince me of their undying love for each other. Instead, their childhood memories just make Juliette seem like a saint and Adam a lovesick puppy. The antagonist Warner, on the other hand, is more than a little rapey. He won’t take no for an answer, and the idea that he might be turned into a sympathetic character, perhaps even a future love interest, is sickening.The parts of Shatter Me that I didn’t hate were lackluster. The worldbuilding isn’t anything to get excited about, and the final X-Men-style revelation completely failed to grab my interest. Overall, I give this book two stars for the creative writing at the beginning, but there were just too many other issues for me to enjoy it.

[tabatha014 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

So I'm torn...on one hand I really liked this story and on the other I hated the writing. The ridiculous amount of metaphors were distracting and the strikethrough sentences were annoying. I also didn't care for Juliette's character in the first half because she was just whiny and too self pitying, but thankfully she got it together. And as much I enjoyed the story I probably won't spend the money or time to finish the rest of the series.

[amoonsiong · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Team Warner. I think he just needs a hug!
After a re-read, I still don't like Adam... will continue, and see how the sequel turns out.

[creativejunkie · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

3.5 stars

I went through a couple different stages while waiting to get my hands on the ARC of this book. At first I was ZOMGSEWESSITED!! to read it because of all the raves that my friends gave it. Then, when I finally cracked open the first page and posted that I was starting, I got a few...well, wait a minute...I'm not sure you're going to like this all that much. So, I was apprehensive while reading, and I'll admit, that probably made me more susceptible to the details that probably wouldn't bother the average reader. I was, most definitely, looking for things that I wouldn't like, whether consciously or not. (which is why I hate hearing whether people think I'll like a book or not)

Let's talk first about what I did like in this book. The storyline, in the beginning, was unique and well-paced. I loved seeing how the pieces unfolded and finding more about this interesting world that Juliette knows, in actuality, very little about.

For the most part, I enjoyed the characters. I love, love, loved Adam. All of him - every single part. I have not one complaint with the character Mafi created in him. Same with the rest of the characters - secondary characters that I enjoyed reading about, even villains I loved to hate. Juliette, however, fell just a smidgen short for me. There was something off -- something that grated on my nerves with her. Not enough to make me stop reading or stop rooting for her, but something that stuck with me nonetheless.

And finally, the way Mafi molds her descriptions together - they were unique and completely unexpected. I really would like to live in her mind for a day just to hear the way she describes some things.

However, the last item on the pluses was also the biggest downfall of this book. The style of narration - the lack of edits for a specific reason was just too much for me to blindly overlook. It was distracting to the point of taking me almost twice as long to finish this book as it normally would have. I wanted to run in, cape blowing in the breeze, with 27,000 commas ready to throw into the pages, just to make some sort of semblance to the sentences. There were also things used over and over again - the blushing, though told in a different, unique and beautiful way every single time, was done to excess. As were all the italics. My eyes darted to that and the strike-throughs on every page rather than focusing on the words she was trying to get across.

Finally, the ending, while giving me my HEA, was very, very X-Men. I made the connection of Warner to Magneto and Castle to Professor X even before the other characters, very similar to well known superheros, came into play. It was a little blatant and a lot obvious for my taste.

All that said, I enjoyed the overall book. I do hope, however, that after hearing the feedback about this first book, Mafi takes a step back and really looks at the way the second and third books are written.

[rubewrites · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

OH how I love this series, the writing style is different at first... but by the end I loved it!! Unravel Me will be amazing- I have read the unlocked portions on facebook and am so upset I have to wait ten more days for the rest!!!

[marrilyn-2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I borrowed this book from my local public library - and I had to buy it for myself because I really, really loved it. The writing was excellent and in character, and it was just heartbreakingly beautiful to read this story about a broken girl whose touch is lethal. I read the whole book in about 2 days. This book was great and I recommend reading it if you like tragic/plot twist books. :)

[meradeth · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

OH WOW DID I LOVE THIS! (Okay, caps are actually necessary here!) Juliette's spot-on, and with everything that's happened to her, I really felt the fine line of sanity she's walking on (with what she'd been through, it's a freaking miracle she's not nuts!). I loved that her internal dialogue belied her fear, weaknesses, everything, but on the outside she was tough as nails. And Adam--can I haz him? Please? Can't wait for the next book!

[yogiboo_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Hmmm. I was a bit disappointed with this book. It has tonnes of great reviews and I tried really hard to enjoy it but it kept falling flat and then started to annoy me. One minute she wants to die and then she becomes some hardcore gun toting heroine. She'd rather kill herself than kill someone else but she would kill Kenji and tried to kill Warner!! Arrrggh it's so confusing! I dunno :(

[wanderlustlover_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have such a hard time trying to think about rating this one, and I think a lot of it comes down to the formatting of *how* I was reading it but I can't remove one from the other. I read Shatter Me on the Epic Reads website while it was free for 60 hours. I'm so torn up and disjointed on my thoughts about this book, which I think come from having to sit in front of my laptop and read it the whole time, with really wide white margins and background colors and things that were not my Kindle.



This book is. Wow. How do I ever.

There is prose in this book that is straight out of poetry and my heart eats that right up.

The writing and narration and the POV are very specific and very sparse from the very beginning. We are in her mind like she is in the cell. It's all bare walls. All the naked thoughts, emotions, reactions, lack of reactions. The strike through's, which do take a little while to get used to, are amazingly bold and another part of the character. Of how repressed she's been, by the world and, especially, by herself.

The love story is convenient, and I have to admit I'm more interested in The Regiment, Omega Force, Warner, Kenji and the twist conclussions than I am at all in Adam. But he does his YA novel boy job. I really want to rate this a 3, more than a 4, when I talk about the story itself though. About how little we know of the world through the main characters eyes, and how little I even know what rooms look like and people look like and what this bright brand new world she's in is like.

It made sense in the cell, but once she was remove it was this glass wall I was pounding on for more.

So, 3 stars for the story and love interest. 4 stars for the fact there was poetry in my book EVERYWHERE.

[lexiechan-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Need to finish it before Saturday. :) Will go to Book Signing of Tahereh Mafi here at PH. What rate?? What rate?? >_<

Okay... I like Shatter Me. But I don't think it got that really great impact with me at the same time, I quite like it. I know I'm a living contradiction. But well, I'm weird. I love it but not that much. 90% maybe.

I'm the type of reader who read a book and love the first partnership a lot. I mean like this book, I like Adam, I mean I am okay with his and Juliette relationship. But then you put Warner. I am the type who support the first pair rather than sway to the other pair. >_< Like I'm a Team Adam for Shatter Me, Team Edward for Twilight, Team Alex for Delirium, I don't like the girl being paired to another character besides the MAIN one.

I am not saying that this is what happened to Shatter Me. It's just that when I went to Tahereh Mafi's book signing event, the girls are all Team WARNER. :o And just like the other girl who asked a question for Mafi, I'm a team Adam, and I am scared liking the other guy, Warner. Uh, noooo. Why is it you make Warner got more appeal than Adam to the point the girls love him a freakin' LOT rather than ADAM? I mean, does that mean more WARNER in second book rather than ADAM??

And Mafi also mentioned something in second book Chapter 60. I didn't look at it yet for fear of spoiler. And because I haven't started the second book yet. I just bought it yesterday! :o

Okay so yeah, call me stupid or ignorant or oblivious. I didn't associate Juliette with Rouge of X-Men. Didn't even thought of it. and when it was mentioned yesterday... I was like "oh, yeah. they are alike. Huh. didn't thought of that." :P And the author honestly didn't know about Rouge of X-Men too! :P

The premise is actually quite good. I like how there's a community of THEM. :P Totally like X-men now that I think of it. It's pretty cool. Looking forward for the rest of the books.

OH yeah, before I forgot, Tahereh said that there'll be e-novella coming up on Dec2013. and that the last book will be out on Jan2014 or Feb2014. >_< Too freakin' long.