Book Review | Shatter Me

Genre: YA Dystopian

Publication Date: 2nd October 2012

My Rating: ★★★

Goodreads Page

Goodreads Summary:

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.

**No Spoilers**

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. Overall, I absolutely really loved this addictive, fast-paced series and would give the books, 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, especially as it reflected Juliette's mentality and thought processes; it allowed the reader to really see her development as a character throughout the book. I also feel like it really accurately portrayed her mental state after being left alone for so long in the asylum. I loved her powers and was so excited to see more of them and how powerful she could become, and if she'd ever embrace them.  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).

This book was so quick and easy 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 just so addictive and enjoyable. In the end though, 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. I disliked both Adam and Warner in this book and the lack of real communicated bothered me. I also felt the worldbuilding was somewhat lacking (although this is somewhat expected in the first book in a series) and I wish Juliette had discovered more about the world in this book. 

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!