Shatter Me: A Review

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.

 

Typically when I go to my shelves to find a book to read, I'll read the first page of a few books and take the one that grabs me the most. I had probably read the first page of this one five times before it won out. And thank goodness. Now I'm dying to read Unravel Me (which, unfortunately, I left at home this morning, so I can't start it until later... boo-hoo!!!!).

I love the way this starts out. At first I really thought the scratching out of things was going to really bother me, but it turns out I actually really liked it. It really helped see into Juliette's head - the things she was thinking that she didn't want to think, the things she wanted to say but didn't. It definitely helped develop her character for me and see the kind of state she was in.

The world that Mafi created is a bleak one. I love that she starts out small; we're only introduced to the cell in which Juliette lives. Slowly we branch out - other parts of the asylum, into Sector 45's headquarters, and slowly beyond. We get introduced to this world as Juliette is being introduced to it and it is beautifully done.

When we're introduced to Adam we don't know anything about him, except that he seems to be more stable than Juliette. We see the slow but obvious connection between the two of them being built. I truly fell in love with him as the story went on... he was such a strong and gentle character. The chemistry between the two leaped off the page and into my heart. I couldn't wait for them to figure things out. The downside is that there doesn't seem to *be* a downside yet. Yes, he has an abusive past, but he's worked to overcome it. There has to be some conflict in there somewhere. Hopefully we'll get the novella soon and be satisfied on that front. Get more insight into the inner workings of Adam.

Warner. Seriously, dude, could tone down the inhumanity a notch? He wants Juliette all to himself, to use as he see fits. He seems to be nothing but a heartless murderer who gets pleasure from torturing others. I hated being trapped there with Juliette and wanted to escape his presence just as badly as she did.

Can't wait to see what happens in Unravel Me. I'm trying to decide how in the world other readers have taken such a leap to be "team Warner." Hmm...