Shatter Me | Book Review ft. Unpopular Opinions

6a5b43a4-70fd-4b44-9b43-b0b7055fa1f9

If you loved this series then I don’t mean to offend you. I would just like to share my critical opinions on the first book, though I will give the rest a try!

I don’t know whether to hate or love Shatter Me. It was a very stereotypical dystopia and the romance wasn’t all that special. I would have loved to see the love interest being a female because that would make the pair more criminal (obviously this world has rusty opinions, especially on same-sex relationships). It followed a pretty basic plot (beginning, climax, resolution, end) and there were no plot-twists which was really disappointing. Imagine if Adam had just escaped with Juliette and then killed her or shared her secrets to the Reestablishment? I would’ve loved to see some betrayal because it would make me feel more emotions towards the book.

Mafi wanted to expose her readers to the mind of a girl whose sanity is fragile. I think that the contents of a troubled mind would result in more than artistic metaphors and a crazy obsession with numbers. Despite the fact that Juliette’s backstory is interesting, we don’t get anything interesting in her present self. I hate seeing the same cookie-cutter ‘heroine’ that can be seen in most YA novels. At this point, I have read so many books that my expectations keep getting higher. I am becoming more critical of what I read and, to a certain extent, it’s quite annoying. Why do I have to keep correcting or thinking about the character development and plot? Why can’t I just sit down and read a book without judging it?

I’m seeing a lot of repetition in Young Adult Literature. It’s rare that I find a unique book within all of the shelves. Exploring new genres is always fun because you can’t compare it to other books within that genre. My problem with reading Shatter Me was that I was comparing it to Delirium. I read Delirium earlier this year when I first got into reading and I really enjoyed it.

I didn’t find the writing style annoying at all, and it showed Juliette’s development and she stopped crossing out words towards the end of the book. Although Juliette is really troubled and she shouldn’t be creating such weird metaphors, I did like them.

If you want to read this because of it’s dystopian value, please don’t. Go and find another dystopian YA novel with better plot and characters. As I have mentioned, it’s a very stereotypical world with a dictatorship, poverty and a crumbling planet.

This book is a full-on romance with a happily ever after. Sometimes I like a bit of soppiness but 300 pages worth is just cringe. I will give the rest of the books a chance though. Some series get better as they go on!