Author: Tahereh Mafi
Publish Date: October 2nd, 2012
Publisher: HarperCollins
Source: Purchased a copy myself!
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.
Penelope's Review
So technically I have already read this book - way back when it came out, about 9 years ago. I decided to re-read it because I never finished the series and man did this ever age well. I loved this book in high school, and I love it now. Although from what I remember, I gave this book 5 stars back then (and wanted to give it like a million) but I'm giving it 4 now - and I'll explain why!
Let's talk characters! Juliette is our main girl - her touch can kill and she's locked in an asylum while the world crumbles outside of her little window. In this book, Juliette starts out without any semblance of a backbone, but she does slowly gain some confidence throughout the book and develops into a slightly stronger character (we don't really see real growth until book 2... which I know because I read it in 2 days right before sitting down to do this review lol). So... a bit of development but not enough in my opinion. She's still very woe is me in Shatter Me, but I get it. I mean she literally can't touch anyone, everyone hates, she was locked up for a mistake and basically left there to die. I'd probably be feeling a little sorry for myself too! What I didn't get is that there was no anger or resentment at all. It was just a tad unrealistic, but I didn't pick up a book about a girl who can kill with her bare hands for "realism" so I'm ok with it lol.
Then we have Adam. I find this man very attractive. Very. Attractive. I love his love for Juliette. It makes me swoon. And the whole childhood connection thing? Gah so cute. I can't even. I loved how the romance in this book was written. I found it very well done and it had me rooting for both of these characters!
In terms of the writing style itself.... I'm not a huge fan of this writing style but I love the author note in the beginning about how it's meant to be a reflection of Juliette's mindset. As she gets better and more confident, the writing becomes more solid and less broken. With that in mind, it was very well done. But in general, not my cup of tea. It was still a fantastic read though.
Overall, I'm very excited to read the rest of this series - I have a feeling my mind is going to be blown when I hit the books I haven't read before!
Rating: 4/5 Devils!
Not being able to touch anyone would be hard to deal with. Sounds like a good book.
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