Shatter Me (Shatter Me #1)

This book made me question a lot of things – firstly, about why it is so hyped, and secondly, what are others seeing that I am missing out? I genuinely had to ask some of my friends what they thought of the book, because I saw so many high-rated reviews for it (not from my friends but others I follow on GR) and I mostly got \’eh I didn\’t like it much either\’ kind of answers. Maybe it was the time in which it released – the era of dystopias, but this is more like a romance set in a dystopic world than a true dystopia. Honestly, this book takes the love triangle to a cringe-worthy level, and WAIT I KNOW YOU MAY HAVE LOVED THIS BOOK BUT I GOTTA GET MY FEELINGS OUT IN A RANT before I can even continue with what I actually liked. Buckle your seat belts, darlings, because this one is going to be gif-fed up! Firstly, I gotta ask – WHY? Why the focus on the romance in a dystopia? I am not one for sticking to genre conventions – heck, I love when books subvert them and introduce some new elements. But the \’new elements\’ in this weren\’t exactly new. There\’s the childhood friend who is now a hottie trope. Bad boy with (probably) a heart of gold trope (We\’ll come to that LATER OH BOY). No, what my main problem was with this book sticking its toe out of genre boundaries, is that it does it in the name of the most irritating love triangle. AND I LIKE LOVE TRIANGLES! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?! Also, how in this messed up world where people don\’t have proper living conditions, is the romance the main conflict of the story? It is not even a dystopia-that-looks-like-a-utopia kind of plot that love triangles are usually featured in! The world is dying, there is a fascist government ruling over them, and the first thought of these teens is whether they can get some. (It is not my imagination – there are literally scenes where the making out just happens, due to Circumstances That Just Need to Insert a Hot Makeout Scene) The world-building is sorely lacking in this book – there is barely an explanation given for how the Reestablishment came about, how it is all co-ordinated, how the resistance is not able to do any damage. Adam is this hero complex guy who liked Juliette when she was younger because she acted soooo good, lay down while other kids were tormenting her and stuff. He, of course, defended her and beat up the other kids, but his double standards are such that he admired her for not fighting back?! The romance with him would have been more believable if there was some actual development, but considering it is all silence glances in the start and very little conversation on her part, I\’m declaring this as insta-love and a case of I-need-human-touch-STAT. I get that Juliette didnt have anyone to touch for years, but that doesnt mean his touch will immediately comfort her in every circumstance. It is more like an excuse to have them kissing again and again. Also his actions don\’t make much sense in the context of what he does have to lose from helping her – don\’t get me wrong, I liked that he didn\’t turn out to be shady or a backstabbing betrayer, but I also don\’t see why he would risk so much with barely a plan. And the writing doesn\’t help matters, really. Sure, there is the fact that this is narrated as Juliet\’s thoughts, so we get a very close understanding of what she is going through, and some crossed out sections where we see her replacing what she wants to say with what she actually says. But why did there have to be so many METAPHORS?! I get that Juliet loved books a lot, but I have read like over 2000 books in my life, and I don\’t talk inside my head like everything is inexplicable without a weird metaphor attached to it. It gets too much at time, like body creaking like a staircase? Also, another weird quirk is sometimes numbers are used instead of the words for numbers, which kinda ruins the flow in a sentence. And this may be minor, but why the heck is Juliette gasping so much? This girl is made up of being surprised all the freaking time. Adam lifts her up? Gasp! Castle agrees with her on something? Gasp! Warner being his usual terrible self? Gasp! Adam kisses her? You guessed it right – Gasp! (Actually the last one can be forgiven but I\’m not in the mood) And let\’s move on to the other part of the triangle -Warner – by the way, does it count as love triangle if one guy is just being plain obsessed with her even when she is like \’eww no dude get away from me\’? He literally thinks she is like him, and they have a CONNECTION and she just HAS TO BE AT HIS SIDE as he rules over his corner of the world. Dude, why are you so dense? He constantly invades her personal space and treats her like a possession than a human being capable with her own agency. How is he even a love interest? Also, this book had his short story attached, to which I am only going to say: nah, doesn\’t excuse what you did, you ass. He knows Juliette was psychologically tortured, and his idea to make her better is to psychologically torture her more? How is he even justifying torturing her considering what he himself went through? Finally, let\’s get to the parts that I did like – I liked the getting into Juliette\’s head way of narrating this book. She is a character kept in the dark (literally and metaphorically) so she sort of reveals the terrible world as she goes through the book. She also shows resourcefulness, and a hint of grey morality when it comes to getting things done (still, stay away from her, Warner!). But what I really liked was in the second half, when we get to meet the X-Men other people like her. I mean, she is basically a stand-in for Rogue, and there\’s this secret underground bunker where other mutantspowered people live, so I was excited about that, and what that would mean for this story. But it does arrive like pretty later in the story, so my enjoyment of that was already affected by my irritation with the love triangle. Overall, this is a book that I wanted to love, majorly because I love books about powered people but the focus and main storyline of the book had me disappointed in it.

I bought this book to see what all the fuss was about; I wish I had not wasted my money. First of all, the authors style of writing is horrible. I understand some people found it new and unique, but for me it was annoying. The constant strike-outs throughout the book caused a hindrance, because I had to pause and try to read what was under the strike. They really provide nothing for the story. Also, the author has a way of repeating herself \”his eyes so blue so blue so blue so blue so blue\”. I found myself begging her to pick up a thesaurus. There are better ways to describe things then repeating the same word six times. She does this every other page and does NOT use commons or other proper punctuation. I understand this is her writing style, but I did not care for it. I would not recommend this book for anyone over the age of twelve, yet at the same time \”shit\” is used frequently throughout the book and I\’m not sure that\’s appropriate for a younger reader. The MC is another copy of a do-gooder heroine with incredible power and yet she cowers in the corner,\”I don\’t want to hurt anyone boo hoo\” instead of being the badass she could be. I\’m tired of these Bella Swan characters who let people walk all over them. She lacks depth and by half way through the book I was so sick of her repetitive whining I wasn\’t sure I would be able to finish it. The love interest, Adam, declares instalove. The author tires to give them a backstory; that they knew each other as children, but never interacted and never had a conversation. So, when they meet years later and STILL never have a conversation (they just stare at each other) I was left thinking WTF when they are suddenly in love. There is no reason to root for them, because they have no foundation to fight for. Descriptions of basically everything is lacking, replaced by \”I am not insane. I am not insane. I am not insane. I am not insane. I am not insane\” This novels only saving grace is the antagonist, Warner. He is the only well developed character in the entire book. It is a shame the author did not put the same effort into the rest of her characters and world creation as she did the bad guy. This book was painful to get through and in the end I found myself skimming just to finish it. I will not be reading the rest of the series.

I was intrigued by this book, as it had a great concept and lots of potential. However, despite the hype surrounding it, I was left extremely dissapointed. First of all, I did enjoy the writing style and the way Mafi crosses out phrases to reflect Juliets mental state but even that got annoying and repetitive after the first one hundred pages. The characters were bland, cardboard cutouts and completely one dimensial. The insta Love was annoying, as it always is. Also, I feel as if nothing happened in the book, which is odd because a number of events that shouldve been exciting occurred that did not affect me whatsoever and interested me even less. Near the ending, there is a part where we assume a certain character to be dead, but I didnt feel the slightest amount of sadness. At the ending, I felt no joy, no happiness and certainly no motivation to continue the series. It is not often I leave a book completely devoid of emotion. I think where Mafi went wrong was the characters, had they been more fleshed out, they may have helped with driving the plot. Also, the insta love really bothered me in this one and shouldve just been left out or slowed down by a lot. Overall, I will not be continuing this series and I am hugely dissapointed.

I am completely in love with this series; whenever I don\’t know what to start reading, I always end up staying awake late into the night (after choosing to reread this series), trying to finish one of the books! The author has done an incredible job of developing each character, and it is an amazing feeling to watch them grow stronger and more confident (some think that the main character is nave and weak – just wait, she gets badass!) Before I started reading the Shatter Me series, I had spent so many hours searching for the perfect book to get lost in. So if you too have been searching for an eternity, STOP LOOKING! If you love futuristic fantasies, supernatural sci-fi and romantic relationships, I guarantee you that this will automatically beecomee your favourite series.

Hooked from the first chapter. After reading Sarah J Mass I never thought I\’d find another author who is able to make me fall in love with the characters almost instantly. And well Tahereh you did it and I\’m shook. It\’s been a while since I\’ve read a book where I\’m so hooked on the characters that I already feel an emotional attachment to them. I can\’t wait to have more character development and it\’s just beautifully written where it\’s easy to read and flows gorgeously and keeps you constantly hooked. Oh yes have I mentioned that it contains people with powers? what a twist is that? As someone who is obsessed with X Men I can\’t get enough of this book it brings my joy of people with different unique powers to a whole new level. Castle is basically Xavier of Omega The romance is also so beautifully written and fills my teenager soul filled with painful sexual tension love which I adore. Anyway I just love this book so much I can\’t handle it and I\’m so excited to continue the read and find out more about the powers and the world.

Galaxyaudiobook Member Benefit

- Able to comment

- List watched audiobooks

- List favorite audiobooks

- Bookmark will only available for Galaxyaudiobook member