Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

published by Harper Teen

338 pages

Genre- dystopian, supernatural

(Amazon) (goodreads) (shelfari)

Rating- 5

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.

 

Shatter me was definitely different. In a good way. although I'm not sure I would compare it to the hunger games, lol. (the dystopian-ness was more like that of The Quillian games, which I read way back when) Non the less it was very good. I was reading it in history during a free time, and my history teacher asked what it was about, after i told him he was like "LIKE ROUGE!" Then went into a xman tangent that took up 15 min of class time. needless to say my classmates were pleased.
 And so was I. The book was written with a unique perspective, almost like were reading Juliette's journal. Her inner most thoughts are displayed blatantly, and my heart went out for her. She honestly thought that she was a monster. Her emotions were a roller coaster throughout the novel. Before she got moved to the asylum her parents hated her. her classmates were hostile, although she was nothing but nice. Everyone told her she was a monster, and after the accident and the three years in the asylum with out any human contact at all, Juliette's mental stage was quite fragile. However she grew increasingly stronger as the novel progressed. The entire novel was through Juliette's perspective, and it was amazing to see her grow as a person. And Mafi did this really int resting thing where Juliette would strike through her thoughts or words and change it from what she was really thinking or wanting to say, to what she felt she was supposed to be thinking or saying. (its hard to explain unless you've read it.)

Adam the second protagonist (and love interest) was great to, although at first he was quite mysterious. He was like Juliette's rock. A tie to her old life and a promise for the future. although he seemed almost too perfect, or just maybe lovestruck.... although I still love him non the less.

Warner was my fave definitely. He reminded me much of Cain from the Gone Novels (and i very much love Cain also)  He seemed the most genuine of them all. even if he was slightly evil.

Solid plot, good ending, steady writing style, and great characterisation. It gets a 5 from me! I cant wait for the next!


Embrace the awesomeness!
Dana

Review: Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
published by Harper Teen
335 pages
genra- paranormal (what else? : ) )
(shelfari) (goodreads) (amazon)
rating- 4.5

Even though every day Evie goes out and bag and tags rouge paranormals, has a mermaid as a best friend, and is tutored by a werewolf, Evie thinks or herself as pretty normal. It's just what you get when you work for IPCA the International Paranormal Containment Agency. Where Evie has been since she was pulled out of the foster care system after she revealed that she could see through any paranormals glamors, after a bad run in with a vampire while she was eight. The paranormal has become normal, except whats happening now, is not by any means normal. A shape shifter has been captured and he's like nothing Evie's ever seen before. Paranormals are dying by the hundreds and Evie's having weird dreams about a woman not so different from herself. Evie soon figures out that there is something different about her. a reason that she can see through glamors, and that maybe she's not that normal after all.

Paranormalcy is different from the things that i usually read, but its refreshing in its own way. Evie's spunky and care free and reminds me of Buffy the vampire slayer. (or what I imagine that Buffy the vampire slayer would be like, I've never read it, or seen any TV shows.) I liked how she brings the lightness to the butt kicking. I usually dislike supper girly characters, but how could you dislike someone who carries around a pink rhinestone encrusted taser, creatively named "tasey" lol. Evie kept me laughing, and kept the story going. Lend was supper cool also. I liked how he can change his appearance, and most everything about his character.

Although Evie was very light, she has some conflicting emotions about her self. She dosn't exactly know what she is, and she always feels like shes alone, other then Lish, her bff, or Raquel a mom like figure, she has no friends or family. Lend comes along and she stops feeling so alone, but she still wonders where she belongs, and what she is supposed to do. It was easy to identify with, even though most of us wouldn't identify with a bleep kicking glamor girl most of the week. :)

The plot line progressed flawlessly, the background was explained with just enough detail, and all the loose ends are tied up by the last page. It was a wonderful story with a gorgeous cover, and I cannot wait for the sequel, Supernaturally which came out yesterday! July, 26 2011.