Shatter Me (Shatter Me, 1)

I was sceptical to read this book as I've heard a lot of varied opinions about it but decided to give it a go and I'm so glad that I did! It's definitely different to what I was expecting but was a book I couldn't stop reading once I started. It's beautifully written and very descriptive making it easier to imagine and picture things as they are described, there are a few plot twists throughout the first book and it is left on a cliff hanger making you want to pick up the next book to find out what happens!

Hooked from the first chapter. After reading Sarah J Mass I never thought I'd find another author who is able to make me fall in love with the characters almost instantly. And well Tahereh you did it and I'm shook. It's been a while since I've read a book where I'm so hooked on the characters that I already feel an emotional attachment to them. I can't wait to have more character development and it's just beautifully written where it's easy to read and flows gorgeously and keeps you constantly hooked. Oh yes have I mentioned that it contains people with powers? what a twist is that? As someone who is obsessed with X Men I can't get enough of this book it brings my joy of people with different unique powers to a whole new level. Castle is basically Xavier of Omega😂 The romance is also so beautifully written and fills my teenager soul filled with painful sexual tension love which I adore. Anyway I just love this book so much I can't handle it and I'm so excited to continue the read and find out more about the powers and the world.

I am completely in love with this series; whenever I don't know what to start reading, I always end up staying awake late into the night (after choosing to reread this series), trying to finish one of the books! The author has done an incredible job of developing each character, and it is an amazing feeling to watch them grow stronger and more confident (some think that the main character is naïve and weak - just wait, she gets badass!) Before I started reading the Shatter Me series, I had spent so many hours searching for the perfect book to get lost in. So if you too have been searching for an eternity, STOP LOOKING! If you love futuristic fantasies, supernatural sci-fi and romantic relationships, I guarantee you that this will automatically beecomee your favourite series.

I was intrigued by this book, as it had a great concept and lots of potential. However, despite the hype surrounding it, I was left extremely dissapointed. First of all, I did enjoy the writing style and the way Mafi ‘crosses out’ phrases to reflect Juliet’s mental state but even that got annoying and repetitive after the first one hundred pages. The characters were bland, cardboard cutouts and completely one dimensial. The insta Love was annoying, as it always is. Also, I feel as if nothing happened in the book, which is odd because a number of events that should’ve been exciting occurred that did not affect me whatsoever and interested me even less. Near the ending, there is a part where we assume a certain character to be dead, but I didn’t feel the slightest amount of sadness. At the ending, I felt no joy, no happiness and certainly no motivation to continue the series. It is not often I leave a book completely devoid of emotion. I think where Mafi went wrong was the characters, had they been more fleshed out, they may have helped with driving the plot. Also, the insta love really bothered me in this one and should’ve just been left out or slowed down by a lot. Overall, I will not be continuing this series and I am hugely dissapointed.

I had just finished This Woven Kingdom by Mafi and knew I instantly needed to pick up another book by her. This series had been on my TBR for a while. I read a lot of negative reviews, though, and I soon found out why…this book is different. Personally, I always give an author credit for taking risks, whether or not I like what they did. Mafi did that and I ended up loving it. The narrator is unreliable. There are strange descriptions and obsessive, intrusive thoughts. The MC will think something and then strike it through before finishing the thought in a more “appropriate” manner. As someone who struggles with Major Depressive Disorder, I felt…understood. I could see myself in the MC despite how different and extraordinary her circumstances were compared to mine. Plus, Mafi is a genuinely interesting storyteller. This book was written over 10 years before This Woven Kingdom. I can see how this was earlier writing for her—TWK feels like great improvement in her writing. However, she still started off better than most with Shatter Me.