ARC Review: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Title: Shatter Me
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Harper Collins
Pub Date: November 15, 2011
My Copy: ARC that I got at BEA, courtesy of Harper Collins


Book 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 Reestablish 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 it’s 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.

Book Review:

             One of the most original, captivating books that I’ve read all year long. This book is going into my top ten. Rarely do I read a book that had me hooked from beginning to end. The story just was beautifully written. Tahereh Mafi has done something extraordinary in her debut novel. From the moment I picked this novel up, I didn’t want to put it down. I found myself wanting to savor this novel with each page.

What I particularly liked about the novel was the way that she conveyed Juliette’s thoughts in the novel. Especially as the novel is told from Juliette’s point of view. Instantly you feel the intensity of what Juliette’s going through. Her pain at being locked away from the world. You like Juliette as a character. It’s not her fault that she has an ability that forces her to be weary. Like the fact that some of her sentences in her notebook are crossed out. These are her thoughts, but it’s frenzied. No one can be well after spending that much time alone in the nut house.

      Then begins one of the most intense starts to a relationship. Adam, a soldier gets put into the asylum with Juliette. Only Juliette, our heroine doesn’t know he is a soldier. Adam is curious about Juliette’s ability and why she is there. The relationship starts off slowly, but they knew each other, but neither one of them admit it. What I love about the relationship between Juliette and Adam is that they learn to trust each other. The other nice thing about the relationship is that Adam can touch Juliette. Neither one of them knows how this is possible.

        Juliette finds that a lot of people want to use her for their own purposes. This was one of the things that the author does well. I love how the heroine doesn’t want to be used. She just wants to live her life and be left alone. Nor does she want to hurt people.  The heroine remembers the pain she felt when she killed someone that she never meant to.

        The interactions in this book are intense and greatly written as what shines is that even as society is crumbling, people are taking sides, and Juliette will be key in deciding the fate of the world. That put tremendous pressure on our heroine.  Also like how we switch scenery a couple of times in this book. Also like how the narrator made Juliette still maintain her humanity. She doesn’t want to hurt people or be used. In some ways she wants to left alone, yet there is an immense attraction to Adam and Adam helps her heal.

        Love the twists and turns that this book took. There were some risks that I felt that were necessary.  There was just an immense intensity to the interactions between characters. Yet I felt the love story between Adam and Juliette was so human and emotional between them. Not to mention how Adam and Juliette learn how to trust each other.  Plus they have to try to make the world better by the choices they make in this beautiful dystopian novel.

         I totally adored this book. Buy this book when it comes out November 15, 2011.  So it gets a rating of: