Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Publisher: HarperTeen
Publish Date: November 15, 2011
Source: Tara at Fiction Folio for ARC Tour

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.

I'm not sure if I was just in a mood, but I really couldn't get into the first half. It simply just blah for me, but slowly and surely it really started to draw me in. By the end, I was completely engrossed and begging for the sequel. I'm really hoping for more of the dystopian world history and the science behind Juliette's ability in book two, though. These are the things that I really love about dystopian, after all.

Thereh Mafi does a fantastic job with the writing in Shatter Me. It was unique and beautiful with just a touch of quirky. I can honestly say I've never encountered writing like this before...and it's a great thing! The strikethroughs were interesting. I didn't always completely understand them, but I thought they were still a good peek into Juliette's thoughts.

I absolutely loved every single character. Not all were nice (I'm looking at you, Warren) but I still loved them all just the same. Usually side characters tend to be just that: pushed to the side and forgotten about. That wasn't the case in Shatter Me though. I loved everyone from James to Warren to Kenji to Juliette to...yeah, I could really keep going all day on this one. I have to say, though, I wasn't really an Adam fan until the shower scene. After that, you could say I was a pretty big fan. And speaking of that shower scene, let me just advise you to read this just for the sexytimes. Can we say amazing kissing scenes?

Final Thoughts: Though the first half was a bit shaky for me, Shatter Me is an absolutely fantastic read. The characters are all amazing, the writing is wonderful and unique, and, well, there's a good bit of kissing to add the extra little cherry on top ;]

Pages: 342
Series: Shatter Me #1 (planned trilogy)
Rating: 4 stars