This review was originally published to the Bookish Blog 
 Oh my, oh my. Tahereh Mafi - what did you just do to me? How in the world am I supposed to survive the long wait for the sequel?! See, that's exactly why I'm hesitant to read books that have all this enormous hype going on about them! Why? Because the hype is usually right and then I find myself sitting in the corner of the room sucking on my thumb, rocking back and forth and counting the days to the release of the next part! (ok, I admit, I totally just went drama-queen on you!). But seriously, this book was EPIC. And not at all because of the story. The story was great! Nothing wrong with it at all. As a matter of fact I really loved it. But what I loved the most? The writing style! And I will scream it from the top of the world : Tahereh Mafi is a brilliant new star on the Young Adult sky! With her electrifying debut novel, Shatter Me, she bursts onto the literary scene and takes writing YA to a whole new level!!! 
 Juliette has been locked away for a murder. But the whole thing is a little bit more complicated than just that. Not only did she not use any typical murder weapon, but she also never wanted to kill anybody in the first place. Juliette is not your ordinary girl, she's cursed (gifted?) with a deadly touch. Any kind of skin contact with her is potentially lethal - she has the power of sucking the energy out of you. She can't control it and once the skin connection is made and the draining process has begun, it's almost impossible to stop it. 264 days have passed since she last touched someone, 264 heartbreaking days alone in a cell. The outside world doesn't care about Juliette, nor do her parents. Everyone has turned their back on her, ostracizing her and treating like a freak. Even her own family. 
 And then one day she gets a cell mate. Someone she knows very well. Someone she used to love. Someone she still loves. The day he enters her cell, is the first day of her new life. Everything will change. Juliette will have some terribly hard decisions to make. The Reestablishment now finds her an valuable asset to their case and they will do whatever it takes to make her join them. They will stop at nothing. Neither will she. 
 Beautiful, unforgettable, stunning. Shatter Me is all that and so much more. It's a true gem among YA books, a book as good as Divergent or Delirium - an absolute must read for all the fans of this genre. I can't emphasize enough how good this book is. How well-written. Well-written? Saying that is almost like saying that Beethoven played well. You get the idea? I don't know what planet Tehereh Mafi came from, but clearly they have some freaking amazing writers over there - could you please send us some more of them? Or you know what? No need! We already have Ms. Mafi and I'm pretty damn satisfied! 
 Seriously, reading Shatter Me didn't feel like reading at all. I breezed through all 342 pages in no time, it was more like day-dreaming than reading. I didn't get tired, I didn't even consciously turn pages, I was fascinated and hypnotized. I devoured it. The narrative voice is simple and yet beautiful and weightless. The scenes are painted with words, they're flowing right in front of your eyes as you read. And then there are the strong emotional punches! BAM! Juliette is lost, confused, lonely.. BAM! She's ecstatic, happy, in love! BAM! She's terrified, scared, panicking! BAAAM! She's strong, she'll fight, she has a reason to fight now! It's all so intense, fast-paces and painfully engaging. 
 The characters are fab, too. I was shocked how much I got to like Juliette. And I don't just mean tolerate - which is what usually happens with most of the novels if the heroine is not too annoying - I mean genuinely like her. She's such a sweet kid! She's truly good, nice, kind. She puts other before her and never holds a grudge. Carrying, loving, warm.. she's all that and more, even though she went through a hell, everyone despised/feared her, she was rejected and humiliated. How is that even possible? Tehereh Mafi managed to create a really awesome character here. Standing ovation for that. I think I liked all the characters, every single one of them brings something essential to the story. And yes, I did like the bad guy, judge me if you want, but I think he was totally hot. 
 There's really nothing I can add to that. You have to read it. Don't even speak to me if you won't ;)