Shatter Me (Shatter Me, #1) in Read by Theme

Jun 30, 2013 Vicki rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

AMAZING!!! I don't know for the life of my WHY I hadn't read this book until now! I loved just about everything about it: a kickass female heroine, a love interest ignited, a bad guy you love to hate, being unsure of who to trust, action, pacing, gifts, and so much more.

Julette is a 17 year old girl who has an "ability" to kill people (even accidentally) when she touches them. Adam, however, her friend since childhood, is immune to a bad touch from her.

As the story begins Juliette is in an asyl ...more

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May 20, 2012 Francielle De Oliveira rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: guys-i-fell-in-love, love-stories

Please touch me
Desde pequena, Juliette percebe que ela tem uma maldição um dom. A mãe não a abraçava. Foi expulsa de escolas, mudou várias vezes de cidade. As outras crianças se afastavam dela. Quando ela toca alguém, coisas ruins aconteciam. E aconteceram pela última vez em um supermercado.

"All I ever wanted was to reach out and touch another human being not just with my hands but with my heart."

Juliette foi levada. Ela não sabe por quem, ela não sabe porque, sabe apenas que o Restabelecimento ...more

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Feb 10, 2014 Kat rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: udate, ya, dystopia, romance

Whenever I see someone is reading a book that they are probably going to dislike, I start to question their motivation behind reading it. I mean, why put yourself through torture when you could be reading something that rocks your world? But I do it myself, and Shatter Me is a perfect case in point. I love a good dystopian, but when the romance is more prominent than the world-building, it's probably going to end in frustration and also some feelings of guilt - why am I reading something that I Whenever I see someone is reading a book that they are probably going to dislike, I start to question their motivation behind reading it. I mean, why put yourself through torture when you could be reading something that rocks your world? But I do it myself, and Shatter Me is a perfect case in point. I love a good dystopian, but when the romance is more prominent than the world-building, it's probably going to end in frustration and also some feelings of guilt - why am I reading something that I won't like? Isn't that really unfair on the book?

In the interests of full disclosure, I read Shatter Me for Book Club *waves to awesome book club girls Jana and Karin* - and although I've owned a copy since shortly after it was first released, I possibly would never have gotten around to reading it otherwise.

First, the characters. Oh, Juliette, you are a contradiction - and normally that would mean I'd dislike you with a burning fiery passion. Alternately brave and shit-scared, she wasn't easy for me to like. But to be fair, she'd just spent a year in complete isolation in an asylum, so I'm a little bit more forgiving on the inconsistencies than I would normally be.

Connecting to the characters is, of course, the romance. Now I'm really sorry to all the Team Warner readers out there, but I don't get the bad boy attraction. He's a dick. A power-hungry, abusive dick. And he will never redeem himself to me.

Adam is sweeter, and much more the boy that I'd pick if I was Juliette - he's caring and kind and has this weird childhood-protective connection to Juliette that I found rather fascinating, even if it is a little too close to insta-love for my comfort. And sadly, that's pretty much all I have to say about the romance/s in Shatter Me - they just didn't rock my world.

It would be impossible to review Shatter Me without talking about the writing style - it's...unusual, and it took me a while to get used to all the metaphors and stuff, but by the end I actually enjoyed the style far more than all the other elements of the book put together. It's wordy, but it's not overwhelming - despite the fact there's a lot to take in, some of which works and some of which is just completely over the top, it's easy to read. Which is actually quite a skill.

The world building is interesting for what exists, but that's just the problem - there's not enough volume for me to have been completely sucked in by it. Humans have fucked up the environment and Juliette has a strange super-power that allows her to kill/hurt/maim people by touching them - sounds really cool, but there's just not enough substance for me.

Am I glad I read Shatter Me? Yes. I enjoyed the writing style immensely once I settled into it, and I could easily have read the whole book in one sitting. However, a bit more world-building and a bit less love-triangle-insta-love-romance would have made it far more memorable and enjoyable for me. I do own the second book, and maybe one day I will actually read it, but I'm undecided right now. ...more

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May 02, 2012 Sapir rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: teams-challenge-ii-2013, dystopia, books-i-loved, beautiful-covers, romance, blog-reviewed

For more of my review visit my blog: Diary of a Wimpy Teen Girl

When I saw this cover and read the synopsis of this book, I was sure this book is going to be like Divergent - something about a strong girl living in the distant future and a lot of brutal fights. I have nothing against this type of books, I actually enjoy them a lot, but recently I got a bit tired of all these action novels. I'm more of a romance girl. There's nothing I like better than a good, heart-warming love story.

That's why I For more of my review visit my blog: Diary of a Wimpy Teen Girl

When I saw this cover and read the synopsis of this book, I was sure this book is going to be like Divergent - something about a strong girl living in the distant future and a lot of brutal fights. I have nothing against this type of books, I actually enjoy them a lot, but recently I got a bit tired of all these action novels. I'm more of a romance girl. There's nothing I like better than a good, heart-warming love story.

That's why I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this book was actually romantic. The author has managed to write a dytopian novel in which the romance and the emotions between the two main characters are the main subject. That made me think about the whole genre of dystopia.
I wonder who has decided that a dystopian novel has to be action-packed and nothing more than that? Who says it can't be romantic? Tear-jerking? Filled with love and hatred and all kind of flaring emotions? Who says it can't break your heart into pieces and then glue them together?

From these questions you can probably understand what made this book so great. I couldn't put it down from the very first page. I was sucked into Juliette's world - I saw everything through her eyes. I felt her despair, her terrible childhood memories, her pains and mental scars. The writing style of this book was very unusual, with a lot of repeated words and confused thoughts just scattered on the pages, but it was just perfect for this specific story. I love how I could get a glimpse of what was actually going through Juliette's mind, along with her confusion and thoughts she tired repress.

She acted like a real teenage girl when she met Adam. She recognized Adam as a threat at the beginning, but like a real teenage girl near her crush, she slowly fell for him. He, from his side, made her feel comfortable and loved near him until she let him see her real self. With the help of him, Juliette transformed from a closed up, untrusting, afraid-of-her-own-powers girl, to a strong, self-confident women. The character development of her was amazing and that's why she was a great main character.

I would recommend this book to people who enjoy romantic, emotional stories. This is not the action-packed novel you might expect, and it might not be for everyone, but personally I just loved almost everything about it except for some minor plot issues. I am sure the next book will be even better because of the ending that left me dying for more. Tahereh Mafi is an extremely talented author and I can understand all the hype around her books.

Pros:
-Unique, beautiful writing.
-Great character development.
-A different, new kind of dystopian novels.
-A lot of romance and emotions involved.

Cons:
-The plot was a bit dragging at some points, but other then that nothing major. ...more

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Feb 25, 2013 Elizabeth Qualia rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: at-library, march2013uglycover

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Oct 28, 2012 Kay Kay rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: nothing-but-reading-challenges, team-d, 2013

I thought that this was a good idea for a story. It moved along nicely, although I still don't understand how the orphans could be living in hiding, yet the government knows if they eat their food? I wasn't sure about that.
I liked the use of numbers and the strike out through the thoughts she was trying not to have. I thought that was really creative and visually interesting as I read.
I was disappointed in the way the romantic or not so romantic relationships of the characters were handled. I f ...more

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