Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Source: Purchased
Genre: YA-Dystopian
Publisher: Harper
Date Published: November 15, 2011
Number of Pages: 338

~~I have a curse~~
I have a gift

~~I am a monster~~
I'm more than human

~~My touch is lethal~~
My touch is power

~~I am their weapon~~
I will fight back

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. (from Goodreads)

So, I read Shatter Me in under a day. Seriously. Baby and all. Under a day. Addictive doesn't seem to cover how much I ate this book. Shatter Me is like book crack. It was book crack. I couldn't put it down. I found myself letting Boo play in her crib (no crying or screaming) a little while longer than I normally would have just to finish a chapter, or read another short one.

You guys, seriously, this book. I loved it. I know that some think she's whiny, and doesn't do anything for herself, and I'd agree with you to a point. She doesn't do much. She complains, lets others push her around, faints a whole ton, and the writing has a ton of ~~this~~ going on. It drove me insane, to be honest. I understand the reasoning behind it, it's as if it's in someone's head, but seriously. ~~This drove me crazy!!!~~ But it wasn't that bad.

I felt for Juliette, loved Adam, hated Warner (Yes, I know about the Destroy me novella), and felt that the universe was so well developed it might actually be real, actually happen. Adam plays a wonderful male lead in contrast to Warner, and even though Warner seems very rough, there are hints of genuine care and compassion there.

Shatter Me was really short (338 pages, but short chapters that were cut at parts) and extremely fast. While I didn't like the first few chapters, I had an extremely hard time getting into it before Adam shows up, it picks up and instantly pays off at the end.

The ending is slightly open (you know there are sequels) but it doesn't end on something where you're instantly like "Oh my gosh I have to know what happens!! Does he live? Does he die? Does she say yes to the proposal?" (I'm channeling Twilight here, none of these things are even plot points in the novel...maybe)