Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - Shatter Me

The Good:
It was a quick read - I managed to get through the book with surprising speed, it never felt like it dragged too much or got boring, which was very refreshing after just having read a bunch of books that just felt "too long".
Also the plot itself was... fine? Not too much yet, clearly setting up something bigger, but... it does make me want to read more!
And (spoilers for the last few chapters)

I rather liked the whole Omega Complex X-Men style idea, even if there wasn't too much done with it so far. And Kenji was fun, admittedly.

The Bad:
Some actions felt a bit contrived, like how there always seemed to miraculously be something around Juliette that would help her solve her current issue.
Also - but that's a very personal thing for me - I just don't like dystopian settings too much. Especially those that (spoiler for the last few chapters)

end up becoming "big evil group of people/fascists has all the power but small team of heroes will fight to take them down!" - too many similarities to certian space operas, I presume.

The Ugly:
I, for the love of anything, cannot understand how people hype up Warner that much. I know that there probably will be something up with him in later books, but in this book? He's just a horrible human being. With some depth, sure, and probably his own family trauma, but... That doesn't mean he should get a free pass as to how he constantly manipulated Juliette to turn into what he believes/wants her to be!
And that she partly even accepts this already just because he's good-looking and she sometimes feels sorry for him - just to then in the next paragraph be absolutely disgusted by him again... I don't know. Doesn't really make me want to root for them at all, so far.

I worry how this will turn out in the later books, as a proper redemption arc is really difficult to pull off, but I'm willing to at least check out the next book to see how things will develop.

And again, I didn't hate this book, not by a long shot - I just, perhaps, expected something a little different based on what I have seen fans of this series discuss online... But oh well. I'll see how it goes.

Content Warnings

thelaurajay's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

Content Warnings

sylviixoxo's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.75

Great book for teens who want to get into reading.

Romance was a little too fast paced for my liking, but it worked well in allowing a softer side of the characters to shine in this dark and dingy world.

FMC got borderline sexually assaulted tho. Js a warning for people like me who are sensitive to those things. (I skipped that section and there’s nothing wrong with you skipping that part too!)

Content Warnings

mckinzie6242010's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

spicycronereads's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

This was an entertaining read. The story of Juliette Farrars, a girl who cannot be touched because her touch is lethal. The book opens with her institutionalized and unfolds as she meets Adam, a figure from her past. In this dystopic future, everyone wants something from Juliette. And wants to use her for their own ends. Except Adam, who sees her for who she really is.

The writing takes some getting used to as there is an interesting narrative convention where a lot of text is crossed out. It kind of seems like you’re reading her notebook, but not all the time. Sometimes it just seems like her thought process is impacted by all of the trauma she’s been through. The characters are sweet together, even if the Insta love is not my favorite thing. This is a YA book so, as to be expected, it’s not really spicy. There’s a little bit of kissing and lots of swooniness. 💖💖💖

Going in, I knew it was the first in a rather long series. So I wasn’t really surprised when it ended at a point where things were just getting started. In fact, the digital copy of the book includes a novella about one of the other characters and the actual book itself is only 75% of the kindle file.

Interestingly, you get really far into the book before Juliette is ever described. There’s a compelling narrative reason for this, but the descriptions of other characters are also pretty thin. So from a diversity perspective, there’s lots of wiggle room for you to impose your own vision. But for readers who default to imagining white characters it means this will end up not seeming very diverse. There’s one person who has a clearly Japanese name and another person with dreadlocks, but whose skin tone is never described.

Overall, the book kept me entertained. I will likely read the next one in the series but I don’t feel compelled to rush out and download it right away. ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 / 💖💖💖

Content Warnings

kalyn_c's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

mariareviews's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

it was something, that’s for sure. i don’t really know if i liked it or not to be honest. the beginning was horribly underwhelming, the middle was nice, and the end went back to being horribly underwhelming.

also, why was the suit purple? considering her abilities are supposed to be used at a close range -that i know of- why is she looking like a walking highlighter? ‘cause i’m imagining the shade of purple is like #7600bc or #7f00ff which is… rough.

anyways, i’ll keep reading because warren is the epitome of delulu is the solulu

Content Warnings

mcloysmom's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

More...