Title: Shatter Me
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Release Date: 15 November 2011
Release Date: 15 November 2011
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal Fantasy
Series: Shatter Me #1
Pages: 338
Series: Shatter Me #1
Pages: 338
Summary:
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 is with much dystopians and post-apocalyptic novels, we are left in the dark as to how we reaches its terrible, miserable, rotting state. All we know is that something really really bad happened with the environment, then this army comes along and promises to save them from their terrible terrible life, and of course they're corrupted, and they rule with their fist. of. TERROR.
Juliette is this girl who thinks she's a freak because she has the Death-touch (THE
One day in her dark and dank prison, a new cellmate gets shoved in. Surprisingly, it's a boy, and he's not insane! Things happen along the way.... and Juliette gets attracted to the boy, Adam, but then she's recruited by the army to be their lethal and dangerous weapon because, yeah she can massacre everyone.
Of course Juliette doesn't want to go on a spree of wanton destruction and death (heh, I like the word wanton) but the other option is back into her cell. Talk about Scylla and Charybdis.
She tries to escape- and with the army on her heels and some baggage to boot, who said life would be boring for Juliette?
She tries to escape- and with the army on her heels and some baggage to boot, who said life would be boring for Juliette?
***
After hearing so much rave about the book, I decided to give it a go and judge for myself whether it is, as many reviewers claim, AWESOME.
BUT NOOOOO. It bordered on the line of above average, rather good story line, but NOT as awesome as they have claimed.
The bulk of this book involved foundation building, background building, and most of the action or pacing just led up to escaping where she was or joining the group against the Reestablishment.
The anticipation... was not there. Juliette has numbed her feelings, yes. But in doing so, you have made the voice of the book more unemotional. Less vibrant, so to say. I did feel the moments of her passion, but the words used seemed to induce more monotony, as compared to life.
Useful, when you want to get the point across of her being broken and glum, then using more colourful words when describing her with Adam, or when describing her powers.
But seeing as these moments don't happen much, it sort of makes the book... feel like a death toll. It dampens your spirits. I want to feel the anticipation, but under the circumstances, you just feel quite tired.
But I did enjoy the way Tahereh Mafi's detailed description of well, everything, making much use of metaphors. Although sometimes it may be rather overkill, it helps to paint a more accurate image in your head. It may also suggest that Juliette, being so sensory deprived in her gray dungeon of doom and gloom, or more commonly known as prison, she just soaks up everything she sees and compares it to what she used to know. After getting into the book, you would get quite used to it. Well I'd be shocked if there were no detailed descriptions in every chapter.
Thestriked out words in the book added a more unique element to the book that we rarely see in other books. It was something new, and I enjoyed how they showed Juliette trying to hide the facts, omitting hurtful memories from the past. They also answered many of our questions pertaining to the mystery of her family, background etc. It was also pretty wicked that it looked handwritten. Like the author took out the manuscript and started crossing out words by hand.
Now to the romance. You can call this a romance novel. Oh yes, very much. Juliette and Adam burned my eyes off with the times they tried sneaking their in their little romantic interludes. Thank goodness this is Young Adult or we'll have about 150 more pages.
Just a sidenote- is the word 'dystopian' synonymous with the word 'romance'? Not that you can't have romance, but the scale in which we have it is... astonishing. The love at first-kiss thing is getting rather old.
Then again, for those who enjoy romance in their stories, it would be pretty happy-making for them.
The bulk of this book involved foundation building, background building, and most of the action or pacing just led up to escaping where she was or joining the group against the Reestablishment.
The anticipation... was not there. Juliette has numbed her feelings, yes. But in doing so, you have made the voice of the book more unemotional. Less vibrant, so to say. I did feel the moments of her passion, but the words used seemed to induce more monotony, as compared to life.
Useful, when you want to get the point across of her being broken and glum, then using more colourful words when describing her with Adam, or when describing her powers.
But seeing as these moments don't happen much, it sort of makes the book... feel like a death toll. It dampens your spirits. I want to feel the anticipation, but under the circumstances, you just feel quite tired.
But I did enjoy the way Tahereh Mafi's detailed description of well, everything, making much use of metaphors. Although sometimes it may be rather overkill, it helps to paint a more accurate image in your head. It may also suggest that Juliette, being so sensory deprived in her gray dungeon of doom and gloom, or more commonly known as prison, she just soaks up everything she sees and compares it to what she used to know. After getting into the book, you would get quite used to it. Well I'd be shocked if there were no detailed descriptions in every chapter.
The
I also liked the way they described Warren. The slightly deranged megalomaniac who may be quite, rather, maybe very, infatuated with our protagonist. And here we have our classic villian. I can imagine him with a goatee and an expression of villanous delight. He tries to convince dear Juliette to join his side with her death-touch powers with nice dresses, food, and 24 hour security. Who doesn't love a guy like that?
Now to the romance. You can call this a romance novel. Oh yes, very much. Juliette and Adam burned my eyes off with the times they tried sneaking their in their little romantic interludes. Thank goodness this is Young Adult or we'll have about 150 more pages.
Just a sidenote- is the word 'dystopian' synonymous with the word 'romance'? Not that you can't have romance, but the scale in which we have it is... astonishing. The love at first-kiss thing is getting rather old.
Then again, for those who enjoy romance in their stories, it would be pretty happy-making for them.
Some cover love coming up. I also love the cover. Look at it! Isn't it one of the nicest you've ever seen this year? Oh drool. The dress. The fierce girl rocking the dress and the cover. It also has the symbolism of Juliette breaking away from what she used to think. Does it look good on my shelf? Yes it does. Can I say the same for the story? :'( Pity for a book with such a pretty cover.
Would I recommend this book? I would.... but only when you've read all other better books. I can only cross my fingers and hope that if this is just the foundation builder, the next one would get down to buisness and hopefully get me more into the groove. Personally, I think you should read it to find out your own thoughts on the book.
Having said that, this would appeal to most dystopian fans, romance readers, people who enjoy rather unsettled characters and those who prefer some military action.
Having said that, this would appeal to most dystopian fans, romance readers, people who enjoy rather unsettled characters and those who prefer some military action.
4/5
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