4/5 Stars
Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
Publisher: Harper
Publication Date: Nov 15, 2011
Review:
Juliette has been in solitary confinement for 264 days in a
mental institution. On day 264 she gets a roommate. A roommate from her past,
but does he even remember who she is? And what is he doing here in the first
place? Thus starts Shatter Me and I must say I was gripped from the very first
page!
What stood out the most about Tahereh Mafi’s debut novel is
just how well written it is. At times it felt like I was reading poetry, the
prose is just lovely and I truly enjoyed the analogies Juliette used. The emotion
the writing evoked was immediate and at times heart wrenching. I liked that
Mafi never suffered from telling not showing. Every detail was described in
depth and it gave me more of a connection to Juliette then I otherwise would
have had.
Unfortunately, I was not a huge fan of the world building. Despite
being beautifully written some things in this dystopian society just didn’t
make sense. For example, it is impossible to find food and all of the animals
are dying (there are apparently no birds) yet during a raid someone left a bag
of groceries in their car, with bananas! I assume if food was impossible to
find no one would be leaving it behind no matter the danger. Also how did they
get bananas?! We have to ship those to the states now which is not an easy
process. If the world is falling apart and there is no food available, I highly
doubt they will still be shipping banana’s to stores. It was little details
like this that bothered me in regards to the world building.
I also loved all of the characters in Shatter Me. Juliette
was a great lead, despite having really never been touched in her life she
still cares for those around her and wants to be accepted. There is no hate or
thirsting need to punish those that treated her badly, it made her a easy
character to root for. I also liked Adam, the male lead, the romance between
him and Juliette was hot! I loved their chemistry although at times I was like,
ok guys, we need a little less kissing a little more getting out of danger. And
then there was Warner *sigh* I do not like him as a love interest for Juliette
but I do like him as a character. He was controlling, a total bad boy with a
chip on his shoulder, and sort of evil. For those of you who read my reviews
regularly you know this is pretty much my type to a T, so it is no wonder that
he became my favorite character.
Overall, Shatter Me was a solid 5 stars right up until the
end. I did not like how everything was conveniently solved and Juliette was
safe and sound (also really bananas?!). I mean there are still issues to be
resolved in the next few books but I didn’t like the perfect package of an
ending Mafi leaves us with. I wanted something more then what I got and so I
had to rate it 4 rather then 5 stars.
Ohhh I'm so sorry you didn't absolutely love it because of those little things. You're a more observant reader than me because I never noticed the banana thing! I totally agree about Warner; I LOVE him as a character, he's perfectly ruthless and bad but as a love interest I despise him!
ReplyDeletegreat review :)
Jade @ Ink Scratchers
Great review! I don't think I even noticed the bananas thing (I'm going to have to go back and reread it!) It's like how Article 5 and how they buried the cow when everyone was starving - that drove me nuts. Still, I'm super excited for the next book in the series!
ReplyDeleteI've heard so many awesome things about this book, but I haven't had a chance to read it yet. Great review! I don't generally like either. when books end wrapped up in a neat little package that doesn't really fit the rest of the book. Nevertheless, this is still high on my wishlist.
ReplyDeleteHmmm I hate stories where the world is really hard to understand. While I loved Possession by Elana Johnson, I was really confused when it came to understanding the dystopian world they lived it. Nevertheless, it sounds like this one is still a great read! I may have to pick it up sometime! Great review :)
ReplyDelete-Jessica (Peace Love Books)
Great review. I adored the writing in this one as well. It was just beautiful. I also really liked Warner as a character but not a love interest. I agree about the ending but I still enjoyed the book and I'm definitely looking forward to the sequel!
ReplyDeleteI LOVED the style of writing in this one! I lent it to my sister, and at first the style made her hesitant, but she ended up loving it! And she is PICKY lol. Great review!
ReplyDelete