Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

4.5 Stars (dystopian YA)

A great read full or heart and amazing romance.

I haven't been giving away many 5 stars yet this year, in fact I don't think any of the book I've read yet have blown me away enough to get a flawless review. Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi comes very very close though.

As far as dystopian-esque books go, this one is among the ranks of must reads. Although the plot isn't so much about a floundering world and doesn't concentrate all that much on the digression of society the book is an apt portrayal of the corruption of humans themselves and how the quest for ultimate power can lead us astray.

I'll start with the few things I had trouble with first, because they were very few. I wished that the world had of been built up a bit more. For the first half of the book readers are secluded with Juliette in a cell in an asylum. She hasn't seen or spoken to anyone in 264 days until a boy is suddenly thrust into her cell with no explanation. There is mention here and there about something known as The Reestablishment, who have since the "big bang" when society started to plummet, taken over and are intent of wiping out anything and everything that could lead society astray once more. All we as readers really know about them is that they are corrupt and are trying to annihilate any form of diversity. Diversity of all kinds, which means Juliette is targeted for a curse she doesn't know how to control. After a tragic accident, Juliette is sent away by her parents and locked away by the Reestablishment, until she is targeted for her power when it is seen as something that can be used in the fight between the government and those who hope to fight against it.
The little that we got of the outside world and the politics and the way everything works sounded so very interesting and I wanted to know more, but as readers we are so locked within Juliette's perspective - not a bad thing at all - except that we didn't get to learn much beyond the bare facts about the outside world and how it works. How did society falter? When did it happen? How do people live? We get a few hints at the changes but not enough. Hopefully this will all be more developed in the later books. 

The only other little nagging element I had was that some events seemed to transpire too easily. I won't give any details for fear of giving spoilers, but I'll just say that when things seemed really dire, something popped up and it made it just a smidgen to convenient.

Now, for the good. The prose is beautiful! It's poetic and heartwrenching and makes you as a reader, feel every emotion Juliette is experiencing. I loved that Mafi used the strike out lines to emphasis the difference between what Juliette was thinking and really wanted to say, versus what actually came out of her mouth. It was a unique and very well employed device. 

The characters were great, I loved Juliette, her scared, shy exterior that masked a deeper strength that I hope we get to see expanded in the next books. Adam was adorable and loving and everything swoon-worthy. I liked that he was a mystery in the beginning and then a past with Juliette was slowly revealed. This couple was lovely and so heart-warming. Loved them to bits and their relationship was easily one of the best things about the book.

I'm so excited to see where Mafi takes us in book 2 and 3. I'm a huge fan of these characters and the plot and can't wait to see where it all leads given the ending :)

A great debut novel!

 

Divergent by Veronica Roth

5 Stars.

Fabulous Fabulous Fabulous

Obviously this gets 5 stars considering how quickly I whipped through it. Utterly captivating from the first page and I think even better than the Hunger Games . A must read for dystopian fans!

What a wild ride. Never a dull moment in this dystopian world created by new author Veronica Roth. Stepping into this new Chicago was a wild ride and one I absolutely adored. From the first page readers a brought into the society of factions - 5 in total - developed to make sure society remained calm, content, orderly and problem free.
Based of virtues, the 5 factions are as follows: Candor - the honest, Erudite - the intelligent, Abnegation - the selfless, Dauntless - the brave and Amity - the peaceful.

Our main protagonist, Beatrice was born into Abnegation. Each year, all sixteen year olds are put through a simulation test to assess the faction best suited to them. They are then meant to choose between the faction they were born into and the faction they want to live in for the rest of their adult lives. This is Beatrice's year to choose and the result is both surprising to herself and the rest of her family.

Thrust into a new world, Beatrice renames herself Tris and must follow a rigorous initiation faze in order to prove that she belongs with the faction of her choice. What follows for the reader is a roller coaster of events that doesn't let up until the end. I was addicted to this book and seriously could not bear to put it down. There never seemed an appropriate moment to close the cover and I longed to keep going even when sleep was necessary. I wanted so badly to read about Tris's experiences and how she would fare against the devious and sometimes downright nefarious actions of her fellow initiates.

When I say there is action in this book I mean it wholeheartedly. There is never a moment when somethings isn't happening and readers are consistently on the edge of their seats.

Tris was a nice character to follow. She was young and sometimes naive, but also brave and tough. She was determined to succeed, even against the toughest of adversaries and there was never a moment when she backed down. That isn't to say she didn't have her slightly annoying moments. She is thrust into unfamiliar territory and is discovering the reality of her faction, as well as they other four in a very in your face sort of way. I don't want to give any spoilers so I'll leave it at that. Tris is trying to find her balance and at some points she is insecure or uncertain, in other brash and unkind but all her emotions make perfect sense for her circumstances, especially given her upbringing and her desire to make herself and others proud. Although some of her personality traits and decisions were slightly aggravating, it is only because they are human and real which more often than not removes the gloss we readers tend to like in our stories. I actually appreciated that Roth took things to the edges, she didn't shy away from the tough moments or make her characters unbelievable. She didn't succumb to convenience which I found was sometimes the case in The Hunger Games series, which is this stories closest comparison.

Tris's burgeoning relationship with one of her instructors was well developed and very sweet and tender. I loved reading the bits devoted to them and the moments the two shared tempered the action and softened both their personalities. It made them each human underneath the persona they had to develop in order to survive within their chosen factions. The boy she fancies (I won't divulge his name in order to avoid spoilers) is both charming, cold and distant, but very tender and loving. His history was well developed and I loved that his true personality the one locked beneath his tough exterior, was slowly unraveled for the readers. It made me appreciate his character all the more.

The characters were great, the action full throttle and the developing and overarching story very interesting! I can't wait to read the next two in the series to see how and where everything revealed in book one will develop. Like I mentioned, if the next two installments are as good as Divergent , The Hunger Games will soon be ousted as best dystopian YA series.