TAHEREH MAFI; Shatter Me

Author: Tahereh Mafi

Novel: Shatter Me

Publishers: Allen & Unwin

Release date: 2011

Juliette hasn't touched anyone in exactly 264 days. 

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color. 

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war-- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now. 

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.


The concepts of this story is both original and not. Juliette's 'power' is a great idea, and I love how Mafi creates such strong tension between the characters, especially Juliette and her love interest Adam. However, the world in which they live has been seen before. It is not so very different from that of 'Matched', or even 'The Hunger Games' in which the society is controlled by a suppressive force. Luckily, Mafi's writing style and command of words outweigh the negativity of the unoriginal thoughts in a way that makes this book a wonderful read. I was sitting on the edge of my chair the entire time! 





You can find TAHEREH MAFI on the web at both her own site and at goodreads.