Review: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

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Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
Release Date: November 15th 2011 (however it is already available in Australia)
Publisher: Harper Collins
Edition: Paperback, 352 pages
Goodreads | Book Depository

My Rating: 5/5

Goodreads: "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."

You guys!!! This book was AMAZING! I get nervous to read a book that has had a lot of hype, but Shatter Me didn't let me down! I started this one in the morning and found myself not wanting to leave my house just so I could finish it all in one sitting. This is one of those books that captured my attention from the get go and held it the entire way, which if I'm honest, doesn't happen very often!

This book was made available in Australia before its US release date. This really surprised me since we generally don't get anything before the US, we are lucky to get something 4 months later! When I found out that it was already available in Oz, that was it. I was in my car and going to the shops. Though I couldn't find it the first time I looked, I went back a couple days later and there it was, I could barely contain my excitement.

Juliette is no ordinary girl, and she has had no ordinary life. She can't touch people. If she touches someone for long enough, they die. While she was growing up, she was shunned, kids at school were told to stay away from her. Her own parents didn't interact with her due to their fear. One day there is an.. Incident I guess you could call it without giving to much away. Juliette gets taken away from her parents, without any resistance from her parents. She gets locked up in an institution where she sees and speaks to no one. Left alone in the same room for 264 days while the outside world goes through many changes. I loved Juliette as a character, though she is vulnerable, she isn't helpless. This I really liked. She is vulnerable as a result of her situation but she will always be a strong hearted person.

In walks Adam. No really he literally walks in to the room she has lived in solitary for 264 days. Why? She doesn't know, all she knows is that she has seen those piercing blue eyes before. Finally realising they belong to the only person who wasn't cruel to her in school, who even defended her when she was picked on. Adam comes across as a total jerk when he re-walks into her life, but he becomes a character that I love, and you probably will too. Still sacrificing himself to save her, even when he discovers her terrible secret.

This book was beautifully written. I really felt like I was in the head of a confused girl who has never had human contact. Her thought processes were confused and some thoughts were even stricken through, when she would think upsetting thoughts. I have to admit this threw me at the start, I found it hard to read the sentences that were stricken through.  When editing hand written work I will strike through sentences that I change or don't like, so when re-reading I would skip over the crossed out material. In a way this is what Juliette does. If she thinks something horrible - "my parents gave me up. My parents love me." This is not an exact quote as I don't have my copy on hand at the moment, but you get the idea. Also Juliette repeated herself, she would get hooked on a word and repeat it, generally three times. Like she was trying to convince herself that what she was saying was true or convincing herself not to do something. This really added to her confusion. I thought this was a very powerful and unique writing style, I really felt that I was in the mind of the utterly confused and lonely Juliette's head. I don't think this book would have been as effective if it was written in the average way. It just wouldn't have capture the voice of Juliette otherwise.

Overall a really great read. Tahereh Mafi has come up with not only an original idea, but an original way to portray Juliette's story. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves an engrossing read. I can't wait for the sequel to come out!!

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

Happy reading!
- Amy