Review: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Title: Shatter Me
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Publisher: Harper Collins (November 15, 2011)
Source: My Choice; Own

From 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. 

I've been dying to read Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi. Dying! As a child, I was always a huge fan of X-Men and my favorite has always been Rogue. Just as I was super excited about the movies that focused on Rogue (& Wolverine), I was just excited to learn about Shatter Me. Doesn't Juliette sound just like Rogue? What better way to combine my love of X-Men and my love of books?

The writing style in Shatter Me is completely unique. I feel like it breaks all kinds of rules, but it doesn't really. Writing is good when it draws someone into the story and this type of writing definitely does that. It doesn't matter that the sentences aren't all proper sentences, that words are scratched out and rewritten, that phrases are repeated. It's very much like the reader is in Juliette's head. The words are her thoughts. It's this type of out-of-the-box thinking that makes the writing so unique and interesting. I can't wait to read more from Mafi.

Okay, so the writing's good. But what else? 

Um...

Everything! 

The story kept me interested throughout. There was never a moment where I wanted to put down the book. Honestly, if I hadn't been so sleep deprived, I probably would've read straight through from beginning to end. Since I was, I finished it early in the morning after sustaining sufficient sleep (something I think Juliette could appreciate :D). 

The characters were just as intriguing. I adore Adam. I don't want to spoil him for readers, so I won't say more, but I just absolutely loved him, through and through. I can't wait to read more about him. Warner was an interesting character also. I wanted to hate him, but I couldn't quite hate him as vehemently as I wanted too. Mafi created him so carefully that I could see his humanity, the chinks in his armor. I felt bad for him just as much as he repulsed me. Kudos to you, Mafi. 

And dude, there's another character we don't see till later so I won't even say his name, but I really enjoyed Adam's friend. ;) I didn't know what to think about him when first introduced, but I think I love him. He's hilarious and exactly the kind of guy that would be fun to hang out with. He's the kind of guy you slap because he's so rude, but you're smiling and forgiving him as you do it. I hope we see more of him. 

Overall, Shatter Me is a home run. There's action, mystery, tension, awesome writing and great characters. There's romance for those that like it, but not overpowering for those that don't. There's depth without becoming an exercise in introspection. It's just great. Read it.

Final thoughts:  Buy it.