Shatter Me

I avoided purchasing Shatter Me for months. In fact, I first became interested in the story when I read a review from an author I admire who loved Shatter Me. But when I tried the sample on Audible.com, I thought the narrator's voice sounded whiney and I couldn't get past the "scratch out" noise.

Then I kept finding new authors I enjoyed, and when I would read their blogs, many of them raved about Shatter Me. So then I put it in my "wish list" category and it sat there for months. I just couldn't get past the sample offered.

Finally, I downloaded the book , being too lazy to research a new book and settling on just choosing from my wish list. WOW! What was I waiting for? Shatter Me is exciting and such a good listen - - probably more so for females as far as following the main character's erratic thought process.

The narrator's voice is not whiney at all. I think the sample doesn't do Kate Simses justice. Yes, her voice is higher pitched, but after a moment or so, it's not at all annoying. And the narrator does a great job interpretting and relaying Juliet's (protagonist) internal thought process and emotions. The narrator also does decent male voices - - I just finished two separate books with horrible male voices by a female narrator so this is quite a relief.

Further, the sample (and another review on here) give the impression that the entire story is going to be full of the "scratch out" noise. I interpret this noise to be Juliet's mental stopping or scratching out of her thought process to redirect herself in a different way. In the beginning of the story, Juliet's mind isn't exactly in the most stable place, so her thoughts are more jumbled and the "scratch out" noise happens more often. However, this noise is not as overwhelming or distracting as I thought it would be, and eventually, you don't even notice it at all.

As for the story itself, it's terribly romantic - - not in a horrible gushy way, but in an appropriately steamy way. I love the relationship between Juliet and Adam. But I especially love how the antagonist (Warner) really complicates matters. I have my suspicions as far as his significance, and I can't wait for book 2 to see what happens with him.

I think the author does a great GREAT job of keeping the reader (listener) guessing as far as what Juliet's "issue" is, as well as the current state of civilization (don't want to give away spoilers) as well as a whole array of twists and surprises that actually make sense to the story and help it develop.

I read another review that complains this story is not really a Dystopian novel. I disagree. While yes, this story focuses mainly on character and relationship development, and less on formation of the Dystopian realm of the novel, the end of book 1 clearly sets up the Dystopian world that is about to be revealed to Juliet. It's basically a huge teaser, which worked on me. FYI, Book 2 is said to be set to release in February 2013.

Tahereh Mafi's writing skills are on full display with the debut of her first book SHATTER ME. Wow, just...wow! What a read and so completely not what I expected (in a good way). This is one of those rare reads that truly catches you off guard. What I was (happily) expecting with this new ya novel?..To be honest...the usual light teen romance with some sort of paranormal twist. What I got was, well...so, so much more. Mafi definitely has a new fan in me.

I didn't want to put SHATTER ME down once I started it and cannot wait for the next installment. I don't really want to go into the plot here and risk spoiling anything but if you're super curious, keep reading for spoiler and a taste of what to expect with this captivating book...

****SPOILER****
The best way I can think to describe SHATTER ME, is a beautifully written dystopian novel with an x-men(ish) story for the 21st century, full of emotion, danger and adventure!
****SPOILER END****

Truly a fantastic read with an equally fantastic narrator.. And if this initial book is any indication as to what's to come, the Shatter Me Series is one to be reckoned with!

No, I found the recording somewhat annoying,,,lots of scritching metallic sounds, the heroine is mentally crossing out words, thoughts from her mind.

I enjoyed the story, it is a emotional teen romance.

I had trouble sometimes telling who was speaking,not to often but maybe change the voices a little more?

Yes, I listened to it all in two days.

I will read the sequel if there is one and look for more of this authors work.

the book itself started out slow but once it got going, i was hooked. i love the character and don't agree with other people's reviews saying that she's weak. i'd like to see how strong they'd be in her situation! she's very strong considering the obstacles she's gone through.

warner. i know, i know! he's the bad guy but honestly i'm all for warner. also, i really liked kenji too.

all of them, i can't pick just one.

i'm not that creative....

i really enjoyed the narrator. i'll be seeking out other books she's narrated. i like the youngness and softness to her voice. i think it fit the character in this book perfectly.

it is on the top favorite but I heard better

I liked Kenji and James they are so funny and I related to them

no but I will now starting with crossed .. I hope it will be as good

It made want to cry at some point , and Kenji made me want to laugh all the time

I love this book so much but the kissing scenes didn't work with me so well

Yes, this book is full of imagination and is very refreshing.

The whole book was memorable because of the writing style. Every line seems to have a half dozen vivid words.

Obviously the main character.

I can't quite remember. Its not a sad book, so no crying. It's also not a very funny book. Its more serious and full of vivid description.

This writing style is unlike any other books that I have currently read or listened to. The author has an extremely large vocabulary and she knows how to use it extremely well. Very intelligent, I can only imagine.

I really did not like the writing style in this book. Not sure I would enjoy any other books by the same author if this is the normal writing style used.

I really did not like this book. It dragged in too many places and couldn't keep my attention. I did not finish the book because I got tired of waiting for the story to blossom. I have NEVER quit a book without completing it. I have always followed through to the end but I could not make myself with this one.

i was drawn in right away and the story line is original. The author wrote in such a unique way, your not sure what is said aloud vs. what is being written in her journal.

It's a little like The Pledge, but not really. Both are post apocalyptic America. both have female lead who must find an inner strength, and have a romeo and juliet type love interest.

no, never

I did enjoy the story, when she triumphs, i felt pride. when she fears, i was insecure, i didn't know why no one could touch her, but i didn't want them to.

I can not wait for more from this author, for a first effort, this book was most excellent.

I really wanted to to like this one but could not get past Mafi's writing style. I love good descriptive prose, but when you overuse it, it totally loses it effectiveness, and that is how I felt about this one. And the flowery descriptions were used for all things big and small. If the main character had gotten a paper cut. Mafi would have described it by saying something like "and the pain shot through my finger tip like a thousand biting fire ants". After a while, I found myself rolling my eyes...over and over again. I don't know if I've EVER actually rolled my eyes at an audio book before!

Mafi built a romance that was fairly believable. She gave the characters a history that made it easy to accept their feelings for each other. What was hard to accept was the obsession the heroine had with her beau's looks. I mean, they are basically in the middle of a war, and all the heroine can think about is how HOT the guy is. She says things like, "his body...built of bricks of desire". Gag! I would have sworn this was a Harlequin Romance!!

As equally annoying was the reaction every male had to the heroine. Every man this girl, who by the way hasn't eaten much in a year and must weigh all of 70 pounds, meets falls for her. I much prefer a more modest heroine, or at least one who seems deserving of such adoration.

If you still want to try this one, I'd opt for reading it rather than listening to the audio book. The author shows her heroine's true feelings by SCRATCHING out her words and replacing them with a less truthful line, and the audio offers an awful SCRATCH sound when this happens, which is often. Also, the heroine is a bit nuts (which I like and actually wish there was more development of) and in one scene she repeats the same word probably 30 times, and in an audio...that's VERY annoying.

Overall, this is one I cannot recommend. I do applaud Mafi for trying something new with her descriptive voice, and some descriptions were very pretty, but like I said before, by the end of the story, the good ones lost their power because they were sandwiched between dozens of unnecessary ones.

This is a new YA romantic dystopian novel, but it's more romantic novel than dystopian novel compare to the Hunger Games. The story is interesting enough to attract teenage girls. Not boys.

What I didn't like was Juliette's voice. It was too whiney. I don't think the author intended Juliette to sound like a whiney or hysterical all the time. She should be more sedated. Also Kenji sounded like Latino instead of Japanese. Oddly, Adam and James sounded pretty convincing compare to Juliette.