Shatter Me, by Tahereh Mafi | (Re-Read) Book Review #332

~~I have a curse~~
I have a gift

~~I am a monster~~
I’m more than human

~~My touch is lethal~~
My touch is power

~~I am their weapon~~
I will fight back

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 first time I read Shatter Me was back in 2014, then I re-read Shatter Me again in 2016. Now I’ve re-read it again in 2018!

Back in 2014 I absolutely loved the story. There was so much that happened in the book and quite a bit took me by surprise. I remember going back multiple times just to re-read what had happened because I had an exhilarating “wait, what?!” moment.

I truly forgot how easily I could get swept up in this story — Tahereh’s writing never fails to leap off the page. Her writing is detailed in a way that I don’t find overpowering (which is nice). She gives just enough attention to detail, and writes in such a poetic way that I can’t not read Shatter Me in one day.

Overall I liked diving back into Juliette’s story. By the time that I had finished reading Shatter Me this third time around though, I realized that I wasn’t madly in-love with this book as I was the first time I read it. — Which is perfectly fine, since views change and whatnot.

I still really enjoy reading Kenji’s character though.

I liked seeing the differences and similarities in Adam and Warner for the third time around. I also liked getting to know the characters again, and since it had been so long since I last read Shatter Me, there were details here and there that I’ve forgotten. I also really love Kenji.

Things that I didn’t like about Shatter Me were more character-esque problems than actual problems I had with the storyline/writing, or the book in general. I didn’t like Warner’s possessiveness. Nor did I enjoy reading Adam being hero-esque (though it was cute the first time around).

I give Shatter Me 3 stars, this time.