Audio Book: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Description:

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.

My Review:

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Listening to this book was like listening to someone on the brink of insanity. Poor Juliette hasn’t seen anyone or spoken to anyone for almost a whole year.  Shea hasn’t been purposely & safely touched anyone and vice versa, in almost 17 years.  So overall, it isn’t a surprise if she is on the verge of a psychotic break.  I think the fact that she hasn’t is a testament to her strength. 

Overall, Juliette is an okay character.  She is a wounded, almost broken, creature.  You can’t help but sympathize with her.  But as the story progresses, it is nice to see her start growing a backbone and showing/ using her strengths and powers to make life better for those around her. 

Adam, the boy who loved and remembered, is a deep well that I don’t think we will know it all.  He holds many secrets, a good many that have to do with Juliette.  I wonder if we will find out more about him, of if he will still remain partly a mystery. 

Now let me have a moment to vent about Warner… Ugh!  No matter how good looking, rich and powerful you are, evil is evil, crazy is crazy.  It is just that simple!  I don’t like him; I think he is a deranged boy who has more issues that we even know.  I don’t even understand how there are some readers/bloggers/reviews who actually like him?!?!?!?!?!? So this is what the twilight zone feels like!

This dystopian novel has its good points and its bad points.  I liked the characterizations and the reasons for the society, but it bothers me the cliché way the author uses to make a love triangle.  Honestly, no love triangle is needed.  I think there is enough drama with Juliette’s curse/gift to not warrant it. 

Overall, I found it to be a poor book choice for an audio book.  An example of this is how the book is written in a semi-diary format.  Reading the book, you would see the words marked out.  Unfortunately, you can’t see things in audios.  So what they do is make a scratching noise to let you know what is happening.  A bit of an issue, as at first I thought that my audio book was skipping, especially when the same words/phrases were repeated and scratched out.

An issue with the book:  I had a problem with the flow of the novel.  It was struggle to read it/listen to it, because the flow was inconsistent and was just like someone having a mental break down. 

I’d love to tell you more, but I’m holding off, as I don’t believe in Spoilers!

Overall, I think this was a good book, but I highly recommend that you read it in written format rather than listening to it.

Happy Reading!

Cana