Suspensful Shatter

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

* ARC read via Around The World ARC Tours 
* Book will be released November 15, 2011

4 gnomes out of 5 gnomes for having a quality heroine who's stronger then she can imagine and a world that is full of possibilities.

I really like that Juliette knows right away when the story starts that she's different then everyone else.  It's great to not have to go through the whole set up of an origin story.  When you meet her you find out that she's been locked away for a very long time.  She hasn't spoken in over 200 days until the day she gets a cell mate.

Juliette is a strange character.  Nobody can touch her because if they do it causes them horrible pain.  This means she was isolated long before she was actually incarcerated.  Her psyche and mannerisms seem to be a bit off because of this.  She can be very still and gets lost in her own thoughts a lot.  

The writing takes a little bit to get used to at times.  It's full of metaphors and all the strikethroughs got a tad annoying.  I kind of went with it though and imagined that this is what a character would think and write like if they had been isolated for a long time.

There are so many power struggles in this book.  The Reestablishment is trying to cement control around the world and people are fighting and struggling just to survive.  There is a resistance that's against the Reestablishment but more information about them will probably be part of the next book.  Then of course there's Juliette's struggle with who she is and what she's capable of.

This story also has quite the interesting love triangle.  The two couldn't be more different.  One seems to love Juliette for who she is but the other wants her for what she can do.  There are some great scenes as Juliette finds someone that accepts her for who she is.  That doesn't mean that there's not trouble brewing on the horizon though.
 
The ending is extreme and seems to be leading up to some intense conflicts for the next book.  I can't wait to see how Juliette continues to change and grow.  This is a superb start to a series and it has an ending that will leave you wanting the next book as soon as possible.