(ARC Review) Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

SHATTER ME
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Source: Publisher
*I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review*

Reading level: Ages 14 and up
Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins (November 15, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0062085484
ISBN-13: 978-0062085481

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. 

MY THOUGHTS:

I was actually sent this book months ago to read and review.  I don't know what kept me from reading it right away!  Now that I read the book, I wish I had started it that first day I received it in the mail! This book shattered my expectations and blew me away!


The summary on the back of the book didn't really give me much to go on.  Just a couple of lines with part of them crossed out.  Here is what I had to go on:

I have a curse.

I have a gift.

I'm a monster.

I'm more than human.

My touch is lethal.

My touch is power.

I am their weapon.

I will fight back.

At this point I am thinking about someone along the lines of Medusa except her touch instead of her eyes turn them to stone or something.  Yet when you start reading the book,  you start to realize it is better compared to Rogue from X-Men.  Her touch will literally kill you!  Juliette has been shunned by friends and family for a long time.  She has never had anyone to really confide in and has suffered in silence for most of her life.  When she is sent to captivity, she spends 264 days alone in a small cell with no contact of any kind to the outside world.  All she has is a small notebook that she writes in and hides it from anyone who might show up in her cell. 


Then on morning they arrive with a new cellmate.  One that has eyes that seem familiar.  Come to find out, the new cellmate is the boy from her past that showed kindness to her in school.  While he never really got the chance to talk to her back then, he never showed any hatred or repulsion that others had when being near Juliette.  She slowly starts to open up to Adam in the cell and they start to grow close.  Then one day out of the blue, they come for them.  The Reestablishment decides to use Juliette as a weapon to torture people.  If that wasn't bad enough, it is revealed that Adam is in on this and she starts to reevaluate what she knows of him.  But is he really on the wrong side, or is he secretly leading a double life?


This is one of those books that suck you in so fast you don't know what hits you.  A book where you will try to put it down to do something, but then you think to yourself that you just need to read one more chapter.  Then you realize the book has now been finished within a short amount of time and you want more!  I stayed up late reading this book and even tortured my family with me telling them that I wanted to just read a few more pages.  


This is one debut novel you are going to want to add to your wish list and one of the first books you will want to save up your money to buy.  I can't wait for the next book in the series to release so I can read more of Adam, Juliette and the rest of the characters that captured my interest from page one!

MY RATING:

Outstanding Book That Will Stay On My Bookshelf
For Rereading! 5 STARS