Shatter Me

Shatter Me, by Tahereh Mafi.

He opens my door with immense difficulty and I realize someone's hurt him where I can't see it. Warner's words come back to me and I recognize his airy good-bye as a warning. A warning that severs every nerve ending in my body.

Adam will be punished for my mistakes. For my disobedience.

I want to bury my tears in a bucket of regret.
...
"The purple dress," he says, his voice broken and a little breathy like it hurts to inhale. I have to wring my hands to keep from running to him. "Wear the purple dress." He coughs. "Juliette."

I will be the perfect mannequin.

It's no secret that I love dystopian lit, and this is one of the best examples of it I've seen in quite some time. Ever since Juliette was little, she's found that when people touch her they die - at least if she holds them long enough. Her parents were ashamed of her, and after an accident in a grocery store when she kills a little boy, they send her away. She eventually ends up in the mental institution, where she lives in isolation for about 3/4 of a year, until they give her a roommate: Adam. Juliette knows Adam - they went to grade school together - but she thinks that he doesn't remember her.

Soon, though, they are taken from their cell, and Juliette finds out it was all a set-up. Warner, a leader in The Reestablishment, has been obsessed with Juliette forever, and he wants to use her for evil - to make her torture their enemies. Adam is a soldier for The Reestablishment but he's not entirely what he appears to be; for some reason, Juliette is able to touch him with no consequences. Adam and Juliette make plans to escape, but first they have to get past Warner and out of his locked-down fortress.

I read on the author's website that this film is being optioned by 20th Century Fox (see below for my cast picks), and it would make an awesome movie. It's going to be a trilogy, too: the next mini-book, Destroy Me, will be released on October 16, 2012 as an e-book, and will be told from Warner's perspective, as he's still obsessed with getting Juliette back.

The way this novel was written was almost poetry - filled with metaphors - and I loved it up until the very end, when it kind of veers in an X-Men direction, though that part is still interesting. I am very interested to read the next book, and also the second full book in the series, Unravel Me, which will be out on February 5, 2013, and the last book, which is unnamed and will be released fall 2013.

5 stars out of 5.

*Cast picks for the movie version:
Adam: Soldier. Very muscular, intense blue eyes, blonde. Age 17 or 18.
My pick: Liam Hemsworth.
Liam was last seen in The Hunger Games, and he's who I was picturing as Adam when I was reading the novel. He's 22 but could definitely play 17/18.

Juliette: very small and fragile. Long dark hair, very pretty. Age 17.
My pick: Either Aubrey Plaza, Amanda Seyfried, or Ellen Page.
This was hard to "cast." All of these actresses are talented, but I'm not sure they would make a good Juliette ... I mostly cast them based on their looks.

Warner: Age 17. Refers to himself as "a perfect specimen" at one point in the novel. Obsessed with Juliette and with power.
My pick: either Alex Pettyfer - but he would have to bulk up for the role - or Sebastian Stan, though Stan is almost 29 so probably too old for the part. I could see Pettyfer playing an evil role, and I've seen Sebastian Stan in evil roles before, and he'd be great as Warner.

Kenji: Age 17 or 18. Another soldier in The Reestablishment who we later find out is a mole. Friend to Adam who later helps him and Juliette immensely.
My pick: Leonardo Nam ... but he's probably too old. He's exactly who I picture as Kenji. Currently almost 33 years old, though.