The Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi is a young adult dystopian romance ( heavy on the romance) about a girl named Juliette whose touch is deadly because of this she has been locked away( it also may have to do with the fact that the last time she touched someone she killed them). The Reestablishment( the oppressive government because you can’t have a YA dystopian without an oppressive government) fearing an uprising and a “secret” not so secret rebel organization task with destroying them ,decides that now is the time to use her as a weapon. Now Juliette must decide whether to be a weapon or to be a warrior.
My ratings:
- Shatter Me 4 stars
- Unravel Me 1 star
- Ignite Me 2.5 stars
- Series overall rating 2.5
Favorite quote of the series
” The moon is a loyal companion. It never leaves. It”s always there,watching steadfast, knowing us in our light and dark moments, changing forever just as we do. Every day it’s a different version of itself. Sometimes weak and wan, sometimes strong and full of light. the moon understands what it means to be human. Uncertain.Alone. Cratered by imperfections.”
Shatter Me
What I like about the series
Sadly, for a series that had so much potential there’s not a lot i actually liked about it. A major critique of the Shatter Me series and Tahereh Mafi as an author is her overly descriptive writing style but that is the main reason that i fell in love with Shatter Me last year when i read it. I have never ran to a highlighter so fast in my life ( as a general rule i tend to not write in my books) and Kenji, Juliette’s best friend and comic relief for most of the series. Honestly i would have much rather preferred a series or a book all about him.
What I dislike about the series
There are so many things that i disliked about this series but I’ll trying to keep the ranting to a minimum. Let’s start with the love triangle. This was the first time where i hated both sides, i found both male characters to be extremely problematic and spent most of the series hoping even though i knew it wouldn’t happen that the main character would end up alone. I’m of the unpopular opinion because i can’t stand Warner and it annoyed me to no end that Mafi spent most of the series making excuses for his behave. A lot of people grow up in toxic environments and turn out to be productive citizens. That’s not an excuse. She did somewhat redeem herself in the last book by having Juliette acknowledge the terrible things that Warner did to her and how it had affected her both physically and emotionally. I found that not a lot happened across the three books and it could’ve just as easily been condensed into one book. The character weren’t fleshed out and the plot was swept away in the romance. My final thoughts just read Shatter Me and view it as an ending and move on this series is not worth the paper it’s printed on.