Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Coming November 2011: SHATTER ME by Tahereh Mafi
Lo’s Review
I’m not actually going to talk much about the story because (1) I don’t want to spoil a single thing, and (2) WHEN you all buy this book (and you will) you’ll read it so fast you’ll get the reading equivalent of a brain freeze. Even writing a review feels kind of teasing and unfair; I’ve had the chance to read this and not everyone has. But it also would feel weird to read this and NOT gush about it. So here goes:

My arms fell asleep while I was reading in bed and I totally did not care even though they still hurt today (who needs arms?). ADAM EQUALS SWOON. Juliette is the best combination of badass and vulnerable and Mafi balances this perfectly. It’s quite amazing. But what struck me most of all is that Tahereh Mafi’s prose is unbelievable.

I read every paragraph of Shatter Me over and over obsessively. Even though it sounds awesome, that might actually be my single complaint about this book: the prose was so rich and full and shapely that I sometimes found myself having to reread something simply because I stopped focusing on the sequence of action and had become transfixed by the way the words rolled around together in my head.

It’s the kind of book that reminds writers that it’s okay, great even, to use fluid language and wild descriptions and, Hey, about all of those words that you want to save for that one perfect sentence? Why? Why not use them right now, even for the simple dialogue tags or tiny sentences buried in larger moments? Mafi even uses common words together in a new way to make something as simple as breathing sound like a spectacularly exciting event. She brings food into metaphors about skin and lips and bodies – and I’m sure that sounds obvious but trust me, she does it in a way that you’ve never seen before. She describes expressions and reactions so perfectly they were visceral for me. Her gift for metaphor is truly incredible.

I want great things for this book. I want rabid fans, and a website dedicated to speculations on movie casting. Maybe called the Reestablishment or [won’t spoil another possible name]. I want two camps to emerge when the movie rumors start – one who loves the casting choices and another who insists they’re all terrible, but both camps end up sleeping on the sidewalk for the movie premiere and afterward they all say that no one could have done a better job with the roles. I want people to feel inspired to write and read and talk about how she took new and old themes in YA and made a really amazing story. And I hope everyone reads her blog because it is truly one of the most uplifting and supportive places for aspiring writers.