Book Review: SHATTER ME by Tahereh Mafi

Also see my review of Unravel Me and Ignite Me



Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi


My rating: 5 of 5 stars



What an amazing way to start off 2012! This book surpassed every expectation I had. I was completely and utterly shattered by everything about this book. I cannot recommend this book higher, because, unfortunately, my superpower is not in raising the maximum number of stars to at least one million. Best. Book. Ever.

Truly.

I am not just gushing here. Okay, I am gushing a little, but just a miniscule amount compared to the amaZING awesomeness that is SHATTER ME. Stop reading this review and RUN to the nearest bookstore and buy it. You won't regret it. This book is among my favorite Christmas gifts. And, believe me, I received autographed books. An autographed copy of this book (or an autographed bookplate to stick in my copy) would put it even higher on my list!

Now onto the description.

It is a bleak future, devoid of life as we know it. Plants and animals have died out. The environment is irrevocably damaged. It is our fault. We let this happen.

Even worse, this inextricable change has caused Juliette to have a terrible power. Her touch is lethal. Her parents don't want to deal with her, and when the truth of her powers becomes all too clear, Juliette is locked up in an asylum for a death she never intended to happen.

She counts the days minutes hours seconds and writes about it in her journal.

But when she's faced with a cellmate, things become even worse. Her cellmate is a boy. A boy she knows from her past. And she's not sure if he's there to help her or hurt her.

I would love to give you more, but you won't need it. Honestly, I was completely captivated by the end of chapter one. The ratio of questions to answers moves progressively forward, but elusively never enough.

The author expertly drives the story forward on the razor sharp edge of a knife. With it, she (gently) twists the blade in the reader's side and keeps twisting this way and that all the way through the book to the amaZING ending that is as mindblowing as the end of CATCHING FIRE from the HUNGER GAMES trilogy. I am not even kidding. The tension is palpable and kept me turning pages as fast as my fingers could find them as fast as my eyes my eyes my eyes scrambled down the pages devouring gorging reading every word and every lined out word I could find.

Juliette becomes torn between a boy she loves and a boy who thinks he loves her, in his own warped and twisted way. Namely, if love were equal to power. Without giving anything away, Juliette must decide whether to become a weapon of the evil dystopian government, or whether to risk everything for love and take matters into her own deadly hands.

I guarantee you won't be able to put this book down once you start. My wife and I even raced through the book to the end it was so good. I won, of course, but you can have your own wrestling match and get this book. Just don't tell your spouse you have it, or she'll try to steal it from you before you're done.

Oh, and this book has already been optioned for a movie. And, books 2 and 3 are on their way. Join the ranks of those who are gushing about this book, and salivating for book 2. You'll love me for it. You'll hate me for it. I'm okay with that.

Trust me.





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