Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
Published: November 15th, 2011 (HarperCollins)
Pages: 338
Source: bought
Challenge: Debut Author Challenge 2011
Series: Shatter Me #1
Buy the book: Bookdepository
Rating: ★★★★☆
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.
As THE title of 2011, my expectations for this one were sky high. While Shatter Me didn't exactly meet my expectations, it made a thrilling and exciting debut novel that I enjoyed a lot.
Mafi's writing is beautiful and she manages to create a terrifying, yet believable dystopian society with her beautiful prose. Juliette has been locked away for 264 days, but despite her isolation, she is remarkably clear minded. I love how the writing pulled me into Juliette's experience in the entire novel.
While I thought the blurb 'The Hunger Games meets X-men' was a bit overdone beforehand, that's exactly fitting for the book. The combination of dystopian and paranormal powers, together with Mafi's lyrical prose, makes for an incredible journey while you're sucked into Juliette's story. I found myself wanting more, reading more, flipping another page when I should have done other things.
Overall, I'd say that this is a great book. The only reason that it didn't get the full five stars from me is that it didn't meet my expectations, but admittedly, those were ridiculously high. I'm axiously anticipating book 2 because I want more, more more..
I'm really glad you enjoyed it, especially since I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of the sequel either. :D
ReplyDeleteCarina
Fictional Distraction
I really really have to buy a copy of this one .. I love dystopian novels and I seriously have no idea why I still haven't picked up a copy. I'm glad you liked it that much .. I totally understand that you were a bit disappointed because of the high expectations you had .. That happens to me pretty much everytime I read a book around which there's a lot of hype .. Great review Daphne :)
ReplyDeleteHello, Daphne! This is the first time that I comment in your blog, although I've already visited it lots of times! =)
ReplyDeleteWell, I liked Shatter Me cause I do think it's a great book with a great story, but I just gave it 3 out of 5 stars, because, I think, my expectations were absolutely high. For me, the first half of the book was really slow. I mean, I did understood what Julliete was going through (well, at least I tried). And then I really liked the other half, and this is why I am really looking forward to reading Unravel Me.
Just love your blog and videos! =)
I also have a blog. It's called Queridos Livros, but it is all written in portuguese... But if you want to visit it, this is the address:
http://www.queridoslivros.blogspot.com