Wednesday 2 November 2011 | By: Nicole @ Nicole About TOwn

Guest Review: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Title: Shatter Me
Author:
Tahereh Mafi
Genre: YA, Dystopian
Rating:
PG
Publisher: HarperTEEN
Release Date: November 15, 2011
Pages: 342
Source: ARC from Publisher
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.





     "Their fear will work in your favour," he whispers in my ear.
     My humanity is lying in a million pieces on this carpeted floor.  "I never wanted them to be afraid of me."
     "You should."  He stops.  His eyes are calling me an idiot.  "If they don't fear you, they will hunt you."
     "People hunt things they fear all the time."
     "At least now they know what they're up against."  He resumes walking down the hall, but my feet are stitched into the ground.

Divergent, Delirium, The Hunger Games, and The Chaos Walking Trilogy are all great dystopian YA novels and all are equalled or surpassed by this debut novel by Tahereh Mafi. Mafi’s novel is a breathtaking work of art, her description on the fall of culture on page 60 left me in awe of this 23 year old writer's talent. (If you are hesitant to buy this novel after reading this review, flip to this page and bask in the eloquence… THEN buy the book.) 

The female protagonists in YA novels are often shy, awkward, and well…sappy. While Juliette starts off with all of these traits, Mafi introduces a new way to portray this. Juliette is censored (by herself) like this. As the book progresses, Juliette doubts herself less and less, and becomes a more confident and sexy woman. I doubt I am a part of the audience that Mafi intended her book for, but when I saw the synopsis compare it to the X-Men, well I couldn’t resist. 

Guys and Girls of all ages will enjoy this book, I’ve recommended it to others, and will continue to do so. Girls, if you enjoyed the previously mentioned novels, read this. Guys, if you enjoyed watching X-men as a kid, read this. This book was great, and the sequel will be SO FREAKING INSANE!!! Oh… also… on an amazingly awesome note the book has been optioned by 20th Century Fox.

P.S. You can read the first chapter on the Shatter Me Facebook page.




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I am a 24 yr old book lover. My room is a veritable library, albeit a messy one. I owe my love of literature to The Hardy Boys, though I quickly branched off into historical fiction which led to me currently reading just about anything. I attend Ryerson University and hate writing About Me blurbs. Also Neil Pasricha writer of The Book of Awesome says I'm awesome.


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

OMG I love this book. It may seriously be the best book EVER because of the writing style. I like your quotes!

Marathon said...

I looove this book! And I like sappy, so HA. *lol*

- Asher (from Paranormal Indulgence)

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