Shatter Me (Shatter Me, 1)

The first thing that grabbed my attention was the writing style. I have never experienced a visual and descriptive way to get inside a characters head as this author does with Juliette. There are several times that writing is crossed out on the pages. I think that it made the points more poignant by not only letting the reader know that Juliette is confused, not thinking straight, imagining things and cannot choose the correct words of how she's feeling. By crossing one thing out and using another in it's place in some instances was a way to show two different ideas flashing across her mind as well as her indecision and insecurity of what is really happening and what she may be imagining. Juliette has been locked up for a very long time and before that she did not have interactions with people in fear of hurting them. Hurting anybody either physically or emotionally is the very last thing she wants to do.Another factor about the writing was that it was very descriptive and visually poetic and almost demands the readers attention at all times. I have chosen some of my very favorite examples here."I'm spinning, stranded in the middle of the ocean of my own imagination."" I can shoot a hundred numbers through the chest and watch them bleed decimal points in the palm of my hand, I can rip the numbers off a clock and watch the hour hands tick tick tick their final tock just before I fall asleep. I can suffocate seconds just by holding my breath. I've been murdering minutes for hours and no one seems to mind. " What a masterful way of portraying an idea like "killing time.""He shifts and my eyes shatter into thousands of pieces that ricochet around the room, capturing a million snapshots; a million moments in time. Flickering Images faded with age, frozen thoughts hovering precariously in dead space, a whirlwind of memories that slice through my soul.""The sun is an arrogant thing, always leaving the word behind when it tires of us. The moon is a loyal companion. It never leaves. It's always there, watching, steadfast, knowing us in our light and dark moments, changing forever just as we do, Every day it's a different version of itself. Sometimes weak and wan, sometimes strong and full of light. The moon understands what it means to be human. Uncertain. Alone. Cratered by imperfections."As the story goes on some of this imagery in the writing dissipates and we see less of it, but we also see less of the timid and indecisive girl we are introduced to in the beginning of the story as well. I saw as the story progressed there is less being crossed out and less of this descriptive writing into a more of the usual type of writing. I can only hope that the next books will still portray some of this writing style that I have come to love and we just don't see enough of in Young Adult literature today.I also have read that the writing style has put some people off from enjoying the story. I can also see why others may not enjoy it as much as I did, but nevertheless there is a fantastic story behind the writing as well.The book has action, adventure, and super humans in a highly imaginative writing style. I loved the characters and how they interact with each other. Warner has more depth than just being the bad guy and Adam is more mysterious than just a love interest. Kenji brings humor and in the end the story just would not have been the same without him and hope that we get to see more of each of these characters in the near future.As I was skimming the Amazon website I came across and advanced e-copy that stated it had audio and video. This made me very curious as what an interactive copy of this book would contain. I decided to ask the author what the "advanced audio visual" might mean for this book and she responded " it has a bunch of bonus features, plus a piece from Warner's POV" and I purchased this immediately and checked it out.I loved the added documents and the piece of Warner's POV, it also gave me a first chapter glimpse at the audio book (which I think the narrator is a little too soft spoken and I have to say I enjoyed the reading experience much more. I also did not see any visual additions to the advanced e-copy, just the sample of the audio which you can also get a sample of for free on audible.com just not as much as the ecopy offered.I will still recommend the e-copy if you are interested in some extra info and Warner's piece.

Juliette Ferrars has been locked up in an asylum for 264 days by the Reestablishment. They locked her up because her touch is fatal. She spends her day looking out the one window in her cell. She wonders about rain drops and birds. It has been awhile since she has seen a bird in the skies.She has been alone all that time. Now she is getting a roommate. At first, she is excited to see another human being, but has mixed feelings once she finds out her roommate is male. Adam, that is his name. Juliette has been alone for so long, that it is difficult for her to open up and talk to anyone. At first, she ignores him, but then she helps him out with the things that they do daily in the cell. Juliette cannot help the feeling that she knows Adam from somewhere. She knows his eyes.After a while, soldiers come in and take Juliette and Adam out of the cell. They take Juliette to another place and there she meets Warner. She also learns that Adam's name is Adam Kent, that he is a soldier and can finally place where she knows him. Warner tells her that he wants her on his side in the war. At first, she doesn't understand what he is talking about. When she figures out that he wants her to torture people to get information for his side, she instantly refuses. Warner then shows her the things that she is missing. One of those things is that she gets to go outside, which is exhilarating to Juliette because it is not a dream.Juliette has choices to make and questions to answer. Will she side with Warner and do what he wants her to do? Will she forgive Adam for deceiving her when he first came into the cell? How will she get out of this current predicament and where will she go?My Opinion:This book was very well thought out. There were points in the book that I didn't know what would happen. Not because Juliette was wavering, but the circumstances prevented you from predicting it. I found that I could understand the feelings that Juliette had and the actions she took because of them. There are a few surprises in this book and I won't spoil them for you, but they make the read worth it.I Like:'Juliette. She is the main character in this book. Her touch is fatal and so she thinks that she is a monster. It takes a lot of persuasion to get to start thinking otherwise. When she is forced to kill a soldier so Warner can see what she can do, she feels awful about it. She never wants to feel that again. She has been ostracized her whole life because of this strange power that she has. Throughout the book, she learns what it means to have such power and what people will do for it.'Adam Kent. He is the boy who is put in the cell with Juliette at the beginning of the book. At first, he is mean to her, but then he softens up. When Juliette finds out that he is a soldier, she believes that she was just a "job." Throughout the book, Adam has to keep up appearances and he does it so well sometimes that Juliette doesn't even know which side he is on.'James, Adam's brother. You don't meet James until the later part of the story, but he is a neat kid.'The strikethrough print. It was interesting to read what Juliette was thinking in contrast to what she said. It was like she was debating on whether to say something or not.I Did Not Like:'Warner. He wants Juliette on his team to torture people that he captures in the war. He puts her in situations where she will have to use her power even though she is dead set against. He doesn't want to let Juliette go. He uses fear as a tool and kills people for trivial things.'The Reestablishment. You don't hear a whole lot about them in this book, but you do get a sense that they are not the good guys. They were supposed to come in and make things better, but instead they take over and try to rule.Cover:On the cover, there is Juliette dressed in a white gown with her hair down. There are lines coming out of her like she is wielding a secret power. She has her hands on her hips which is symbolic of defiance. The cover reads: My touch is lethal. My touch is power. I like how the cover is shiny. It really makes Juliette stand out on the cover. This fits the description of Juliette well.