Have you heard of the book series Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi? Well, it’s a dystopian romance published on November 15th, 2011 and whether you have heard of it or not this is a complete breakdown and honest review of why I think you should read the series. 

The Plot

When it comes to the novel’s setting, there is no way I’ll ever fully understand the actual world that the author created. I know that it takes place in an area that fell to a takeover and that now a new government has taken control, and a rebellious group is hoping to rise and fight against the new government that is currently in place. All of this somehow managed to happen within the little while that Juliette was locked up, which is where Shatter Me starts. This means that she doesn’t necessarily understand the world around her when she ends up free.  

I’ve never been a massive fan of the guy-falling-first plot solely because authors who write from a female character’s point of view and have the love interest fall first often do it too quickly, making it feel like Cinderella all over again. What I mean by that is in Cinderella, Prince Charming falls for her even though he barely knows her, and this becomes some undying love. I know this isn’t real life, but it still gets on my nerves when love occurs at first sight without knowing who the love interest is. So when I started reading Shatter Me, I was annoyed that the main character almost immediately had two men all over her, sparking up a love triangle in a matter of chapters. This, although it wasn’t my favorite thing, was actually what kept me so invested in the first book.

Although Tahereh Mafi does try to explain why the initial love interest fell so quickly for Juliette, expressing that he had known her since she was little. This knocked my annoyed self out of the ballpark as I no longer had any reason to complain about the character’s ‘sudden’ love for the main character. Still, with the other love interest, Tahereh keeps the reasons for his quickly growing affection hidden. I didn’t understand his reasons for loving the main character so suddenly until I finished Shatter Me and began reading the novella from Warner’s point of view during the first book. The novella helped me understand his character better. I was 100% on his side during every following conflict because I had dealt with so much of the needed information through the novella. I’ve never enjoyed novellas in the past. However, the novella that came with Shatter Me was extremely helpful and kept me engaged in the story line. I strongly encourage readers to try the novellas along with the novel if they choose to continue the series beyond the first book.

The Characters

The main character, Juliette, can most definitely get on my nerves from time to time, but I think that makes her realistic. We readers never truly acknowledge that the main characters make mistakes along with side characters because we have some idea that the main characters should only follow the path that we want them to follow. I honestly loved Juliette through the first novel because she seemed to have every reason to be acting the way she was. 

Over time, however, she can get tiring. In the second novel, Unravel Me, she is constantly whining and whimpering, throwing major temper tantrums when things in her life aren’t perfect. This is a problem with the second novel, but at the same time, it carries the plot along and leads to other things that kept me warped in the pages of the book. When I reached the second book’s ending, I was worried that she just had a whiny personality, but that concern went away with her massive character development within the first few chapters of the third book, Ignite Me. 

Everyone has mixed views on the characters in Shatter Me. I don’t know exactly who I would choose if someone asked me to pick a favorite character from this series. However, I love the character placed later in the book – Kenji. He seems to have been brought in as a ‘best friend’ for Juliette, and he’s hilarious. As the story went on he became one of my favorite characters in the books due to his odd, yet funny, personality.

The only character I genuinely disliked was Adam. He’s your basic initial love interest who spouts sappy lines and wants to make everything about himself. I strongly disliked Adam due to his constant overreacting and, especially in Unravel and Ignite Me, he was way too annoying, but over time I came to like him. Just like Juliette, Adam had a pretty strong character development and later I didn’t hate him so much, but he is still nowhere close to my favorite character.

Oppositely from my views on Adam, Warner is fantastic. His lines are so great, and his character background is revealed more and more over time, making him more admirable. I don’t know how to explain why I love Warner so much without spoiling anything in the books, but he just puts a smile on my face by appearing in a scene. The characters in Shatter Me have fantastic development and depth, making the books worth reading. 

 The Language/Writing Style

The writing style in the books is so unique. For example, Juliette’s point of view shows her conflicting inner thoughts. As words appear on the pages, things she’s thinking or wishes to say show up, but she denies her thoughts and keeps her intended words to herself. This is shown by the horizontal lines crossing out the words on the paper. I love this because the author put so much thought into it; the title of the book is Shatter Me, and the words in the book are shattered. This is a writing style I had never encountered before, and I thought it would annoy me when starting the book, but it made it so much more enjoyable.

Also, another positive aspect in the writing is the constant use of analogies and metaphors coming from the narrator, Juliette. Her character shows so much depth from the beginning, as the author unravels Juliette’s obsession with numbers and her struggles to figure herself out.

 Final Thoughts

I completely agree with most of the complaints that Shatter Me has received overtime, but I still believe that the positive factors in the books strongly outweigh the negatives. I strongly encourage everyone to try to continue reading Shatter Me. Especially those who are looking for a more romance-based dystopian novel.

Book Quotes: 

• “Some people are born with tornadoes in their lives, but constellations in their eyes.”
• “My words are unerring tools of destruction, and I’ve come unequipped with the ability to disarm them.”
• “Hope in this world bleeds out of the barrel of a gun.”
• “One word, two lips, three four five fingers form a fist. One corner, two parents, three four five reasons to hide. One child, two eyes, three four seventeen years of fear. A broken broomstick, a pair of wile faces, angry whispers, locks on my door.”
• “Hate looks just like everybody else until it smiles. Until it spins around and lies with lips and teeth carved into the semblance of something too passive to punch.”