Shatter Me - Book SERIES Quick Review
Six books / Over 1.5 million copies sold...
Stats:
Audience: Young Adult
Goodreads Rating: 3.85/5 ( > 900,000 ratings)
Genres: Dystopian, Paranormal, Fantasy, Fiction, Romance, Supernatural
Author: Tahereh Mafi; 2011
Main Character: Juliette Ferrars (does vary somewhat across series)
Positives:
#1
This entire book series is INCREDIBLY poetic. And not in a bad way, either. ‘Poetic’ in this context is the sentence flow and how Mafi constructs her writing in a way that captures the thoughts of the main character in an original way. Here are some examples from the book of what I mean below:
“We are synonyms but not the same.
Synonyms know each other like old colleagues, like a set of friends who’ve seen the world together. They swap stories, reminisce about their origins and forget that though they are similar, they are entirely different and though they share a cet=rtain set of attributes, one can never be the other. Because a quiet night is not the same as a silent one, a firm man is not the same as a steady one, and a bright light is not the same as a brilliant one”
And
“26 friends to tell my stories to.
26 letters are all I need. I can stitch them together to create oceans and ecosystems. I can fit them together to form planets and solar systems. I can use letters to construct skyscrapers and metropolitan cities populated by people, places, things, and ideas that are more real to me than these 4 walls.”
I genuinely enjoined finding and reading these passages in the midst of the storyline. So how could a book theoretically be filled with poetry and fail? I’m not going to pick out specific authors or books to bully as this is my own personal opinion, but I think it needs to be said that sometimes poetry does not improve books. This includes: a regular book written in poetic format so every page is only filled halfway with text or excessively long paragraphs detailing surroundings in the book that I instinctively skip over. What I liked about the book on technical grounds was that it was well-written and the author clearly had a knack for inserting these little artistic touches where I wouldn’t progressively get tired of them. Note: After reading Goodreads reviews, apparently some people hated them. To each their own, I suppose, and you can figure out for yourself from the quotes I’ve inserted above whether that’s your thing. Note: Another detail the first book, especially, is known for is Mafi’s continual use of strikethroughs (← like that) to get across that those sections were taken out of Juliette’s journal.
#2
Over the course of the series, the chapters vary by character point of view. Not the first book, but the rest, and I overall like this style.
#3
Crazy plot twists and I live for those.
Negatives:
#1
I have a very strong feeling that this book was not written with the male perspective in mind. The repeated references to the two guys (love triangle) being absolutely obsessed Juliette and her feelings switching from one to the other are fun (who doesn’t love to be loved?) but fictional to the point of overdose. They fight over her. Most of the male characters make some kind of comment signaling their love of Juliette. The author also has a bit of an obsession with blue eyes, which shows up now and again. The majority of character development occurs in the last few books, but to be fair it does make itself known.
#2
Nearing the end of the series it’s one big battle scene that goes on and on.