Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Shatter Me

I really enjoyed this read, it was fast paced and kept me engaged. I also really love the unique writing style with the singular POV of this broken 17 year old girl Juliette, and the use of the various strike through thoughts really gives you an insight into her mindset. The similes and metaphors in this book are beaut and again I think really give an insight into Juliette’s head. The plot is nothing spectacular at this point but it sets up the dystopian world and the characters decently enough. It gives explanation to Juliette’s mental state and the second half of the book sets up the beginning of such an interesting plot line, I’m excited to see what happens next. I’m assuming the next book will answer some of the ‘why?’.
I’m confused about the hype online about Aaron Warner because so far he just seems like an insane person used to getting his way by any means necessary and kinda scary. But we’ll see, enemies to lovers is my faaave trope and there were moments between Juliet and Aaron in amongst his insanity when I was like omg yes this is giving me possible enemies to lovers vibes. Just right now I don’t understand how he could redeem himself.
Adam is such a cutie and yet I’m trying not to let myself get too attached to him, because I’ve not heard his name online before, but have heard Warner’s… suspicious, and I think I’m trying to protect myself from potential future heartbreak by not letting myself get too invested in this love story.
James is adorable, and Kenji provides the light relief character with a good sense of humour that we love.
At present Juliette is probably one of my least favourite characters because although it’s cool that she has this dangerous but impressive power, at this stage in the series she’s also pretty weak. I’m here for her journey of growth into (hopefully) an all powerful boss babe though, and am looking forward to her character development, so bring it on.
Satisfactory ending? Yes.

Content Warnings

filipa_maia's review against another edition

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dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I kept seeing, throughout bookstagram people praising this book (and saga), so I built quite the expectation around it. Honestly, I'm a bit disappointed.

The story is so interesting, so different from the fantasy that I usually read, it had so much potential... for me, the writing ruined it. I understand that we are inside the mind of a girl who is being held prisoner because of her powers (and I really enjoy all the phrases that are crossed - those things that are only in her brain and she never says them out loud), but there are other things that bothered me a lot: the repetitions - I know that she keeps repeating things to herself, but you don't need to write them over and over again (we get it); the numbers - what the hell! I think this is the first time that I read a book in which the number are not written in full (I know that this is just a technicality, and as no interference in the story, but I don't like it).

Overall I think that, this could be such a better book if the story was written in a different way. Somehow, I don't understand Warner's obsession with Juliette (it makes no sense - he wants to use her as a weapon and at the same time wants her... so why did he kept her locked up, almost dying for so long?); I, definitely, don't trust Adam - he has the same amount of obsession for Juliette, but because he's hot, that's ok). Other thing I did not get is the "end of the world" plot twist: we are lead to believe that this is sort of a "mid-apocalyptic" scenario and, apparently, is all a big government conspiracy?

Well, I'm going to read the second book, hoping it will clear some of my doubts and I start liking this story a bit much. We'll see!

Content Warnings

ruthiedr89's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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