Shatter Me - Tahereh Mafi

No. I'm not talking about the completely AWESOME song by Lindsey Stirling featuring my girl crush Lzzy Hale. I'm talking about this book. And I know I am late on the band wagon for this book….but it has been read and hmmmm….very interesting….

I have a curse
I have a gift
I am a monster
I'm more than human
My touch is lethal
My touch is power
I am their weapon
I will fight back

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.

 Alright. Let us go down the check list, shall we?
Young Adult? Check.
Dystopia? Check.
Love triangle (as strange and uncomfortable as it is…)? Check.

But what is this? A girl who can’t touch others because she can kill them? Unique writing style? Interest piqued!

What I love about anything else in this book is the writing. I wasn’t really all that interested in Warner or Adam or even how the world turned into a pile of shit. It’s all about the writing. The writing is stunning. It is gorgeous. And you can feel Juliet starting to lose her damn mind. From the very beginning, from the very first sentence, I was completely hooked. I had no other interest than to see what was going  on inside of Juliet’s head. I loved how Tahereh Mafi made me feel like I was having a nervous breakdown along with Juliet. It was beautiful and moving and sad. I just loved it.

And the rest of the book left me feeling, well, “Meh.” The writing is good. The story moved along at a good pace. I just wasn’t into all the action scenes and plot twists like I should have been. I was really just intrigued with the craziness of Juliet. To not be able to touch anyone for fear of killing them? This must be what it’s like to be inside of Rogues head!

I do have the second book and I am excited to read it. I am interested to see what becomes of Juliet. Personally, I think she’s being used by this secret resistant group. What makes them any different than the Reestablishment? But! That’s just me and I’m not going to give away any spoilers to what led me up to that conclusion. I just hope that Juliet ends up being a character who realizes she doesn’t need Adam or Warner to believe in herself and not rely on some man to make her feel strong and empowered. Just saying…..

I do suggest this book as it is a good read, intense, but a good read none the less. You will devour this book and think later on it. And, if you're anything like me, you're favorite part will be all about Juliet's psychosis. Is that wrong? Yup. But then again...what's wrong with being a little crazy?

Remember to always be yourself. Unless you can be a pirate.
Then ALWAYS be the pirate!!