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A review by emilyusuallyreading
Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
3.0
What I Liked
Juliette has a strong voice. She's quickly likable. Her affliction (being unable to touch anyone without causing them extreme pain or even death) is fascinating. The story begins with Juliette living in total isolation in a mental asylum, and for those first few chapters I was hooked.
What I Didn't Like
Angst. So much teenage angst. Every single character has horribly abusive parents and has seen terrible things. Everyone is lonely and afraid and guilty about things that aren't their fault. In a world where everyone is anguished all of the time, personal tragedies become much less compelling.
Take this scene (that could potentially be a spoiler) from p.206:
So much self blame for things that don't make sense. So much angst when angst is not needed.
So many metaphors and similes. Tahereh Mafi's writing style is unique and recognizable, but the constant use of metaphor becomes distracting from the actual storyline. Take this paragraph from p. 147:
"My heart is a field of lilies blooming under a pane of glass, pitter-pattering to life like a rush of raindrops. His jaw is as tight as his eyes as tight as his fists as tight as the strain in his arms."
It's like this every single page, every single paragraph. Missing punctuation. Constantly crossing out sentences. Metaphor after metaphor after metaphor. Similar to how tragic stories become less tragic when everybody has one, flowery sentences become less striking when every sentence is flowery and over-elaborate.
The book transforms into X-Men. And just as quickly as my interest was piqued, it was lost.
Juliette has a strong voice. She's quickly likable. Her affliction (being unable to touch anyone without causing them extreme pain or even death) is fascinating. The story begins with Juliette living in total isolation in a mental asylum, and for those first few chapters I was hooked.
What I Didn't Like
Angst. So much teenage angst. Every single character has horribly abusive parents and has seen terrible things. Everyone is lonely and afraid and guilty about things that aren't their fault. In a world where everyone is anguished all of the time, personal tragedies become much less compelling.
Take this scene (that could potentially be a spoiler) from p.206:
Spoiler
"'Juliette,' he whispers, and I realize just how close he is. I'm not sure why I haven't evaporated into nothingness. 'It's been me and you against the world forever,' he says. 'It's always been that way. It's my fault I took so long to do something about it.' 'No.' I'm shaking my head. 'It's not your fault-' 'It is. I fell in love with you a long time ago. I just never had the guts to act on it.' 'Because I could have killed you.' He laughs a quiet laugh. 'Because I didn't think I deserved you.'"So much self blame for things that don't make sense. So much angst when angst is not needed.
So many metaphors and similes. Tahereh Mafi's writing style is unique and recognizable, but the constant use of metaphor becomes distracting from the actual storyline. Take this paragraph from p. 147:
"My heart is a field of lilies blooming under a pane of glass, pitter-pattering to life like a rush of raindrops. His jaw is as tight as his eyes as tight as his fists as tight as the strain in his arms."
It's like this every single page, every single paragraph. Missing punctuation. Constantly crossing out sentences. Metaphor after metaphor after metaphor. Similar to how tragic stories become less tragic when everybody has one, flowery sentences become less striking when every sentence is flowery and over-elaborate.
The book transforms into X-Men. And just as quickly as my interest was piqued, it was lost.