Source: Audiobook PurchaseFormat: Audiobook
Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
Narrator: Kate Simses
Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
Date Read: February 2014
Genre: Dystopian, YA
More Information:Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.
The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.
The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war– and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.
Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.
Publisher: HarperAudio
Series: Shatter Me #1
Also by this author: Unravel Me, Ignite Me
Also in this series: Unravel Me, Ignite Me
Listened for Fun (Audible)
Overall Rating: 3.75
Story Rating: 3.50
Character Rating: 4.00
Audio Rating: 4.00 (Not part of the overall rating)
Part 1 of the Series Review
First Thought when Finished: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi was different, interesting, and engaging! Bring me the next one please!
Part 1 Thoughts:
I picked up Shatter Me for 2 reasons:
1: Most of my friends (even the non-YA readers like myself) enjoyed it
2: It was on sale at Audible
I have to say that overall I found the world different, interesting, and engaging. The story was slow to start but once it got moving, I was invested. The world building was fantastic! I could picture the world in my mind’s eye and while I have no desire to travel there, had no problem picturing the characters maneuvering around. The characters are what drew me to the story though. I thought Juliette was equal parts fascinating and damaged. Her life experiences made her both wise and foolish. I was intrigued by Warner and what made him tick. Was he just this bad ass nut case that was truly evil or is there more there? Adam was a little one dimensional to me but he did fulfill an important role: he gave Juliette someone to count on. That role is significant because she could begin to bloom. The pacing and action were a little uneven in the beginning but once the story hit it’s stride the speed, urgency, and desperation of the characters was on par with the action. For a first book in a trilogy, it was fantastic!
Audio Thoughts:
Narrated By Kate Simses / Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
This is the first book I have listened too narrated by Kate. I thought she did a great job with Juliette, Adam, and Warner. I was a little surprised there weren’t two narrators for this book (as the guys got as much page time as Juliette) but Kate (for the most part) pulled it off pretty well.
Final Thoughts: Interesting and engaging I will be continuing this series.
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I own a copy of this b/c *cough, cough* everybody raved about it and has read it (call me a lemming). I think based on your review I’ll like it but I can’t read your other reviews 🙁 – I’ve heard mixed reviews on the other books! And I thought everyone worshiped the ground Mafi walked on (more or less) 😉
I’ve got the audio from the library, so I can give it a listen before I FINALLY move on. Glad it got a thumbs up. I’m still honing my YA-dar for what you like vs what you don’t.
I had the opposite reaction – I loved the beginning but then by the end I got irritated with everyone lol
I’ve seen this one around for a while, I think I need to read/ listen to it.
Great review.
I LOVED this book! And I hadn’t thought of Adam that way but you are right, there’s not much to him other than being there for Juliet. I think what I liked most about this book is how different the writing style was, I don’t know if that would come across as well in a audio book. I’m glad you liked it!! I haven’t read the second one yet either so we are both in for a treat 🙂
Do you keep a list of narrators, who reads what? How do you remember if you have heard someone before or not?
Look at you listening to YA. I’ve seen high rating on it. Maybe if I get into a YA mood I’ll try it out.
I’m with Jessica. I liked it a bit more too, but then again I’m always attracted to the bad boy in a book as long as it hasn’t past the point of redemption.
I can understand how an why you felt that way tho. This was a 4 stars for me, we’re not that far off with the rating.
I thought the narrator put you right there.
Yay! I recently grabbed this one in an audible sale too (maybe same one) because I had heard really great things. I’m glad to hear the narration worked for you, too, though! I’m hoping to get to it within the next few months (I have way too many books on my calendar to read lol)
I think I liked this book more than you did, but I definitely agree about Adam. He filled an important role, but beyond that, he was a bit flat for me. I had more feels for Warner, and I hate liking the bad guy over the good guy. If there is no good guy, than fine, but I want (to want) the good guy to get the girl, so that was a problem . . .
Did you see the end coming? What it turned into I mean? B/c maybe I was just paying attention to the wrong things, but I did not, LOL. I was cool with it b/c whati’mtalkingabout are my favorite movies, I guess that’s just not where my head was when I was reading it. Anywho, glad you liked it 😉
I did NOT see that coming either!! I was like hold on… what?!! lol It was a good twist!