Shatter Me by Tahareh Mafi [SERIES REVIEW+BOOKTALK]

The Shatter Me series by Tahareh Mafi
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers
Genres: Fantasy, Dystopian, Adventure, Science Fiction, Romance,Young Adult
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Overall rating:

Shatter Me (paperback)  -Book 1, Published on November 15, 2011
Destroy Me (paperback bind-up ) -Book 1.5, Published on October 2, 2012
Unravel Me (hardcover) - Book 2, Published on February 5, 2013
Fracture Me (paperback bind-up) - Book 2.5, Published on December 17, 2013
Ignite Me (hardcover) - Book 3, Published on February 4, 2014

SYNOPSIS:

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.

_____________________________________________

REVIEW [spoiler-free]:

I'm speechless. I'm dying. I don't know what todotodotodo. 

Finishing this book I'm not done yet there must be more I was left feeling both hollow and full to the brim I want moremoremore and completely satisfied with everything and I don't think there could have been a better way or place to end the trilogy. 

The writing is fantastic and unique in a way that complements the story and the main character, Juliette (who is now officially my new hero), so so well, and I want to  bow down to the queen applaud Tahareh Mafi simply for being brilliant. Her choice of words and Juliette's musings were just so beautiful and inspiring, and made me want to experiment more with my own writing style. 

While there was an external conflict in this series, it is not the main focus. The internal conflicts, character development and the struggle to accept yourself is, I think, the main drive of this story and it was an incredibly interesting and intriguing journey to follow.

The few flaws I noticed in the first installment where are all the girls? where corrected as the series progressed and made more sense. I know I'm not the only one who noticed this and where annoyed by it, but it didn't hinder my enjoying the books - especially because other female characters started to have slightly bigger roles in the 2nd and 3rd book.

All-in-all this is one of my favorite series of all time - despite it's flaws - because the message and the atmosphere of the books just hit me deep in the chest and has taken root. 

Booktalk [WARNING: SPOILERS]:

Alright, first off, let's talk COVERS. Because are these books not just the most beautiful you've ever seen? I think we all know how to feel about the original cover ('ew') and I'm so infinitely happy that they changed the covers to something haunting and beautiful...I mean, I feel like the new ones give you a better feel for the atmosphere of the story and the characters. Plus, they're just simply gorgeous, so...

Anyway, this series was not what I was expecting in many ways, but it was just as good -- better even.

I swallowed all these pages in about a week and I don't know what to do now. I could go on read another book but  I'm so afraid it won't be as good  I don't want to read anything else. 

*defeated sigh*

But...Juliette, man. JULIETTE. What an intense character development she went through--Gosh, I'm sososo proud of her--she went from cowering, insecure and relying too much on the first boy who was kind to her, to a smart, fierce leader who knew exactly how much she's worth and would let no one and nothing stand in her way. 

Which leads me to the subject of Adam Kent and Aaron Warner...In Shatter Me I was a bit unsure how to feel and hadn't really formed a full opinion yet, but already then the whole relationship between Adam and Juliette felt so...forced and obvious, like it was being shoved down my throat against my will, but I didn't hate them it that much. Warner just stood out to me more...intrigued me, even though I tried to deny it, because his actions to Juliette just seemed so horrible and way beyond forgiveness. 

But then I read Destroy Me and all of it was explained -- further so in Ignite Me and it thrilled me so much and added dimensions to Warner's character. Also, I love the way he was around Juliette and she was around him. He made her stronger, and she made him feel loved. 

So, yes. I loved this series to  deathdeathdeath.