Find my reviews on Blogger ~ Reviews by Bookish Sarah 
 - - - 
 3.5 stars 
 Shatter Me is the story of 17-year-old Juliette; a girl who has felt isolated her entire life. The reason for this is that her touch is literally deadly. Just one touch and she can steal the life force of another person. For them, it's agony; for her? Pure bliss. Juliette hates her powers, though, and she considers herself a complete monster. 
 For the past 264 days, Juliette has been locked up in an asylum. Her parents don't want her. She accidentally killed someone. Now, she only has herself for company. She's had no contact with another human being since her incarceration, but that's about to change. 
 She soon meets Adam; a boy she thought was long gone from her life. She also meets Warner; the maniacal leader of what's called Sector 45 - and he wants to use her as a weapon. 
 Juliette's entire life is about to change - will it be for better or worse? 
 - - - 
 You know what? I had an incredibly hard time deciding whether or not I liked this book. It was so strange! I don't think I've ever been so torn over a book before. I'll try to explain it the best I can. 
 1.) The writing. Complete love/hate. Mafi has beautiful prose, and it's truly unique. At times, I wanted to cry at how beautiful it was. Other times it left me with a question mark floating over my head. A few examples for you: "There are 400 cotton balls caught in my windpipe." -- "Warner thinks Adam is a cardboard cutout of vanilla regurgitations." -- "I'm wondering why there are so many freight trains in my heart, why his chest is a broken harmonica." -- "I offer him a smile. Try to keep my organs from falling out. Hope the holes in my head aren't showing." -- "I'm blushing through my bones." -- "I'd like to cry into his eyes." -- Say WHAT now? No. Just. No. That is what trying too hard looks like. BUT - I did enjoy a lot of the more romantic parts of the book. This is where the writing seemed to be more real and more beautiful. It's just that every time it'd be beautiful, the author would throw in one of those gross metaphors or strange, nonsensical sentences. It'd ruin the moment completely for me. 
 2.) World building. Sigh. Mafi can write. She really can; you can see it. I really think it's a tragedy that she didn't better use her skills to help us picture this dystopian world she created. A lot of the book was spent inside the asylum, and the parts that weren't were more focused on the romantic aspects than actually trying to help readers better understand the world as it is in this book. All I learned is that nature went to hell, pretty much. That's when the Reestablishment took over and started telling folks what to do, etc. etc. 
 3.) Romance. Okie dokie. I know a lot of readers thought this was one of the most terrible things about this story - but I enjoyed it. I know it seemed to move too quickly, but these two people have a deeper connection. They seem to see into each other and be able to just understand. I thought it was rather beautiful and I can't wait to read more about Adam and Juliette. Warner, on the other hand, disgusts me. I don't understand why he is even part of this maybe-possible-love-triangle. He's a sociopath. He wants Juliette as a possession. He's a friggin' maniac! He kept her in that room ALONE for almost a year. He had her beaten and practically tortured. He made her hurt an INFANT just for kicks! I am all for a bad boy love interest - and I usually even root for the bad boys! But this? No. This is sick. I swear, if Juliette gets something going with Warner, I will have to put the next book down. Or maybe throw it in a bonfire. 
 4.) The ending. This is where the story really started to get interesting, and of course that's when Mafi takes it all away from us. I am extremely intrigued by this X-Men-esque group of people. I just wish we could've learned a little bit more about it before she just cut us off with a cliffhanger like that. So not cool. But, props for making me want to read book two oh-so-badly. 
 Overall? I liked this book. It made me want to rip out my hair at times, but I liked it a lot. The writing was insanely beautiful at times and the romance is nice and sappy, just the way I like it. lol I enjoyed the characters. Warner is a great villain. Juliette is a bit irritating at times, but I blame that on the metaphors and weird prose that comes from her voice. I'd like to learn more about Adam, but he impresses me so far. Kenji and James are hilarious and I can't wait to learn more about them as well. It's a colorful cast, that's for sure! I think this series has a whole lot of potential and I'm definitely looking forward to book 2! 
 - - - 
 Book source: Personal collection 
 Publisher: HarperCollins