Shatter Me

By: Tahereh Mafi

Narrated by: Kate Simses

Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's Summary

"You can't touch me," I whisper. I'm lying, is what I don't tell him. He can touch me, is what I'll never tell him. But things happen when people touch me. Strange things. Bad things.

No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal, but The Reestablishment has plans for her. Plans to use her as a weapon.

But Juliette has plans of her own. After a lifetime without freedom, she's finally discovering a strength to fight back for the very first time - and to find a future with the one boy she thought she'd lost forever.

©2011 Tahereh Mafi (P)2011 HarperCollins Publishers

Don't let the sample fool you - So Good!

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.

Woah....too much for me to take

What disappointed you about Shatter Me?

As an adult who enjoys YA books, I was hoping for another great one in Shatter Me...however it has been so hard to get through. I'm not sure if it's the story itself, or maybe the narrator but I am regretting spending a credit on this book. To know that it is a series makes my head spin. How can anyone truly get into these books when there is more time spent talking about describing everything around and very little describing the story. To have the same line read over and over and over in the same tone and voice makes me want to turn it off. I'm sorry this is not a YA book that anyone should read unless you are truly a YA, and a YOUNG YA at that.

Has Shatter Me turned you off from other books in this genre?

This genre will continue to be one of my favorites, this series however will not make it any further in my collection

How could the performance have been better?

The tone was off throughout the entire book. The character always was portrayed horribly, not how I would have imagined the writer intended for her to come across.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

no, sorry

Great story EXCEPT....

This was a very good story and I did enjoy listening to it except for the main characters obsessive compulsive tendency to repeat things over and over and over and. OVER AND OVER AND OVER!!! The repeating of certain things accompanied with the narrators baby voice used for the girl almost put me over the edge in certain parts of the story. If you can get past that, the storyline is very good.

Good story, but SO OVER DRAMATIC.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

If you are a tween/teen, yes. this book would be perfect for over emotional teenagers who need constant nonsensical metaphors to describe their feelings.

What did you like best about this story?

The kids powers are cool.

What does Kate Simses bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Her voice fits Juliette; very breathy and whiney and wah wah wah, poor me, I have super powers and I can't appreciate them.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It annoyed me to know end, because like I said, it was SOOOOO over dramatic. and she is CONSTANTLY using the slash through sentences style of writing and it makes it look freaking retarded. Mafi treats sentences like they're handicapped... This book is filled with over-saturated, painful metaphors like the following:

"He says it with a small smile the size of Jupiter."

"Every organ in my body falls to the ground."

"There are 400 cotton balls caught in my windpipe."

"My mouth is sitting on my kneecaps."

"My jaw is dangling from my shoelace."

"My stomach drops onto my knees."

"I blush through my bones."

"My spine is conducting enough electricity to power a city."

"I am an old creaky staircase when I wake up."

"Warner thinks Adam is a cardboard cutout of vanilla regurgitations."

"I am not insane. I am not insane. I am not insane. I am not insane. I am not insane. I am not insane. I am not insane. I am not insane. I am not insane. I am not insane. I am not insane. I am not insane. I am not insane. I am not insane. I am not insane. I am not insane. I am not insane. I am not insane. I am not insane. I am not insane...."

and that continues on for AN ENTIRE PAGE, and I'm pretty sure it was just filler so her word count was enough for publishing!!!

Okay. There you have it.

Any additional comments?

If you want to keep the hair on your head, don't bother reading it. Or, if your maturity level is above those who read and loved 50 shades of grey, or any really BAD YA fiction. Read GOOD YA, like JOHN GREEN.

Scratch This One Off My List

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.

Gasp! Freeze! Repeat. Gasp! Freeze! Repeat.

The main character has repeated, repetitive, ongoing, iterative, drama-queen panic attacks that occur without explanation until the second half of the book. Not worth the wait, in my opinion. The vocabulary is limited with six favorite adjectives and a pointless gimmick. Plot and character development are nearly non-existent and what there is, is dully formulaic with a leaden sense of pacing. Overall, the book is a very disappointing effort by an author who seems to have meant well and who seems to have promising writing sensibilities. Perhaps the book would have redeemed itself in the end but I found it too painfully tedious to finish. I'm sorry I bought it and would advise others to steer clear. Some YA fiction is marvellously good quality and very rewarding reading (Treasure Island anyone?). This early draft is an undeveloped bodice ripper in training.

Could have been a good book......

I read the summary and thought "this sounds interesting - a girl that no one can touch". I also read the reviews, and while some were negative, many were almost glowing. In the end though, the writing style was way too emo and overly dramatic. Even for me. The author seemed to think she had to over describe every single little thing. The MC couldn't have a single thought without it being compared to some overly obscure, flowery reference. The story itself was interesting and the world building was impressive. I even became invested in the MC and her love interest; but ultimately the over-the-top writing style ruined what could have been a great book and I only finished it to find out what happened to the two MC's.

The narrator has a VERY unique voice and would not impress me for any other book I've listened to, but her voice definitely matched the MC, so I won't hold this one against her. I won't be listening to the rest of the series and could not recommend this one - even to a 15 year old.

The worst, only for teens, but even then ....

I hated this book. I tried to stay with it hoping as it went along it would get better. But, alas it didn't. I read the reviews and some gave a 5 star so I thought there might be something there, but no, just drivel. I like a great variety of books depending on my mood; science fiction, thrillers, funny, some bios.....For example I loved The Help, the early James Patterson books, Grisham, Baldacci, but I have no mood in me to like this stuff. I have never written a bad review but this. Sorry, to all who loved it I know everyone is different and my opinion doesn't out weigh yours.
Next, I have the last Corbin book to give a negative on

Emotional Romance

Would you listen to Shatter Me again? Why?

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

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

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

What aspect of Kate Simses’s performance would you have changed?

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

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, I listened to it all in two days.

Any additional comments?

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

The narrator is horrible.

OMG... the girl narrating this story is the worst narrator I have ever heard. I tried to listen to this book a couple of time but she is talking in the high pitched mousey voice the entire time and it is so distracting that I am not even paying attention to what she is saying.