This is possibly one of the most confusing books that I’ve ever read. What actually happened to the world to make this a post-apocalyptic style novel? Why does Juliette actually have this gift or power or mutant ability? Why do others also have other abilities? Why do both of Juliette’s love interests have an immunity to her power? In fact, who were most of the people who were introduced in this book.

This book was just incredibly vague in its writing style. Nothing is ever really explained. It was also incredibly gimmicky with the strikethroughs and the number obsession. It was actually really annoying to read a book with that because reading the numbers kind of pulled me out of the story because I read it and I had to wonder why the author had chosen to do that.

I just finished re-reading Tahereh Mafi’s ‘Shatter Me’ trilogy in preparation for the release of one of my most anticipated books of the year: ‘Restore Me’.

“And we are quotation marks, inverted and upside down, clinging to one another at the end of this life sentence. Trapped by lives we did not choose.”

It’s been four years since we left Juliette, Warner and the rest of Sector 45 and though I knew I’d loved the original trilogy back when I first read it, I struggled to actually remember what had happened. So I obviously had to binge re-read. And binge re-read I did.

Because I could not get enough of Tahereh Mafi’s writing.

“It’s the kind of kiss that inspires stars to climb into the sky and light up the world.”

Every feeling that Juliette has is vibrant and vivid and so incredibly palpable that I could feel her fear, her anger, her love, her lust. We’re with Juliette every step of the way and we see her go from a scared, broken girl scared of her own shadow into a hero who knows her strength and her worth. Mafi details every emotional detail of her journey – one where she’s imprisoned, captured, tortured, falls in love twice and leads a rebellion – and you get carried along with her.

Each word is deliberate and precise, the structure of each sentence is poised to deliver a particular emotion. And I’m hypnotised.

This wasn't the book I was hoping for, which was a shame as I know so many people love it. It's misleading to call this dystopian YA - it's primarily a romance (which is fine, but not what I picked the book up for), with dystopian touches. The world-building is vague and undefined (Juliette has been locked up for years, so this is somewhat understandable, but I feel like it could have been done better) and there's a LOT of purple prose, and sometimes the metaphors don't really make any sense. I'm prepared to let most of the issues slide as it's a debut, but I was expecting something better with the amount of hype. Apparently the sequels are better, so I may pick them up at some point - but I'm not really in a rush to read them after this. I'm not a fan of instalove (and there was plenty of it in here) and would have liked to see more of the world.

I enjoyed Shatter Me way more than I could have ever expected! I had so much fun reading this book that I immediately had to pick up book 2.

Set in a dystopian future where the world is falling apart, Juliette can kill people with a touch. The Reestablishment have her locked up for three years, isolated, until she is given a cell mate. Adam is a stranger, but something about him is familiar, and soon Juliette is thrust into the world of The Reestablishment and of Warner - the man who wants to use her powers as a weapon.

The concept has a few parallels with X-Men, but for me the novel definitely stood on its own. It comes with a different approach to the same ideas, and although it's not perfect, it sure is fun to read. The plot was lacking in a few places, but enough was provided to keep me hooked on the story.

What really had me hooked were the characters. Juliette is a brilliant protagonist. She is kind-hearted despite what the world has done to her. She is scared but strong and so very human, and all of that is reflected in her narratorial voice. The writing is rambling and self-correcting, but rather than finding it annoying, it made her character feel more real to me. I loved seeing Juliette grow and how her voice changes with her. I also loved Adam, who was a genuinely sweet love interest. I expected to hate the romance (as I often do), especially because it was so central to the story, but I unashamedly loved it.

As for the villain, Warner was amazing. I feel like I didn't get to learn a lot about him, other than the fact he is utterly repulsive. He is gross and predatory and enjoys hurting people, and he feels like the world has wronged him in the same way that it has wronged Juliette. But the difference is that Juliette wants to be better than him. I was worried that she would reciprocate his twisted feelings, but I'm glad he wasn't romanticised. I don't know if he will stay a villain, but right now he seems irredeemable and I like it that way.

Shatter Me is definitely not a story for everyone, but if you can get past its flaws, it's utterly engaging. I can't wait to see where the story takes these characters.

Enjoyable if a bit insta lovish - I liked how her power was actually really dangerous, rather than being something spectacular, like fire etc. It was nice to have it where there wasn’t an easy way to get around it. Also liked the conflict between Adam and Warner, and how creepily obsessive Warner was.

I had such high expectations seeing as how hyped the series is. Unfortunately, I found the two leads, Juilette and Warner to be too dislikable. I found myself trying to push through it but the over done dystopian elements made it hard to do.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. So, I can tell I'm going to have a hard time writing this review because I've actually already binge-read all four books in this series. Overall, I absolutely really loved this addictive, fast-paced series and would give the series, as a whole a 4 stars. However, this first book I kind of struggled with.


First, lets talk about what I liked in this book though. I really loved the writing style of this, especially as it reflected Juliette's mentality and thought processes. I feel like it really accurately portrayed her mental state after being left alone for so long in the asylum. I also loved her powers and was so excited to see more of them and how powerful she could become. I really enjoyed how quick and easy this book was to read. It was fast-paced and action-packed, and the ending made me immediately want to pick up the next book (which I did!). Mafi's writing is so addictive and enjoyable.



Juliette was slightly weak as a character in this book, but it definitely left a lot of room for growth in future books (and even a bit within this book!). Mafi has a great skill of writing complex characters with even more complicated motives and backstories. This is definitely more seen in future books though, and I wish this first book had more character development for certain characters, because a few of them fell flat to me (especially Adam). In the end, I gave this book a three stars because, although it was super quick to read and very enjoyable, the instalove was somewhat unbearable. I know it's addressed later in the series but this trope is just one of my least favourites things to see in YA books.



Overall, although it contained some tropes I really dislike, the writing style and addictive style of this book helped me to really enjoy it. I immediately picked up the next 3 books in the series and thoroughly enjoyed them. I think this is perfect for people who enjoy books with power/abilities or the dystopian aspects. I will say that this first book doesn't do justice to the rest of the series though. If you stopped after Shatter Me then I definitely recommend just reading the novella that comes after this book to see if it can convince you to pick up the next book. They're well worth the read!

Juliette has always thought of herself as a monster. Her parents gave her up and she has been ostracised for years because of a very unfortunate ability she has.
When we first meet Juliette she’s not spoken to anyone for over 200 days and is slightly mentally fragile (okay, very mentally fragile). She cannot touch anyone because her touch, literally, can kill.
With a ‘talent’ like hers Juliette is in demand with certain people. Unfortunately, she doesn’t know what these people want or what could happen.
There was a lot of detail not given early on and this made it a little confusing. I was very frustrated by the convenience of some of the plot developments, but the story did pick up pace and by the end we were into much more interesting territory.
Can’t believe it took me so long to read this, but thank you NetGalley for allowing me access to this title.

Rating - 4 stars!

I really enjoyed this book! I'm not a huge fan of dystopian novels but this one caught my attention for the hype surrounding it. I didn't think I would enjoy it as much as I did. I devoured it in one day and I was so intrigued by the story. The plot was fairly unique and it made me need to know more and more. The characters were fantastic and I loved seeing some character development so early on, I cannot wait to see what happens next.

The reason it didn't make it to 5 stars is kind of a personal shock for me. It was the romance. I love romance but I just wasn't a fan of this one. It felt forced, I was cringing and I honestly didn't feel the chemistry. It was too much at times and I felt that it was kind of the main plot of the book rather than the actual plot that it was supposed to be.

Overall, I will definitely be continuing this series! I really enjoyed it!

Let me just state up front: The Shatter Me series is now one of my all time FAVOURITE book series!

When I read Shatter Me, I was intrigued. The book gave me wonderful X-Men and particularly Rogue and Gambit vibes. I loved reading Juliette's internal monologue and the book is presented so poetically, you can't not fall for Tahereh's writing style.

The story didn't totally hook me, however, until I started reading the second book Unravel Me. Jumpin Jillickers, Batman, that book had me leaping to Amazon and ordering myself a hot copy of Book 3 before I was even 50 pages in!! (And Ignite Me is now on my list of Top Ten favourite books of all time!)

It's so hard to talk about this series without revealing spoilers, but I can say that if you like superheroes, poetic writing, characters that develop, change and grow and a swoon worthy romance set on a battlefield (literally and figuratively), then this is definitely a book you need to pick up!

I am eagerly counting the seconds until Restore Me arrives in shelves. My copy is waiting…

Many thanks to Netgalley and the Egmont Publishers for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this book from the get go.

I went into the novel being apprehensive, I read a few mixed feeling reviews and so didn't truly know what to expect but I absolutely loved it.

The writing was amazing and definitely was one of the things that kept me going filled with metaphors that helped me create an image of the world in my head with ease which is always a good thing when I am reading.

I enjoyed the characters though I would have wished that they had went into a little more depth about her powers as well as her family. The premise that she harmed someone had me reading quicker as I felt I needed to know what she had done.

My only issue was I wish here was more background to what happened to the families and the world, I felt that there wasn't enough background information for me to grasp what happened to not only her family but also to Adams father and his life before meeting Juliette.

I would definitely recommend this to any dystopian fans.

Excuse me, how did I overlook this title for the past few years?

I was hooked from the first few pages, and I want to absolutely re-read it in paperback! The writing is beautiful, the characters are awesome, even though we have the bad-boy cliche introduction at the beginning. This is everything I could ever want in a YA book!

Would definitely recommend to hardcore YA fans, basically I classic that I mistakenly missed!

I have been eager to read this book for ages. Its a book that has been incredibly popular and with a new book in the series being released I just had to pick it up.
Tahereh Mafi's style in the book is hard to get used to but I really enjoyed the unreliable narrator aspect of this.
As a 24 year old I struggled to connect to Juliette but I know I would have loved her as a teenager. I also feel like I know absolutely nothing about her powers. I don't understand what it is exactly that she can do. The two things we know of feel really different and I cant figure out how they're connected but I hope to find out in future books.
I have really enjoyed Mafi's other series and I'm happy to continue this one and learn more about the world and characters in this story.

Overall a good book, just nothing mind blowing.

This was one of those books that I just couldn't put down. The story plot is great and I really did enjoy it. However, I felt there was a lot of 'padding' in this. There seemed to be far too much 'description' that destroyed what was going on rather than helping the story move along. It was all irrelevant and at times it didn't make much sense. That spoilt it for me, but I did still enjoy the plot of it all. I may be tempted to carry on reading the series, but I'm apprehensive for this 'padding' reason.

The first half of this book was easily a five star read, intriguing and addictive with a style that was truly unique. I felt like it lost focus in the second half but I still can't wait to read the rest of this series.

Okay, I know I am very possibly the last person on the planet to actually read this book and everyone is off reading Restore Me the first book in the new trilogy but for some reason I've never really been able to find it. It's one of those series that everyone seems to go on about how much they either love or hate it but while I was really desperate to read it (so I could make up my own mind) it just wasn't on Amazon (and okay I could have ordered it from somewhere else but I'm lazy).

Needless to say when it popped up on NetGalley I started hammering that request button like a request button hammering machine (these should totally exist) and hurrah my request was approved (thank you NetGalley gods). As you can probably guess I had to start reading it immediately, and from the very first few pages it blew me away.

The style of it is just so unusual but so absolutely brilliant, I loved it. There was a warning at the start from the publisher that there would be crossed out words, numbers and generally just jumbled sentences and repetition and that this was deliberate (I guess some people have complained) and this really intrigued me and I thought worked so well for the story. Main character Juliette has been locked away, completely alone for almost a year so I think having some slightly scatty thoughts should be expected. I'm not sure what this says about me but there was so much I could relate to in terms of how her mind worked. Becoming fixated on things, getting easily distracted by objects that catch your eye and counting when stressed are all things I have been known to do on occasion so for me this seemed, not quite normal but certainly understandable.

This also made me sympathetic towards Juliette from the very beginning and I have to say that as a character I did like her a lot. I felt incredibly sorry for her, the prison spell is just the latest in a long list of bad things that have happened to her, but for the most part I really admired her. It would be so easy for her to be angry or dark but she fights all of the time to be a good person and to not hurt anyone. 

The beginning of this book was definitely the highlight for me and I felt certain this was going to be a five star read. I loved the confined setting and the way the relationship between Juliette and her new cell mate Adam develops, I loved the writing style and how stream of conscious-like it was and I loved how the author slowly introduced this dystopian world through Juliette's memories and Adam's updates. I even loved when Juliette was plucked from her confinement and given the option of freedom in exchange for working as a weapon for the Reestablishment.

Captor and potential savior Warner is an absolutely wonderful villain. There's something about him that could most certainly turn you to the dark side even while he's being completely evil. He can rationalize everything and almost convince you that he's right. The scenes between him and Juliette were absolutely wonderful. He tempts and torments and somehow worms his way into her mind, promising everything she could ever want while showing her just how dark he is. I really wanted as much of him as possible.

It is however around this point that I felt the book began to lose its way and what began as an intriguing dystopian turned into more of a romance. I do like a good romance and was definitely on board with that ship but it seemed to take over the whole story and was focused on at the most inappropriate of times. Yes, they may be on the run, seriously injured, possibly dying but let's just have a big long conversation about our feelings, rather than ya know running, getting help. Added to this the wonderful style used in the beginning was gradually phased out as Juliette became used to being around other people. I do understand this, it makes sense with the story but combined with the focus on the relationship it became a little bit average (sorry).

It is for the most part an intriguing and exciting story and had the focus not shifted this would have received the full five stars from me but unfortunately the second half was a little too heavy on the romance (and I read a lot of romance). I am however very excited about reading the rest of the books in the series and pre ordered the lot. I'm keeping everything crossed it returns to form, I really think it will.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book. As always this has not influenced my review.

This kind of dystopian the kids are alright tear down the system type book is just my jam. I wasn't fussed on the romance but then I rarely am. I lived Juliet as a character - believably flawed but with a cire of steel. This was fantastic. I need to get the rest of the series.

Juliette can’t touch people.

She’s been locked away in an asylum by the Restablishment government for murder. Every time someone brushes against her, Juliette’s power causes severe pain, and if she doesn’t push them away, it can prove fatal. Left to the cruel isolation of the asylum, Juliette hasn’t spoken a word in 264 days. She’s been all but forgotten about. Meanwhile, disease, poverty and global warming are destroying the population outside of Juliette’s cell.

But all that is about to change. Now, the Restablishment have remembered Juliette and her abilities. Now they’re considering using her as a weapon. Now Juliette has to decide if she’s a pawn or a queen.

First of all, thank you to Netgalley for an e-book of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

The Shatter Me books are one of those YA series you can’t seem to help hearing about. I’ve never heard all that much about them, but I have been pretty aware of when the next one in the series is being released, and I know quite a few friends who are in love with it. Having not jumped on the bandwagon at the right time, I thought it would be nice to give the first book in the series a go, knowing fine well that I was likely resigning myself to breaking the book ban and ordering the rest of the novels in a gleeful splurge on Amazon.

Well, dear readers, I’m sorry to inform you [but not my bank account] that I was woefully wrong. From the first few pages, I could see that Shatter Me was just not going to be my kind of book. I probably should have done more research before offering to read and review the novel, but I was slightly put off by the first chapter taking place in an asylum. It’s not that I have anything against books about people struggling with mental health issues [especially when they are well-researched] but I also know there’s a bit of a trope of YA novels starting out in this setting. Most of them I’ve read haven’t been up to scratch. And unfortunately, neither was Shatter Me.

I wanted to like it, I really really did. But I just couldn’t. There were so many issues for me with this novel, and I came away from it feeling as though the book was quite problematic, in a way that I haven’t yet had too much time to explore. And once I began to notice that, any hope of me falling in love with the characters or the plot fell way way by the wayside.

First of all, there was SO much exposition which didn’t really do much of a good job of actually explaining things to me, even in info-dump format. I get that it was a pretty complex world to be hurled into, and I suppose some of what pulled this back from being a total disaster was the fact that the main character, Juliette, has been stuck in an asylum for quite a few of her teenage years. Lots of things have changed since her arrest, so I suppose it makes sense that she explains all the differences between the world as she knew it and the world that now exists around her. It’s just not that well done, as far as I can tell, and a lot of the exposition is either info-dumps about things like the Restablishment or rebels which could have been done with more show less tell [and don’t think I don’t notice every creative writer reading this and wincing] and then there’s a bunch of other quite cringe-worthy additions readers really didn’t need to have thrown at them. Things such as Juliette’s fascinating thoughts on en-suite bathrooms: “I’ve heard stories about people with bathrooms in their bedrooms. I guess they’re not exactly in the bedroom, but they’re close enough.” Maybe en-suite bathrooms aren’t a thing in Juliette’s world, but surely there are so many other things she’s more curious about? I mean, the girl has been stuck in a cell for three years. Most of it is so unnecessary, that after a while it just makes me want to put the book down and have a nap. My other favourite was the entirely pointless: “He doesn’t speak for 30 seconds. Then he does.” What exactly, is this adding to the story?

And it ultimately distracts from the world-building. Because there were bits that were told in info-dumps rather than shown, which meant I glazed over them in search of more interesting reading, and then there were things I actually wanted to know which weren’t addressed. Maybe that’s because there’s more books in the series, and Mafi can’t give away all the answers in book one, but it did leave me feeling rather frustrated; who are the Restablishment? What are they trying to do? What about Juliette’s ability? Why can some people touch her and some can’t? What about the rebels? What about Juliette’s family? What’s happening with the rest of the world when everything else is going on? I don’t even really have an idea on the geography. I probably skimmed over it, but even now, having finished Shatter Me, I couldn’t tell you where it takes place. If it is a fantasy-based world or a country we’re familiar with such as England or America but dystopian. And that’s pretty unfortunate, because I lost any kind of potential connection I had with the characters through the lack of information on offer.

Furthermore, there were a ridiculous amount of coincidences in Shatter Me. I know, I know there are probably at least half of the people reading this shouting at their screens that lots of YA books are mired in circumstances, luck, and coincidences. But even so. If Shatter Me was a cake, and coincidence was a flavour like chocolate, then not only would there be chocolate sprinkles on the top, but the cake would be made out of chocolate, the icing would be chocolate. There’d be chocolate chips hidden in the cake, chocolate buttercream between each layer and when you cut into it, it would bleed chocolate. Which is fine if you have a sweet tooth like I do, but at some point it’s going to hit you that you’ve eaten about a month’s worth of calories in one go and the cake is actually so chocolate-y sweet that you’re feeling a touch nauseous now. Again, maybe this is just me reading book one and getting confused, maybe there’s a perfectly logical explanation for everything that goes on, but it isn’t in Shatter Me, so I don’t feel too guilty complaining about it [especially because I know a few readers who will kindly tell me I’m barking up the wrong tree if I do]. My main irk with this is the really big and largely unaddressed coincidence that occurs in the book: the fact that Adam [the love interest] and Warner [the enemy guy] both just happen to have the rare ability to touch Juliette. Perhaps it is some kind of special ability [I’m sure it is] but that doesn’t really cancel out the fact that there’s a huge bloody coincidence that the two people in the world who claim to love her [or to be obsessed with her] happen to be the only two people who can lay a hand on her without being in total agony.

There’s another good example too, the moment when Adam leads Juliette to a radioactive field in order to cancel out the tracking technology in his bloodstream. When she asks why the radiation hasn’t killed them, his response is on par with most of the wince-worthy bad fanfiction I’ve read over the years: “What about me?” I ask. “Can’t this radiation kill me?” “Oh– no.” He shakes his head. “One of the reasons why Warner wanted me collecting these samples? You’re immune to it, too. He was studying you. He said he found the information in your hospital records.”

Which um, okay? It raises many more questions than it answers though: Why would Warner care if Juliette is immune to radioactive landscapes [unless a large portion of the country is radioactive, in which case maybe we should be informed of that somewhere?] And why on earth does Adam happen to be also immune, which just so happens to become incredibly helpful since radiation just so happens to be the one way of making sure his tracker no longer works. It seems like a very simple solution to a problem that should be much harder to fix, and it leaves me feeling pretty cheated.

I have two more issues with this novel before I get to writing about some of the positives I’ve found. Both of them are kinda connected, in a sense. One of them is another, very over-done YA trope; the romantic relationships in Shatter Me. Firstly, we have a wonderful and awkward example of insta-love, AKA two characters who fall in love far too quickly to seem realistic, and then we have that dreaded love triangle between Juliette, Adam and Warner.

Let me talk about the insta-love first. I suppose you can argue that it isn’t insta-love exactly since the two characters happened to know each other at school and then were separated for many years before being reunited, but it’s kinda beating around the bush a bit. Juliette and Adam fall in love when they’re kids, right? They go to the same school, and there Juliette is treated like an outcast because nobody can get close to her, and they think she’s crazy, and Adam is bullied for standing up for her. He’s trying to gather up the courage to talk to her when she’s arrested and carted off to the asylum, but he never gets a chance to talk about his feelings until a lot later. Which would make for a kinda cute story, if not for the fact that she doesn’t even know who he is when he spends days in her cell. It’s only when he tells her his name that she starts to inanely point out to herself that she would have known him because of his beautiful eyes, and how they’re so unique to him. Yeah, she had her suspicions that she knew him, and I suppose she would be a bit stunned if a guy she once knew turned up in her cell, but even so… I just wasn’t sold on it. And it only gets worse. From there there’s talk about how she longs to touch him, how when she does it’s a ridiculously big coincidence that he can touch her, and despite being unsure if she should trust him or not, before they’ve even gotten round to kissing [or maybe they have and I didn’t notice] she’s making plans to run away with him and professing her undying, eternal love to him. She didn’t even know him that well at school, and it’s been years, and it JUST. ISN’T. REALISTIC. Later on, she even talks about how she’s not sure if he’d been shooting at soldiers with the intent to injure or kill, and to be honest, if you can’t be sure if your soulmate is the kinda guy who is willing to murder people for you even if you don’t want anyone to get hurt, maybe it’s time you stopped kidding yourself.

Yet it was the love triangle that I found hugely problematic. Not necessarily because it exists, but because it is truly and utterly creepy. On the one hand you have Adam, a soldier who abandons his job to rescue Juliette and help her escape from becoming a reluctant torturer. Cool. And on the other, you have Warner, who is very clearly the villain of Shatter Me, since he wants Juliette to become his toy torturer. I suppose what I found most problematic about this is that his creepy obsession with Juliette really isn’t necessary, and while some people might argue it adds an interesting dimension to his character, I feel like his whole characterisation is something that is really overdone in YA and needs to stop. We’re living in 2018 and if we want to show a female character as being powerless and weak and a male character as being in control, we don’t really need an almost rape scene to show this. Warner’s whole character seems to be about causing other people discomfort and pain, either by physically harming them or by getting Juliette to do things she’s not comfortable with, such as wearing skimpy clothing so lots of her pain-inducing skin is on show. He’s in charge of a lot of people, and he has a lot of power, and I can get on board with him being interested in Juliette’s abilities as a potential weapon, but the extra element of his sense of ownership and abusiveness just seemed like overkill to me. I’m always a bit concerned with books with either rape or almost-rape scenes in. It’s sometimes a necessary evil, and it can be done to great effect, but when not done right it comes across as problematic or a ridiculous way to show powerlessness. And the one in Shatter Me was very much problematic. Some people might point out that Juliette deliberately led Warner on and pretended to seduce him in order to get hold of a weapon and kill him, but he still essentially forced himself on her and talked about how she might as well consent and try and enjoy it, implying it would happen with or without her permission. Again, I need to stress that sometimes these kinds of scenes are necessary to plot in books, but pretending it is acceptable or has a purpose because Juliette used his rapey-ness to her advantage is pretty gross and I found it churned my stomach and put me off wanting to continue to the end. And at no point is it really addressed either, except by Juliette telling herself that it would be very bad for Warner to realize he’s immune to her touch. There’s no real conversations about it, there’s no coming to terms with it, there’s nothing except the plot moving on. Really wasn’t okay with that.

A very small additional problem I found [before moving on to the positives] is the numbers thing. I get that it is meant to represent Juliette’s state of mind, but the numbers being written in numerical form [so 3 rather than three like it is in almost all fiction] bugged me. Especially because Juliette seems to count everything. Like this one: “You found me.” 3 syllables. 1 whisper of astonishment.” And this one: “My eyes open to 2 eyes 2 lips 2 ears 2 eyebrows.” I don’t think it adds anything to the story, and it just ended up annoying me more than anything, almost as if I was beta-reading a rough draft of a first novel for someone who didn’t know what they were really doing. It might be experimental, but it was also sure as hell stupid.

Okay, so on to the small positive that I can add to this very critical review. Juliette’s character. She came across as very interesting, and I like that Mafi spent time showing her flaws as well as her strengths. I don’t think I could have gotten to the end of Shatter Me if Juliette’s difficulties weren’t addressed well. After all, she’s never had human contact [at least by touch] before, not without causing a huge amount of pain. She’s also been locked up in an asylum without any company for three years, so I’m glad in a way that Mafi addresses a lot of the trauma that would result in. I also liked that, despite her power, Juliette was essentially a very good person, wanting to always do the right thing in spite of all the awfulness life has dealt her. It can’t have been easy, and I think this speaks volumes about her personality. She’s not at all weak either, and she shows this inner-strength over and over again by standing up for herself. “They think I’m a doll they can dress up and twist into prostration. But they’re wrong,” she complains, which just goes to show that she’s not a helpless princess trapped in a tower and in need of saving, but a relate-able human being who is sick of being told what to do. If there was anything that rescued Shatter Me from being irredeemable in my eyes, it was this. I wasn’t keen on anything else in the novel, as you can probably tell, but Juliette was a pretty cool character who was fairly well developed and seemed to have a sense of purpose.

In conclusion, I’m giving Shatter Me a 2/10. I found the novel confusing, problematic and cringey, so I won’t be picking up the rest of the series. If I was still in my 13 year old Twilight days, I might have given this a go with different results, but right now I just want my good world-building, a lack of romance triangles and maybe some chocolate cake.

Not for me - the writing was just way way over the top and the metaphors were cringey.
‘I’m melting like hot butter’ was the final straw for me and I’m not going to lie I skimmed the rest of the book.
It’s story was so promising but I think the author led away from what could of been great by making it just another ‘love story’
There wasn’t much world building for me. The writing. The metaphors. The cringey romance <— That’s what most of It is like. So annoying!

Why has it taken Tahereh Mafi so long to rock up into my life? With so many fantasy/YA series and novels being promoted just now it's so difficult to know which ones to invest your time in. This is the reason it has taken me so long to discover Mafi's 'Shatter Me' series which started in 2011! Shame on me!

'Shatter Me' offered me everything I could possibly crave from a fantasy novel. Darkness, war, traitors, survivors, courage, love and power. It is so fast paced yet full of drama and excitement that I managed to complete the novel in one sitting. I just could not put it down. I confess I even took it with me to the bathroom it was THAT gripping!

The main character Juliette is written with such delicacy and passion that it is impossible not to fall in love with her. It is so hard to portray a strong woman without her coming across too hard, too self absorbed or too bitchy and it is so hard to show a woman's insecurities without painting her as weak, annoying or needy. Mafi managed to get the characterisation of Juliette spot on and I adore her!

I don't want to give any of the plot away as I think the reason I went in blind is one of the reasons I enjoyed it so much! This is a must read for fantasy/YA fans and I cannot binge buy the rest of the series quick enough. The latest book in the series 'Restore Me' was published today. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of 'Shatter Me' in return for an honest review.

Spoiler Free Review

So… I’ve finally read Shatter Me after I’ve been asked for however long! was it great? It wasn’t what I expected, I had my ups and downs with the book, but I’m too far gone, and far too intrigued not to read Unravel Me. In particular the last few chapters were just so interesting and it had me questioning so many things, like I want to know what’s going to happen next, I can’t deny that! The reason why it only got a 3.5 stars is simply for the fact it felt like a “starter” book, it seemed like an introduction to the characters for the next two books. The reason I say this, is because I don’t think a lot particularly happened, and I got NO ANSWERS! I need these answers or I will actually combust!

Characters! this is going to be so vague, I have no idea what to think about her, I really don’t… and that goes for a lot of the characters. I think because so much is un-answered I don’t really know where to begin with anyone...

Firstly we have Juliette, when we first meet her she is trapped in a cell, her thoughts are very all over the place, we see her not trust herself and her actions, but we don’t really find out until further on in the story. I’m looking forward to see how she develops and what she’s going to do with her power.

I have no idea what to think about Adam, I really don’t. I can’t put my finger on it but he’s a bit meh for me. His back story was good, but I want to know more. Like I said this would be vague, because I have literally no idea what to think of him.

Probably an unpopular opinion here… BUT I really really cannot stand Warner, he’s such an arse, he’s so controlling and forces Juliette to do things she clearly doesn’t want to do. For me, it seemed like he thought he was entitled to have Juliette as his property, and I’m not on board for that I’m afraid. So for this book, Warner is a big nope from me.

Finally my saving grace is 10000000% Kenji he was in it for the second half of the book, and I loved him! He was so funny, he liked to wind people up, and had lots of secrets for himself! He needed to be serous when the time came to it, his endless flirting with Juliette was so funny! There was a difference between how he treated her compared to Adam and Warner, he did it in a friendly way, and I’m hoping him and Juliette become good friends out of this!

What I liked?
- The writing was so easy to follow, it was really fast paced and I loved that it was kind of static, for example when Juliette was thinking something and then it would be crossed out, I thought it was really clever how they’d done that.
- We got a few back stories
- Those last few chapters were so good!
- I have so many questions about what’s going to happen AND I’m very very intrigued!

What I didn’t like?
- The story didn’t seem to take off until the second half of the book, and like I mentioned previously it seems like a starter book.
- Warner really really pissed me off, I don’t have time for controlling characters (however I do want to know his back story)
- I found it really difficult to actually like characters and be invested in them, until Kenji came along I honestly could’ give a shit about any of them and that’s putting it nicely…
- Where was the world building?!

Overall, it was okay, it’s setting up the next book perfectly and I can’t wait to find out what happens! I just hope that it has more of a story to it, because how it ended I NEED MORE!