Lauren Doherty, Features Editor
@ldohertycourant
Juliette’s life is far from normal. She has spent the last 264 days locked in an isolated cell, with absolutely no human contact. Juliette’s touch is lethal, it is dangerous powerful. In a dystopian society called the Reestablishment, Juliette has been locked away forever, or so she thought. As Juliette gains the strength to fight for her freedom, she attempts to destroy the Reestablishments plan of turning her power into a weapon, but the government turns out to be much more complex than she could’ve ever imagined. The young-adult novel, “Shatter Me”, follows the story of Juliette as she fights for freedom, her own identity, and to be with the boy she’d thought she lost forever.
“Shatter Me” is the first book in the Shatter Me series written by Tahereh Mafi. The unique writing style and character development are what make this novel so intriguing. Mafi uses techniques such as strikethroughs and single-word stanzas to portray a poetic style that allows the reader to glimpse into the character’s mind. Notably, the novel begins with a personal message from Mafi, addressing that the strikethroughs are intentional and that the occasional erratic writing serves as a representation of the chaos in Juliette’s mind. As the novel progresses and Juliette begins to find her own voice, “the strikethroughs disappear, the language softens, the repetition dissolves, and the numerals ease into written words.”
To read Shatter Me, purchase here from Amazon, or contact your local library for availability. To learn more about the author, Tahereh Mafi, read her website.
