The review is also posted on The Bawdy Book Blog 
 Can someone tell me why I waited to read Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi? Because I can't figure it out. My jaw hit the floor so hard with this one, I think I gave myself a bruise! 
 The dystopian genre is flooded with authors eager to get their hands into the popular genre, but very few successfully stand out. Tahereh Mafi's Shatter Me manages to reign high above the masses with its beautiful, unique prose, enthralling me page by page until the very end. 
 Juliette's been kept in a ward for the crazies for the last three years. She thinks she might be crazy, but she knows she's a murderer. She's led an isolated life: from a young age, no one has been able to touch her. This means no hugs, no casual affection from her parents, no impulsively helping strangers on the street. Because her touch is lethal. Her touch...can kill. 
 Shatter Me is not what I expected it to be. I thought I'd be getting another dystopian, where society has crumbled (check), a new government has formed (check), and that new government heavily imposes its will on its citizens in the name of "good" (check). And I did get all of that. But I got SO. MUCH. MORE. 
 While Juliette thinks her ability is a curse, others with an agenda think her ability is a gift they can use to further their own plots. And yet there are others who would like to see her join a revolution. And she has to choose between what she thinks is right and what she wants. Essentially, both sides want to use her. But what does she want? 
 I loved Shatter Me so much. Mafi writes the characters with such vivid detail, even from a first-person point-of-view, that it's impossible to not like even the most vile villain. This isn't just a story about Juliette; it's much bigger than her. It's about how being different doesn't equate to being dangerous; it's getting to know who you are; and it's overcoming self-doubt. All of the characters - and I do mean ALL - are very well written and a good balance to Juliette's slight insanity (because let's be honest: she's been locked up for three years in solitary confinement. Who wouldn't be a little insane after that?). Adam, who starts out as her "cellmate" is loyal and honest and good. It's hard not to love him. Warner is devious and powerful and bad. It's hard not to love him. In a sense, Adam and Warner are two sides to the coin that is Juliette. I think - well, I won't tell you what I think, because it's a bit spoilery! But dang! 
 Mafi's writing is exquisite. I was startled to find a lot of strike-throughs in the beginning of Shatter Me, but I found that it creates this deranged pace to start out the book that makes you read and flip faster and faster, and sheds light on just how broken Juliette is. And it shows just how far she comes in the novel. Mafi's prose is just simply beautiful, though, almost like music coming off the pages. She's leant a unique voice to her main character that is unmatched by any other I have read and... I want to read more.