TITLE: Shatter MeAUTHOR: Tahereh Mafi
OWNED BY CCLS? On order.
Juliette is untouchable. (Scratch that.) Juliette's touch is lethal. Her special powers are actually to blame for the death of a young boy at a supermarket. Due to this particular incident, Juliette finds herself locked away by The Reestablishment (a futuristic type of government) with no hope of ever seeing the outside world. She has been deemed a monster and a criminal and even her parents were glad to see her go.
While Juliette is "living" in her cell, The Reestablishment offers her the chance to live a life free of cells in exchange for using her special power to torture other prisoners and parterning up with Warner, a Reestablishment leader.
Will Juliette's desire for human connection force her to choose to use her powers for evil or will a surprising encounter with a guard cause her to believe in a better life, and in love?
M's Verdict: I'm on the fence. The premise was interesting and the ending left me wanting more, but I wish the beginning had been more to the point and less wandering. It seems like Mafi took a long time working up toward the roller coaster romance between Juliette and Adam and the thrilling escape from The Reestablishment.
In regards to the actual writing, something that drove me absolutely NUTS in the beginning of the book was Mafi's lack of commas. I'm the first to admit that I am queen of run-on sentences, but come on! Plus the strike through text and repetitive phrases was kind of annoying too (I do understand that it was a way of understanding Juliette's thinking process, but I still found it bothersome). Here's what I'm talking about:
Just like all of the other new YA books I've read recently, I smell a sequel if not a series... So if you enjoy Shatter Me, find comfort in knowing there must be another one coming along shortly!
Click on the title header (above) to check out Tahereh Mafi's site (book trailer & more available online).
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