A review by letitiaharmon
Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

3.0

How to rate this...If you read the first 3 pages and you're in, then you're in. If you don't like it, then you're not. Because Holy Teenage Angst, Batman. The sentences are long. The emotions are big. The adjectives are plentiful. There's actually something really lyrical to the writing, but you have to be on board with this as though you are a teenage girl. And actually, I think that can be perceived as something it does well. Because remember that? Remember when you thought the feelings you were feeling were the biggest feelings and nobody else had ever felt this thing as much or are as purely as you? Mafi, intentionally or not, captures that. When I was 15 I would have eaten this with a spoon. And so I just let myself be transported to that frame of mind, and it made the book much more enjoyable.

I was delighted when Kenji came on the scene, because he is an essential change to the tone. Snarky banter and a character who doesn't take himself too seriously injected a breath of fresh air into the narrative, and proved that Mafi can write different tones and different voices quite skillfully.

The romance part happens lightning fast, if that's what you enjoy. I'm more of a slow burn myself. The only barrier to their relationship that these horny teenagers encounter is someone repeatedly walking in at the wrong moment. So I guess we have more yearning to look forward to in book 2 as they try to get their hands on each other while being constantly interrupted. Nosy friends. The best birth control.

To sum up: BIG BIG TEENAGE FEELINGS and lots of pretty words but no coitus. Enjoy.