Dystopian Fiction Makes a Shattering Impact in YA

Over the past few weeks, I have had the opportunity to read several new YA books that I would definitely describe as “stand-outs.”   Interestingly, all of the new releases that I have purchased and read fall into the dystopian genre.  The following review covers my thoughts on one of my current favorites, Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi.

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi. ISBN 978-0062085481. Harper Collins, 2011.

Purchased as a Kindle eBook from Amazon.com.  I also have a hard copy of this book in my library.

Summary from HaperTeen.com

“You can’t touch me,” I whisper.  I’m lying, is what I don’t tell him.  He can touch me is what I’ll never tell him.  But things happen when people touch me.  Strange things.  Bad things. 

No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal, but The Reestablishment has plans for her.  Plans to use her as a weapon.  But Juliette has plans of her own.  After a lifetime without freedom, she’s finally discovering strength to fight back for the very first time—and to find a future with the one boy she thought she’d lost forever.

What I Think

So this book had a grip on me from the “get-go.”  The writing style alone is a great reason to label this book as a “stand-out.”  Mafi’s poetic style of writing--crossing out words and sentences that shouldn’t be said, but should be read--really allows the reader to get in touch with the protagonist’s thoughts and inner struggles.  This allows main character, Juliette, to blatantly reveal her spoken words to the reader as well as her internal thoughts and fears.  I think that teen readers will not only connect with Mafi’s writing style, but they will also connect with Juliette---a 17 year old teen who is constantly struggling with her fears and feelings, both physically and mentally.

One of the things that is so engrossing about Shatter Me is the realization of the importance of physical contact with other human beings.  Juliette has been cursed with a fatal disease all of her life; one touch from her and your life is over-- she hasn’t touch another person is 264 days. This curse has dictated her life for so long that she has no idea how to live her life without fear and vulnerability.  But when she sees Adam again for the first time since elementary school, she soon realizes that so many things are possible for her.  She can learn to love, and she can learn to control her own destiny.  And it doesn’t have to be a destiny filled with sadness and fear.  She can live among those she loves, and she can help the greater-good around her.  She is powerful.  She is beautiful.

The best thing about Shatter Me is that is it unique to the dystopian genre.  It is part romance, part fantasy, part super hero.  Hunger Games + Divergent + X-Men = Very Cool.