Review: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi - Juhina

Title: Shatter Me (Shatter Me #1)

Author: Tahereh Mafi 

Publication date: November 15, 2011

Genre(s): Young Adult (Dystopian)

Publisher: HarperTeen

Source: Bought (Paperback)

Pages: 338

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.  

I have been thinking about how to write my review of Shatter Me ever since i finished reading it last week. How can a book this beautiful and mind blowing be given justice in a couple of sentences? Or how can my writing show how great and absolutely inspiring Tahereh Mafi's writing is?

There is no doubt that Shatter Me is THE BOOK of 2011 for me. It beats all the 98 books i read this year, and is up on my top 5 books I've ever read in my life. Shatter Me left me hungry for more and just astounded, that I recommended it to anyone who would listen! 

Juliette's touch is lethal, anyone she touches either ends up in great pain or dead. She has been in an asylum for 264 days and she hasn't spoken to anyone for that long. The dialogues and struggles that goes through her mind are just so gripping. I was so fascinated by Tahereh's writing, especially when Juliette thinks a thought, but scratches it out (literally, the sentence would be scratched out). This way of writing sucks me in so deep into Juliette's mind, to the point that I can feel how real her pain and struggle are. The characters are all likable, even the villain! You get a glimpse of all the character's feelings and their own struggles, which reminds you that people are not pure evil or pure good, that each character ended up the way they are due to their surroundings and the people around them (nature vs. nurture debate: I believe in nurture). 

The sizzling slow brewing romance between Juliette and Adam was magnificent! I didn't feel like anything was forced or unrealistic in terms of instant love. I especially loved the conversations Juliette has with herself when she starts to realize she's falling for Adam. A re-accuring description Tahereh uses is when Juliette blushes. She describes it in one of the scenes through Juliette's thoughts as "Heat rushes through my neck and i fall off a ladder holding a paintbrush dipped in red" She turns a simple description into an extravagant, beautiful one. I was reading so many of those to my sister, it was like beautiful poetry! 

You can notice all I have are high praises for this book, even though I had unbelievable expectations for it. All I can say is that this debut novel and author are ones to look out for, because Tahereh Mafi's writing is like a work of art, and who doesn't want to witness something as beautiful as this?

All Time Favorite: Please erase my memory so I can reread it now!