Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

“Adam was right. Maybe things can be okay. Maybe I don’t have to be a monster. Maybe I do have a choice.”

Guys, I couldn’t put this book down! I’m not sure if it’s because I haven’t read a Young Adult or Dystopian in a while, but I was HOOKED from the beginning and desperately wanted to know more about Juliette’s character from the very first page.

The narrative of Shatter Me was reminiscent of, and had elements from previous Young Adult books I’ve read, including The Maze Runner, Divergent and The Hunger Games. I loved watching Juliette and Adam escape The Reestablishment and was praying that they both made it out okay the entire time.

The writing style is incredible, especially the crossing outs, repeated phrases, lack of punctuation and continuous sentences. They reflect Juliette’s unstable mentality and anxious thoughts; she feels trapped and isolated from her time in the asylum. These features gradually decrease as Juliette develops as a character alongside the narrative — she becomes more certain and confident in herself when she escapes.

I love the symbol of the bird; it represents Juliette’s freedom, free will, and, to some extent, the awakening and awareness of her powers. This is supported by the dreams she constantly has about the “white bird with a gold crown atop its head”—it perpetuates a sense of longing, a desperate need to escape the solitude she is trapped in and find her place in the world where she is accepted for who she is.

This leads to Juliette and Adam’s relationship. Whereas Juliette dreams about the white bird, Adam has a tattoo of it on his chest. This signifies their shared freedom from the circumstances they are currently in and a desire for a better world. Their connection is really beautiful and admirable—they better be endgame now!

There’s something alluring and delicate about the metaphors in this, and they have made me appreciate the world around me a lot more. However, I do think they were overused a little and didn’t think they needed to be included often for Juliette to get her points across.

Adam and Kenji are officially on my book boyfriends list by the way— Adam because he is really caring towards Juliette, and Kenji because he brings the humour and supports Juliette’s journey in accepting herself for who she is. My heart absolutely BROKE for Adam when Warner shot him and I was praying that he survives until the end. He’s too kind and respectful to leave the storyline that quickly!

Overall, this was 4.5 stars for me. I need to buy the second book and devour it as soon as possible now! 🙌🏻