Shatter Me (Shatter Me, 1) Paperback – January 9, 2018

There are 3 major things I love about this book.The first is the balance on the edge of sanity. Juliette begins with a roll of a mini-book and a tiny pen where she scratches her thoughts. She has no one to talk to, so her thoughts begin as written and even when she is no longer living precariously out of that mini-book, her thoughts follow the pattern of writing to herself in it. She is forever catching her thoughts and correcting them.Sometimes, she is forcing her will over her emotions... sometimes it is her initial reaction that is virtually insane, but at other times it's her will-power insisting on an imagined reality that is even more insane. Either way, Mafi has captured a level of emotion and imbalance that is exquisite.As the story progresses and Juliette's confidence grows, these cross-outs lessen. She doesn't have to correct herself as often. Except in moments of great emotion... and it's precious. What she refuses to admit carries more story than the words she allows to live. Not to mention, so much more of Juliette's character is revealed without any description!The second thing I love is the use of Numbers."I've been locked up for 264 days... 1 window. 4 walls. 144 square feet of space. 26 letters in an alphabet I haven't spoken in 264 days of isolation... 6,336 hours since I've touched another human being." Pg 1Numbers are emphasized by using the numerical instead of letter form... Juliette divides her life into counting everything around her to keep her grasp on reality. She counts to wait. She counts to make sense of things. She counts to keep her brain ready to think because she also has moments of freezing, where she can't move and can't react and those moments frighten her. I loved, LOVED this use of numbers through-out the entire book.The third thing I loved, but I also squirmed uncomfortably with... there is an awful lot of sexual tension!! Consistent with the power of the first two major themes, Juliette's senses are so deprived that any TOUCH at all is an exclamation point!!! Experiencing human contact through her deprived point of view was... beyond words. My words, that is, so I'll quote again:"His fingertips are 10 points of electricity killing me with something I've never known before. Something I've always wanted to feel.`Then why are you here?' I whisper, broken, dying in his arms. `Why...' 1, 2 attempts at inhalation. `Why are you touching me?'`Because I can.' He almost cracks a smile and I almost sprout a pair of wings." Pg 117I loved this incredible dive into emotions, but, but... those shower scenes are... OMG!!! No, there's no sex, but only because they keep getting interrupted!!Here's my one tiny complaint: apparently Juliette is any-man's idea of beautiful `cause every one of 'em ogles over her. Since this is opposite of her childhood memories, it leapt out at me as beyond-believable. That EVERY man would suddenly desire her beyond their physical control was a little excessive for me. Adam makes complete sense... they have deep long-bonding connections that ooze believability. Warner also makes sense in a sick, twisted way.Warner, btw, is a great hate-able, detestable character and that hint of attraction between him and Juliette is extra creepy, but totally believable.It's just... every other man that saw her flipped over in awe of her seemed far-fetched `cause... frankly... if she was THAT hot, she couldn't be THAT innocent at the same time. You know? She'd have that cocky self-assurance that natural beauty slathers it's bearers with. So she's either one or the other... but both? End of teensy-weensy complaint.I've found one more thing I love about this book, now, which makes four:"He closes his eyes for half of a second and I marvel at the drop drop drops of hot water caught in his eyelashes like pearls forged from pain." Pg 117"Killing time isn't as difficult as it sounds. I can shoot a hundred numbers through the chest and watch them bleed decimal points in the palm of my hand. I can rip the numbers off a clock and watch the hour hand tick tick tick its final tock just before I fall asleep. I can suffocate seconds just by holding my breath. I've been murdering minutes for hours and no one seems to mind." Pg 127The writing behind everything... behind the numbers and the edge of sanity and the sensual tension... is incredible. It's picturesque, unexpected and sharply graphic. I don't know how many times my heart pounded and I stopped reading and just soaked up an odd phrase here or there, reading it over and over again wondering how Mafi ever thought to put those words together in that combination? She took a busy storyline filled with complicated characters and spilled it out her own unique way.You know when you love a book so much you have to read the Acknowledgements section? This thank you to her editor made sense:"It's been such a privilege working with someone who so absolutely understands my story. My characters are safe with you in a way they wouldn't have been anywhere else and I still can't believe I got so lucky."Actually... I can't believe we all got so lucky!! This book could have been edited to pieces, stuffed full of punctuation and strict rules about how numbers are handled in books, not to mention No Crossing Out when it's Thoughts and not even Journal Entries!! This book is a work of art from the writer all the way through the publishing industry... and I really love it.NOTE: At the book signing, Tahereh clarified that her agent loved the book in it's entirety, strike-through's and all, so there was never any scary looming publishing bullies to fight off. I was just letting my imagination go crazy in my own little world. Weird.Cover Commentary: What's with the dress?! I'm just curious... it's not even the shimmery one with the pockets or the too-tight one that's hard to run in. I was (happily) caught off guard when the story inside did not match that cover. The blips are right-on... but based on the cover, I thought some super-human girl in formal wear was going to storm the town.My Rating: 5 stars - Love it!! I love this book, I want to quote this book, reread this book... I want to follow the author around so I can listen to her quirky humor. Oh, I don't have to!! She makes vlogs!! Phew! That would be creepy!

It starts off kind of slow. But by the time they leave the asylum it gets good. If you like a slow burn/ love triangle romance this is your kind of book.

I had heard a lot of good things about this book, so I decided to give it a try and I'm glad I did because it was really good! I'm excited to read the next book in the series and learn more about Warner, because I really liked Adam throughout this book, but after reading Destroy Me at the end of the book, which I'm really glad it was included so now I don't have to buy just that book!, I'm more interested in Warner!

Title: Shatter MeAuthor: Tahereh MafiRating: 3.5My ReviewGiven that lots of folks have now signed up for my reviews, I feel obligated to actually finish one. :) I've been a wee bit busy publishing Emergence, the last in the Eden's Root trilogy, but I DID have a review waiting in the wings...I recently read Shatter Me and have been waiting for a chance to gather my thoughts for a review. It's been more challenging than I expected. As you know, I'm a huge fan of ya dystopians and apocalyptics, and in that way, Shatter Me is smack in my wheelhouse. But when I sit down to write my review, I find myself perplexed. I'm not certain how to express my feelings and perhaps that's because I can't quite put my finger on them.Lately I've been feeling like the whole STAR rating thing has to go because it's too hard to give just one NUMBER to a novel. Nothing illustrates that better for me than Shatter Me. I need stars for various categories: writing, originality, pace, tension, characterizations, sex appeal, etc. If I got to do that, I think I'd say:Writing - 4.5 - 5.0Originality - 4.5 - 5.0 (the whole not being able to touch people thing is very compelling...human touch is so very important)Pace - 2.0 - 3.0Tension - 3.0 - 4.0Characterizations - 2.5 - 4.0Sex Appeal - 3.5*sigh*Sadly, individual stars are the way of things, I guess. I've ended up slipping this book into the 3.5 bucket overall, but that is just my opinion or rating of this book for ME. I'm not sure it is a fair rating for everyone. Not that Ms. Mafi needs my help. Plenty of others have already gushed and squee-ed over this series, so I'm certain my personal take will be just that: personal.As a result of my shifting perspectives on Shatter Me, I have been reduced to lists of pros and cons to find my true feelings. Forgive my split personality disorder-esque ramblings. (No, not schizophrenic. People use this term all the time when they actually mean split-personality. Schizophrenia involves hallucinations like hearing voices or seeing people, as well as possible paranoia. Very different from split-personality disorder.)ProI found Ms. Mafi's writing style to be unique, adept, and often quite lyrical. I was intrigued by her use of the strike through to signify Juliette's internal censor, the things she didn't even want to admit to herself. It's a clever and effective vehicle. You'll note she even uses it on her cover. (I also think the concept of writing from the perspective of a young woman locked away in solitary for nearly a year was excellent and challenging.)ConSometimes the vehicle seemed repetitive. And sometimes the lyrical language strayed into rhythmic or repetitive prose that was intended to add beauty or feeling...but it often just jarred my flow.ProI'm not usually a cover fanatic, but I love the one above (liked it better than the one of Juliette in the dress). It is beautiful and subtle and intriguing.ConI "get" more of the world from this picture than the story.ProI've been waiting to get to this one for a while and I read it in one sitting. It was a fast and fun read, always a major plus.ConThe plot pacing seemed to jump around. Chapters go by (especially in the beginning) where nothing really seems to happen and then big changes all come at once. At times I thought I might put it down, but then I didn't...it kept me going... ("How is this a 'con' then?" I hear you cry. Good point. It's a semi-con because I did think about putting it down on several occasions. That didn't even occur to me with some others I've read.)ProJuliette is a kick butt heroine-to-be. You know how I love me a tough-a** lady. ;)ConShe's apparently stunning and is told so repeatedly by the men around her, but after three years in an asylum and with a mirror in her bathroom available, she didn't look at herself ONCE until just before the end? Even just to see how much she'd changed from 14 to 17 years old? That seemed off. Stretched my believability meter. Like we're supposed to see her as weak and discovering her strength. But in my mind her whole issue was being too strong so why not make her fiercer?ProAt the end, it seems that Juliette is transforming into the strong heroine I craved the entire story. Instead of all the, "woe is me, I'm a freak and a murderer," she starts to be more, "I could make a difference." In a skintight purple suit no less. (Again, she's apparently a bombshell who doesn't know it. Sometimes that bugs me a bit in ya or any genre, actually. - Don't worry...I won't use the "B" word here. :P)ConThe dystopian world. I don't get major pieces of it, but most especially Juliette's mysterious power. If toxins or radiation changed her, then a) why doesn't she know this? b) why aren't others affected, and since we eventually learned that there are others affected, c) how come Juliette didn't know that?Was she the only mutant when her powers first cropped up? If so, how come she wasn't globally famous as a lone freak? I dunno, there were just questions about the world around her and how it came to be.For those of you who've read many of my reviews, you KNOW this is my most frequent howl (bugaboo, frustration, obsession...choose your own term) It derives from my love of science-fiction. (DON'T use the word "hard" science-fiction with me, please...see my last post on this topic.) I don't care if the explanation someone gives for things (ummm, for example, the near end-of-the-world) is mostly fantastical, as long as there IS one.In Shatter Me, Mafi gives us nearly zero in the way of explanation for the post-apocalyptic backdrop. Why aren't there birds anymore? Did they all die or just mutate? What about plants? Are they all gone? How do people survive? Is this all over the world or just certain areas? She starts to give you crumbs at the end, so I think perhaps she'll tell us more in the next books, but for now, I am left with too little information to really PICTURE Juliette's world and life.ProAdam is properly dreamy, hunky, and devoted. And if you believe him, then he's also a rare sensitive, kind, loving person in a horrific world.ConI feel attached to Juliette but not as much to Adam. I kept thinking, "This guy is a liar or something. He can't just be the awesomest, hottest guy ever who's been in love with her for her whole life only she didn't know it. Can he?" I never trusted him. AND the "insta-love" thing was tough for me too. These two were in school together for years, formed an unspoken attachment despite not really interacting, and then only three years later, they don't really remember each other? Or they do? It was a bit confusing. I like to see relationships build.Also, I started to get annoyed with the whole "sex interrupted" thing that was going on. The make-out scenes were pretty steamy (pro), but they were always cut short (con), and were sometimes a little too poetic for me...drinking each other in and such. I'm not a romance reader generally so that feel isn't for me. MANY readers LOVE that kind of thing, but I like a little more I don't know...kind of realism or detail in love scenes. I want less drinking each other in and more of where the lips or hands or teeth are at any given moment. But that's just me.The thing that did kind of kill me in the end was the way Juliette was basically begging Adam to ahem, take it all the way, and then they just never got to do that. She keeps being like, "I'm not telling you to stop," but then you don't get the sex scene. Teasing I guess, but I ended up being kind of "over" it by time number three or so on this, so I have no idea how Adam is taking it (ha). Maybe we get the consummation in the next book. I DO applaud her for not making Juliette a prude. AND I do understand that there is a specific perspective here: Juliette CAN'T touch people, so Adam's touch is incredibly overwhelming. THAT is very cool. (Crap, my CON has wandered into PRO territory again. Darnit.)ProThe villain is interesting. Warner is not just a twisted psycho, there are some layers -- some kind of past damage. She hints at something with Warner's mother, but doesn't tell you a single thing in this book about what that secret may be. Also, like Adam, he seems to be immune to Juliette's powers. Another secret to be revealed in coming attractions, it seems. Either way, I appreciate a villain with a little flesh to him/her, rather than a flat evil portrayal.ConThe villain can survive ridiculous injury somehow. This is very "Terminator" to me. Warner was shot at point-blank range (in addition to other things), and he lives through it just fine. It does make him scarier in a lot of ways, but it's very fantastical. Then again, this story morphs from one that seems a pure dystopian at first into more of a superhero tale as you reach the end.You can see why I've been tearing my hair out writing the review.I think I've figured it out...it was a very pretty and fast read. But it had too much pretty and not enough backstory/character connection for me. So in a way, something always felt like it was missing. BUT it had a ton of foreshadowing landmines built in that may be waiting to go off in the next book. Like Warner's mother. And is Adam really trustworthy? Or Kenji? Or the resistors in general? And what does the world really look like and how does it function if Juliette has been misinformed or our of the loop all this time?SummaryI want to be clear that a 3.5 IS a recommendation. There are just some aspects that feel unfinished...for me. These questions interest me enough that I will definitely continue with the series. Perhaps some of my cons will come off the table as the story comes to full incarnation.

I never thought I would read this because it looked like it would be to romantic. BUT I read the sample first and fell in love with the book I literally read it all day couldn’t even put my phone down had to keep reading it! Even though there are some romance scenes they are just so beautiful I do t even care that they are in there. I definitely will be reading the other books in the series and maybe even the other series.