A review by notbambi
Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

dark emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

It has a lot of potential, but it's not great so far. I liked enough about it that I'll probably read the next one. The dystopia plot and worldbuilding take a backseat to romance, which isn't always a bad thing, but I did feel like what was there outside of the romance was very thin and moved too quickly to care much about. 

I liked a lot about the protagonist and the erratic voice of her narration (I know that this is apparently a polarizing aspect of the book, but it really worked for me!). I preferred the early chapters where she is dealing with her isolation and loneliness, something that I feel like isn't addressed in a satisfying way later in the book - she just sort of feels better because she's got Adam. On the other hand, he is the first person to be able to touch her, and this is the first in a series, so maybe something will happen later to make her realize that being in love doesn't magically fix trauma.

I know from the TikTok stans how this love triangle is going to play out, and I'm very curious to see how Mafi is going to play it. 
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