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A review by amelia_m3llark
Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
1.0
I read this book twice. The first time I went through it in three days, and didn’t think much of it. I actually thought it was an okay book, if not great. Then I reread it a month later with one major difference: I really took my time and paid attention to every word. That’s when I rated it one star and felt embarrassed that I had ever come remotely close to enjoying it.
As I am writing this, I am fifteen years old. Shatter Me is a completely age-appropriate book for me to be reading (from what I understand it’s 14+). I’m a sucker for dystopian series and the enemies to lovers trope. Also, I’m VERY easily influenced by BookTok. Once you put all these together, it’s obvious that the only way this review could be biased is if it was POSITIVE. And this is clearly not.
I hate the main character, Juliette, with a big, fat, fiery passion. I get it, she’s had a really terrible childhood. But that doesn’t excuse how whiny and stupid she is.
Juliette also has no agency. Considering how overpowered she is as a character, you’d think she’d be at least a little bit capable of making her own decisions. Nope! This book entirely consists of Juliette being bossed around by either Adam or Warner, and being shipped off to various facilities that try to unlock her “potential” or something.
Warner is an absolute jerk. I know a lot of people love him, and they say he gets better in the later books. However, every time Warner made an appearance, he gave me some really icky vibes. Just because he’s super hot (just like everyone else in this book), doesn’t excuse him being an absolute creep to Juliette. He also apparently doesn’t know what consent is.The only time I cheered on Juliette was when she shot him.
Adam is the most flat character I have ever encountered in a book. The only things you really have to know about him are that he has pretty eyes, and a weird obsession with protecting Juliette at all costs. She thinks it’s love. I think he’s mainly just using Juliette for sex and treating her like a baby (but I guess he’s not wrong there; she sure has the mental capacity of one.)
And then there’s Kenji. He’s alright, I guess, but his excessive use of the word “bro” and the like is not cute, just annoying. Other than that, he’s the only tolerable character.
All in all, if you enjoyed this book, that’s fine. Just don’t use your critical thinking skills while reading, because if you do, I have a feeling your opinion on Shatter Me will change alarmingly fast.
As I am writing this, I am fifteen years old. Shatter Me is a completely age-appropriate book for me to be reading (from what I understand it’s 14+). I’m a sucker for dystopian series and the enemies to lovers trope. Also, I’m VERY easily influenced by BookTok. Once you put all these together, it’s obvious that the only way this review could be biased is if it was POSITIVE. And this is clearly not.
I hate the main character, Juliette, with a big, fat, fiery passion. I get it, she’s had a really terrible childhood. But that doesn’t excuse how whiny and stupid she is.
Juliette also has no agency. Considering how overpowered she is as a character, you’d think she’d be at least a little bit capable of making her own decisions. Nope! This book entirely consists of Juliette being bossed around by either Adam or Warner, and being shipped off to various facilities that try to unlock her “potential” or something.
Warner is an absolute jerk. I know a lot of people love him, and they say he gets better in the later books. However, every time Warner made an appearance, he gave me some really icky vibes. Just because he’s super hot (just like everyone else in this book), doesn’t excuse him being an absolute creep to Juliette. He also apparently doesn’t know what consent is.
Adam is the most flat character I have ever encountered in a book. The only things you really have to know about him are that he has pretty eyes, and a weird obsession with protecting Juliette at all costs. She thinks it’s love. I think he’s mainly just using Juliette for sex and treating her like a baby (but I guess he’s not wrong there; she sure has the mental capacity of one.)
And then there’s Kenji. He’s alright, I guess, but his excessive use of the word “bro” and the like is not cute, just annoying. Other than that, he’s the only tolerable character.
All in all, if you enjoyed this book, that’s fine. Just don’t use your critical thinking skills while reading, because if you do, I have a feeling your opinion on Shatter Me will change alarmingly fast.