Review: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Shatter Me
(Shatter Me #1)

Author: Tahereh Mafi

Publication Date: November 15th, 2011

Publisher: HarperCollins

Genre: Dystopia / Paranormal

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Synopsis:

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: Poor, poor, poor Juliette. She has a terrible life. She can't touch anyone, or she might kill them. Her parents despise and hate her. She killed someone, accidentally, and so they lock  her up. She's never even been loved. At least until Adam shows up in her cell. Adam, the boy from her past, the boy who can touch her, the boy who seems to genuinely care for her. Until she finds out he was put there to spy on her for Warner, a commander of the Reestablishment who is obsessing over her and her "gift". She's hurt by this betrayal, is there no one she can trust? 

When I first read the blurb on Shatter Me, I was very intrigued. I also immediately thought of Rogue from X-Men. I would say the two are similar, expect Rogue actually had her parents love until  they found out what she was. Juliette had nothing, not even a friend. 

So I bought the book and started reading, I read most of it in a day, quite a feat with a teething baby. I loved this book. I haven't read very many dystopians yet, but I will be reading many more! I love how Tahereh Mafi wrote this similar to a journal, even scratching out thoughts  that weren't said. It feels more like you are right in Juliette's mind. At first I wasn't sure what to think about her mind. Juliette seems a little OCD with numbers, but I suppose she has been sitting in a cell by herself with no one to talk to in almost a year. 

Once she is out, you think things might get better for her, and it seems like they do, but she doesn't trust anyone, not that I can blame her. She quickly realizes that the Reestablishment just wants to use her abilities to torture captives, something she is not ok with. So she knows she needs to get away. Then she realizes that she can trust Adam, and that Adam can touch her and loves her and wants to help her get out so they can escape. The only problem? Warner is pretty much insane. He has been obsessing over Juliette for years and wants her to be his, she's disgusted by him. Will they escape? Read it and see what happens!

I found the characters to be well written and it was very easy to connect with them, or hate them. The story flows nice and fast, most chapters leaving off at a point where you just can't put the book down. The details about the world make it easy to envision, as dreary as it may seem. I'd have to say that Tahereh did a very good  job at creating this world, I'll definitely be reading more from her in the future. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a new dystopian to try out!