I heard about the Shatter Me series on TikTok. The cover art was the first thing that grabbed my attention. Upon reading the back, and some reviews, I saw it was a dystopian fiction. I don’t normally read any fantasy or dystopian but this book changed that for me. Once I started, I couldn’t put it down. 

The Shatter Me series takes place in an unspecified time in the future. Birds don’t fly, the ozone layer is destroyed, and a new leadership called the Reestablishment has taken over. The Reestablishment has promised to restore the Earth. The novel follows a 17 year old girl, Juliette, who mysteriously possesses an ability that prevents people from touching her, on account of it being fatal. After a lifetime without touch or real human connection, she makes a strange discovery about a familiar boy she meets. Slowly Juliette finds her voice, and takes back her freedom.

I cannot recommend this book enough. I normally am not this enveloped in books, but the secrets and mysteries make you endlessly curious. The way this author writes Juliette’s story is so raw and real, that you can really connect with her characters. When your book is set in a fictional world, it is very difficult to make it feel real and connect with the reader, but Tahereh Mafi does it impressively well.