Shatter Me (Shatter Me, #1)

by Tahereh Mafi

Kate Simses (Narrator)

Ostracized or incarcerated her whole life, seventeen-year-old Juliette is freed on the condition that she use her horrific abilities in support of The Reestablishment, a post-apocalyptic dictatorship, but Adam, the only person ever to show her affection, offers hope of a better future.

• ISBN10: 006211123X
• ISBN13: 9780062111234
• Publish Date: 15 November 2011 (first published 1 January 2011)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: HarperCollins Publishers Inc
• Edition: Unabridged edition
• Format: Audiobook (MP3)
• Duration: 9 hours and 13 minutes
• Language: English

Reviews

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

Find more reviews like this at The Literary Phoenix.

Juliet knows nothing but hatred and isolation.

And yet, she is a sweet kind soul.  Her heart is broken by her past, by the things she has done that were beyond her power.  Her very skin is a poison.  She is locked away for the safety of the people who surrounded her - unwanted my her parents, there is no where for her to go but the asylum.

Then, one day, there is Adam.  He is dragged into her cell and awakens life into her.  He is not afraid of her... perhaps only because he doesn't know how dangerous she is?  But with Adam come a barrage of changes and soon Juliet is scooped up by a madman in the military who wants to use her as a weapon.  But she just can't do that, and Adam won't allow it either....

If you're looking for a love story, you'll love this book.

Juliet was bound to get a tragic love story with a name like that.  This is a book about mutants and military dystopias in a post-apocalyptic world, but all that is really just setting for Adam and Juliet's love story.  It feels like insta-love, but we learn that Juliet and Adam have a history.  Everything she is and everything she has done is known to him.

I detest love stories.  I feel like there's only a few ways to do them and that they're grossly overdone. Mafi adds some originality to her story by using its setting and Juliet's affliction and contributing aspects... but at the end it's still a boy-meets-girl type of tale.  And if you want something sappy and sweet, then you'll love this.  I proceeded to roll my eyes.  A lot.

Tahereh Mafi's writing is gorgeous.

For the first few chapters of this book, I was absolutely blown away by the gorgeousness of the author's writing.  Shatter Me is littered with similes and metaphors that will make your wordsmithing heart melt.  Her writing flows so beautiful.

I will admit that by about chapter 30 this became a little exhausting?  It was less flowery once Juliet rejoined the world, which was a good choice as we pulled more out of her head and into her environment.  I did appreciate the lyricism of this books and thought it bears mentioning.  I love writing that sounds like an exotic garden, but that may not be everyone's cup of tea.

I'm glad I read it, but I wouldn't buy it.

As much as I appreciate Mafi's writing style, the story really didn't appeal to me.  Like I said above - I'm not a romance reader.  I wanted to know more about the political intrigue and the mutations than I did about Adam's rippling chest muscles.  Juliet's history was interesting but the pacing was just gosh darn slow... if this hadn't been a fairly short audiobook, I don't think I would have kept listening out of sheer impatience.

However!  I do think this would appeal to all sorts of other readers.  Especially if you are the sort that loves soft squishy romantic boys and forbidden love.  This book isn't a love triangle (not really) so if you fall in love with Adam then this is 338 pages of bubblegum and fairytales and you will love it.

[Jo]

Review originally posted on Once Upon a Bookcase.

I have always been drawn to the cover of Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi, but although the idea of a girl who's touch was deadly was really intriguing, I'd kind of reached a point where I just didn't want to read any more dystopian. Thankfully, though, I bought it for the Ramadan Readathon, though a little warily, and it turns out I should have bought it much sooner. It's so bloody good!

Juliette has been locked up in an asylum for almost a year for the safety of others. She hasn't been touched, because her touch can kill. On top of this, she lives in a world that is slowly dying, due to climate change and humans' abuse of the world, among other things. The Reestablishment is in control. They promised they would make things better, but instead they make things worse, limiting what people can have, while they want for nothing. Warner, a leader of a section of the Reestablishment sees an advantage in Juliette's touch, and wants her on his side as the Reestablishment wipe out those who stand against them. But Juliette will not be forced to hurt, to kill. She will not become a monster.

There isn't a huge amount I can say about this book without spoiling the story. Not a huge amount happens, this is very much a first book in a series, setting things up for future books, but that doesn't stop it from being absolutely gripping. The writing is beautiful, and that's partly down to the way Juliette thinks. There's very little that's good in her life, so she find the beauty in the smallest of things. Her life is just so heartbreaking. But Mafi definitely has an extraordinary way with words, and her descriptions are just gorgeous.

The romance in the book is also beautiful. It's intense, but also slow burning, because of the situation Juliette is in. But there is so much passion, so much, and it's not all down to desire. It's a passion that comes from love, not from lust. There's a bit of lust there, too, sure, but it's a love that burns so brightly. It's magnetic and hypnotic, and so much wow. And it's different, because I've rarely read anything that is so intense unless it's an adult book that culminates in a sex scene. But this is mostly feeling, and but it's so strong it sparks in the air. It's just so, so wonderful.

The ending of this book is brilliant. It's just so exciting! It almost had me bouncing in my seat with excitement over where things will lead. There are discoveries, and there is a world Juliette never dreamed of. Although, in the great scheme of things, not much happens in this book, I have a really strong feeling that this trilogy is going to be one of the most exciting dystopians I've read. It's addictive and beautiful, and so, so gorgeous! I can't wait for the sequel, Unravel Me.

[Liz (Bent Bookworm)]

Made it to page 46. Nope nope nope nope. Too much too much too much angst and emo. Plus I smell a horrible romance/love triangle coming. Nope.

[Angie]

I think I liked this better on audio. It was great really getting into Juliette's head.

[Sam@WLABB]

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Another series I have waited too long to read. I have had this book since 2013, but for some reason, I kept putting it aside. I regret waiting so long to read it, because I loved it! A girl who could kill you with her touch. The Reestablishment is looking to use her as a weapon, but a boy from her past may save her from them, and from herself.

I loved the concept, but I have to say, what really kept me rapt was the writing. I love Mafi's style, the way she created and sustained the mood. I listened to this on audiobook (instead of reading my ebook), and the narrator did a great job pulling me into this sad, broken world.

[cornerfolds]

Warning: This review might be slightly spoilery, but I think pretty much everyone but me has read it by now anyway.

Shatter Me was recommended to me by approximately 17820183 people when I asked for a series where the bad guy gets the girl in the end. I went into this one knowing the ultimate romantic outcome, which I'm totally fine with. I didn't know a whole lot about this series other than that though, except apparently every person on the planet loves it. I didn't have super high expectations, I just wanted a good love story. Coming out on the other side, I'm thinking it's a good thing I wasn't expecting much.

This story is about Juliette, a girl who has super scary powers and hasn't seen another person in 264 days. Her entire life has been terrible up until the point when she suddenly gets a roommate (which never happens) at the mental institution she's currently locked up. Her roommate, Adam, happens to be a guy she knows and she immediately starts swooning over him. Juliette is a little messed up in the head after having such an awful life, which is understandable to an extent, but this book takes it to a ridiculous level and Juliette ends up being the kind of speshul sneauxflake character I wish I could just put out of her misery. She is weak and pathetic and is almost constantly crying, shaking, or gasping. The declaration in the synopsis that Juliette has to make a choice to be a weapon or a warrior is totally misleading.

Adam, the love interest, is a Gary Stu who is super swoony because... why? I never quite figured it out. I know he apparently has super amazing blue eyes. Other than that, I don't get it. Of course, he wouldn't be a true sneauxflake if he couldn't do something extra amazing which, in this case, happens to be touching Juliette. He is the only person who can touch her without dying. Awfully convenient, eh? I'm going to jump immediately into one of my main issues with this book here. The descriptions that Juliette used for everything were so ridiculous, even when they weren't completely insane metaphors. She used the term "small smile" to describe Adam's smile at least 278 times. I swear to you, this



is how I started seeing him after the 10th time she said it. (Go ahead and bow down to my mad photo editing skills. I laughed so hard, I cried.)

And then there was Warner. He's about the only character in this story with any real depth and honestly the only one I had any real interest in getting to know. IF I continue with this series, he'll be the only reason. I'm not really clear on how Warner is going to become a love interest, but he HAS to be better than Adam.

The world building in Shatter Me is almost non-existent. This book markets itself as dystopian, but it honestly isn't. It's a romance novel barely, barely passing itself off as something more. But hey, I wanted romance, right? I definitely got it!

As I've already mentioned a little bit, the writing was really my main issue here. It tried really hard to be unique but came off as really, REALLY annoying instead. Part of the problem is that I listened to it rather than reading a hard copy. If I had a copy in my hands, I would've skimmed a lot of the repetition, but I couldn't really skip past it. The absolute WORST was when Juliette repeated "I am not insane" at least a hundred times. I was ready to put my fist through a wall. Several other people have already listed some of the cringe-worthy metaphors, so I won't go into much detail there. Here are some of my personal favorite quotes, though:

"My mouth is sitting on my kneecaps."

"I am an old creaky staircase when I wake up."

"I'd like to cry into his eyes."

"My jaw is dangling from my shoelace."

I just literally cannot deal with this writing. At first it was unique, but by the end of the book I was rolling my eyes at least once every 5 seconds. I actually have a headache.

Tahereh Mafi tried so hard through the writing style to make this book unique that I was honestly shocked when, near the end, this became an actual ripoff of X-Men. Seriously. The whole gang was there. Rogue, Professor X, (male) Storm, and others. They had Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters Omega Point. They even had the suits! The only difference was that Rogue's Juliette's suit was purple. I swear to you, Adam actually told Juliette that she looked like a superhero at the end.



I didn't completely hate it. I just didn't like it and probably wouldn't recommend it to anyone over the age of 15. I will probably still read the next book just because I know how the romance ends and I'm interested to see how it gets there, but that's honestly the only reason. Morbid curiosity.

[sarahjay]

:|

[Chelsea]

Quick Thoughts
1. This was a reread and it wasn't as good as I thought it was.
2. I can't stand Juliette. She's the most annoying character ever.
3. Plot was great. Tons of action.
4. Warner is a very interesting character. I like him a lot.
5. Juliette's power keeps changing and I'm not sure I like that.

[leahrosereads]

2.5 Stars - but I refuse to round up

So, it’s the end of the year, and I’m trying to get a couple more books completed for fun, and since YAs have always been really quick reads for me, plus all the hype surrounding SHATTER ME and this trilogy, I decided to give it a shot.


Hype not met.


The writing is gorgeous, but the characters are extremely one dimensional. I honestly felt like there was just a lot of fluff, and very little sustenance to hook me into this series. Maybe the other books bring this tale together more fully, but I’m probably not going to find out, because nothing about this book makes me want to continue reading Juliette’s journey. You can’t give all the awesome information in the last 10% of a book and expect people (me) to want to continue the series when I’ve already made my decision after reading 80% of the book.


Also, living in Juliette’s head for 300 pages was just this chaotic mess of metaphors and disappointment. Being stuck with her the entire time almost made me DNF this. She was honestly probably my least favorite main character of the year. Which is even worse, because I was hoping to end 2014 on a high note.

Adam - too perfect. Just this bland white knight wanting to rescue his princess. He’s not realistic, and honestly, he’s not even remotely a decent fantasy of a perfect character. I would love to have seen him as a more dimensional character, and by the time you see a glimpse of a potentially neat character, he’s already too boring to give a damn about.

Then there was Warner. Why he’d think Juliette would want anything to do with him, after what he does to her, is insane. And honestly, I don’t want to continue this series because I’m assuming that Juliette ends up getting together with this psychopath. He’s an abusive piece of shit, and I’d like to see him gutted and left for the buzzards. I don’t care if he ends up rescuing kittens later on in the series, he’s an obsessive freak who has his soldiers rearrange Juliette’s organs. How she could find this fucker even remotely appealing is beyond me.



However, there were parts of the plot that intrigued me. Mostly the world itself, but because the world almost felt like an afterthought in the last few pages of the book, it just wasn’t enough to hook me. Also, the above characters made me want to toss my tablet against the wall.


I’m pretty disappointed with myself for reading and finishing this book. I feel like I’m going to HAVE to find another book to read, because I’d hate to end 2014 on such a blah note.

[vagasker]

I give up, I just can't finish this book. This book is just not for me. I really like the concept, but Julliette is just too much a Mary Sue and the romance is unbelievable and too cheesy.