Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Okay, apparently I wasn’t kidding. It really is dystopian time on my blog. Three reviews in a row makes it official. Today, I review for you “Shatter Me” by Tahereh Mafi.

This book is fabulous. It is like a breath of fresh air on a cool summer’s day, except in Ms. Mafi’s dystopian world, the air isn’t so cool and I bet it smells pretty bad. Her dystopian universe is a very frightening realistic one. It’s a world in which we’ve drained the planet of its resources and it’s slowly falling apart. A regime of powerful people, called The Reestablishment”, are in charge and are hoarding the limited resources for themselves. One of these “resources” is our heroine, Juliette. She’s being held in solitary confinement when we first meet her and is on the verge of insanity. Juilette’s different. Her touch...kills. Locked up, she’s not a danger to anyone, but when offered a chance at freedom, she has to decide if she’s willing to be a weapon or if she’ll follow her heart and stand up for what is right.

I cannot express how much I loved this story. It’s this really cool mix of dystopian, romance (oh what juicy romance!), with this mysterious other element going on that’s a little science fiction and a little paranormal. I don’t know how to describe it other than FABULOUS. The way Ms. Mafi writes too.. gosh. It’s this cool stream of consciousness with run on sentences, strike outs, and sometimes jumbled thoughts. As Juliette becomes more grounded, so does the writing. Geeze, it’s just terribly hard to write about how great it is. It’s just SO COOL, can you just take my word for it? I need to warn you though - this book is INTENSE (in a good way!). You are instantly pulled into the emotional journey of this nearly insane person. I had a very hard time not reading the whole thing cover to cover immediately.

Ms. Mafi will be on Authors are ROCKSTARS! in January, so be sure to subscribe over there. You aren’t going to want to miss this interview.

I purchased my copy of “Shatter Me” at Ms. Mafi’s launch party. It was released in November of this year by HarperTeen. Get your copy today!

Legend by Marie Lu

Okay apparently it is dystopian week on my blog! First the awesome “Birthmarked” series on Friday, now “Legend” by Marie Lu! Whoo! Yay Dystopians!!

Well, as I mentioned on Friday, I love a good dystopian. Mm mm. Nothing like reading about other people’s troubles to make you realize how awesome your life is right? (I think the song Schaudenfreude from “Avenue Q” has been running through my head too much!) In all seriousness though, it’s a form of fantasy that is (most of the time) grounded a bit more in reality. I love it. Marie Lu’s contribution “Legend” is a FUN one.

Ms. Lu uses two different narrators to tell this story - Day, who is living a young man living on the streets, and June, a wealthy young woman and star pupil of the regime in power. It’s set in Los Angeles, now part of the Republic. One day, these two unknowingly become intimated connected when Day, a “Robin Hood” type, becomes the prime suspect in the murder of June’s beloved brother. June strikes out to avenge her brother, all the while Day is still struggling to save a family who has been infected with a dangerous disease. Both individually are brilliant, but when they learn what the Republic will do in order to stay in power, they become a force to be reckoned with.

As I said, this book is a lot of fun. I can totally see why it got picked up almost instantaneously to become a movie. It’s going to be fantastic on the big screen. It also is pretty darn tootin’ good in book form, even the audiobook is fabulous! I actually think I enjoyed the audiobook more. It was so interesting to have such two distinct voices for the narrators. Despite being a voice actor, sometimes my head got a little fuzzy bouncing back and forth. I think Day sometimes came off a little feminine... not sure how to describe it. It just was fuzzy at times in my head. Hearing it though? Super clear! I’ve never listened to an audiobook after reading. It was interesting. Now I can’t wait to see the movie in a year or two to make the cycle complete! ;)

I received an ARC from the publisher for review. "Legend" is being released TOMORROW - November 29th. Marie will actually be on our podcast next month over at Authors are ROCKSTARS! and we’ll be giving away a signed ARC. :D

Birthmarked and Prized by Caragh M. O'Brien

I devoured “Birthmarked” and “Prized” by Caragh M. O’Brien almost as fast as I did my Thanksgiving meal yesterday. Yum! I love a good dystopian and Ms. O’Brien’s story does not disappoint. It’s a very simple dystopian, but it works. The story is set in the future of Earth, hundreds of years after Lake Michigan dried up and resources around the world have become extremely limited. Society now lives in small little civilizations that are incredibly far apart and do not communicate with one another. In book one, “Birthmarked”, we meet Gaia. Gaia’s mother is a midwife and Gaia has been in training to be one too. We first meet her on her first solor birthing. Her family has faithfully served the Enclave, or so she thought. After Gaia is forced to separate the baby she just delivered from its mother and deliver it to the Enclave as is the law, she returns home to find out her parents have been arrested. Gaia doesn’t know who to trust anymore and how she’ll be able to save her family from the powerful Enclave.

That’s the basics of the story, but it’s so much more than that. It’s about a girl who has been treated by her society as damaged goods her whole life due to a scar across her face. She has to learn how to survive on her own and save her family. During all this, she’s confronted with so many obstacles including meeting a young man who drives her insane - in both a good and bad way. She has to make the decision between striking out on her own or trying to ignore what she’s learned and live a simple life in veiled ignorance. What do you think you would choose? Hrmmm....

The story evolves in book two and honestly, you could probably read book two without reading book one. The story is definitely ongoing, but once you settle in to the world, you’d figure out what’s going on. That’s all I can really say without spoiling it, but I really liked it. Gaia has to wrestle without a lot of emotional issues. There’s a bit of a love triangle going on. It’s interesting. I love how simple and clean the writing is. It’s an easy read, but not in a dumbed down kinda way. The words just flow. It’s easy to relate to the characters and understand the world they live in. It’s very cinematic. I could see it making an excellent movie. It’s solid and I say that as a huge compliment. I cannot complain about one thing.

Oh wait.. yes, I can. Book 3 doesn’t come out for awhile yet. I want to know what happens to Gaia. GAAAAAAAAH! ;o)

The “Birthmarked” series by Caragh M. O’Brien is published by Roaring Brook Press (Macmillan). I purchased “Birthmarked”, but I received an ARC of “Prized” from the publisher. (I know, I’m a very lucky lady.) Both books are available now - so go! Get a copy today.