Shatter Me

Author: Tahereh Mafi
Series: Shatter Me, #1
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: October 2, 2012

I have a curse.
I have a gift.

I am a monster.
I'm more than human.

My touch is lethal.
My touch is power.

I am their weapon.
I will fight back.

No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal, but the Reestablishment has plans for her. Plans to use her as a weapon. But Juliette has plans of her own. After a lifetime without freedom, she's finally discovering a strength to fight back for the very first time—and to find a future with the one boy she thought she lost forever.

In this electrifying debut, Tahereh Mafi presents a riveting dystopian world, a thrilling superhero story, and an unforgettable heroine.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but Shatter Me... was a pretty decent book. It's not great by any means, but it's not terrible either. I had read the negative reviews and cringed at the first few pages, but by that time, I had already been given a signed copy of Shatter Me and Unravel Me. Passing them over to someone who might better appreciate them was out of the question, given my name was written in capital letters on each title page, so I decided to give them a shot before I would leave them on the shelf for dust to settle. You can imagine my surprise when I found it was nowhere near as awful as I expected.

I've been locked up for 264 days.

I have nothing but a small notebook and a broken pen and the numbers in my head to keep me company. 1 window. 4 walls. 144 square feet of space 26 letters in an alphabet. I haven't spoken in 264 days of isolation.

6,336 hours since I've touched another human being.

Juliette has spent most of her life imprisoned in an asylum, grasping at the remains of whatever sanity and goodness she still has inside of her. In her little room is a window, one that keeps her wondering how the outside has changed since she left it.

All I ever wanted was to reach out and touch another human being not just with my hands but with my heart.

Excuse me as I throw up in my mouth. Juliette is about as bland as young adult heroines come. Like I haven't read about skinny, white brunettes that don't have many friends and hate themselves for what they are. The only thing that marks her different is the purple prose metaphors and similes that run rampant through her mind, some of which don't even make sense. Sure, she's not all up there, but it gets to a point where it's too much. I'm not even sure if the author meant for the nonsensical metaphors to point to her mental state. As for the crossed-out lines that littered the pages, sometimes they bothered me, but not as much as I thought they would. Juliette's major fault is that she's generic.

Hello.

World.

You will forget me.

Sorry, synopsis. I'll have to agree with her on this one.

After the world was struck with a cataclysmic catastrophe, the people have been governed by The Reestablishment. Like others of its kind in dystopian fiction, the Reestablishment rules with an iron fist, reeking of greed, lies, and corruption. They had ripped Juliette from her family and placed her in the asylum all those years ago, waiting for the right moment to mold her as their weapon.

In other words, new government = bad. Rebels = good.

To avoid this terrible fate, Juliette must escape with a boy she loves and aid a revolution and blah, blah, blah, superpowers, blah, Adam, blah.

Yes, a boy she loves. There's a love triangle, guys. There's a love triangle.

[Adam's] lips soften into a smile that cracks apart my spine.

He repeats my name like the word amuses him. Entertains him. Delights him.

In seventeen years no one has said my name like that.

Adam is just as unremarkable as Juliette. He's a good guy, but there's nothing that really picks him apart from love interests like Quince from Forgive My Fins, Ben from Juliet Immortal, Hasani from Every Last Kiss, and so on. While it's easy to believe that Juliette, having been kept in isolation for weeks, fell in love with Adam in a matter of days, his declaration of love was kind of a shocker since I didn't believe that he spent enough time with her to reach that depth. That includes their past.

Warner, Juliette's other man, is messed up, which made his declaration was more understandable and his side of the corner more intriguing. The stars are mostly for him (and a little bit of Kenji) because, like I said, I am a sick, sick bastard who finds fictional psychopaths, unhealthy obsession, and heart-breaking desperation so interesting. It's always been my guilty reading pleasure, although I would, as I've also said before, be entirely against these kinds of things in a real life setting.

Off-topic, but I realized that my feelings for Juliette, Adam, and Warner are almost the same as my feelings for Juliet, Ben, and Romeo from Juliet Immortal. At least Shatter Me was better written.

Stormdancer

Author: Jay Kristoff
Series: The Lotus War, #1
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Release Date: September 18, 2012

A DYING LAND
The Shima Imperium verges on the brink of environmental collapse; an island nation once rich in tradition and myth, now decimated by clockwork industrialization and the machine-worshipers of the Lotus Guild. The skies are red as blood, the land is choked with toxic pollution, and the great spirit animals that once roamed its wilds have departed forever.

AN IMPOSSIBLE QUEST
The hunters of Shima's imperial court are charged by their Shōgun to capture a thunder tiger—a legendary creature, half-eagle, half-tiger. But any fool knows the beasts have been extinct for more than a century, and the price of failing the Shōgun is death.

A HIDDEN GIFT
Yukiko is a child of the Fox clan, possessed of a talent that if discovered, would see her executed by the Lotus Guild. Accompanying her father on the Shōgun's hunt, she finds herself stranded: a young woman alone in Shima's last wilderness, with only a furious, crippled thunder tiger for company. Even though she can hear his thoughts, even though she saved his life, all she knows for certain is he’d rather see her dead than help her.

But together, the pair will form an indomitable friendship, and rise to challenge the might of an empire.

I wanted diversity. But not like this. Never like this.

I would be willing to bet that the author had written this after reading a legion of manga and watching a shit ton of anime because honestly, I was at that stage too. I wanted to dash a book full of Japanese words I wasn't truly fluent in. I wanted to write a book full of East Asian mythology knowledge I found on Wikipedia, to lump them haphazardly together to suit my own needs. Unlike the author though, one day I took a step back from my idea and realized how terrible it was. I was acting like a writer version of a weeaboo.

There was a way for my story to get on paper, but the way I wanted to go about it was one of the worst, disgusting and offensive. Their country is not a prop. Proper research is a must. It's a sign of respect towards another person's culture. Someone outside of it will make mistakes, and people will and should call them out for it, but as long as that writer tries to correct it and show that they're making an honest effort, then it's part of the learning process. Jay Kristoff shows in his actions and his work that he is not that writer.

Yukiko has a gift, an ability that allows her to touch the thoughts of animals. This allows her to gives her the unique potential to become a Stormdancer, the rider of the mighty thunder tiger that roams the land and the sky. Too bad they're nigh extinct, and the one she has hates all humans and is highly coveted by the Shōgun, who will obtain him any cost. This unlikely pair will have to brave the coming turmoil of the Shima Isles, a fictional, steampunk'd feudal Japan.

Talk about one of the biggest disappointments I've ever had felt for a book. A gorgeous cover and intriguing concept wasted.

Yukiko is a completely unlikable protagonist, to put it mildly. She's skilled in the art of combat and not afraid to demonstrate. She holds wonderful relationships with other female characters. Yet she's heavily exotified, particularly when she fights against others, and her personality is shit. She's unreasonably disrespectful, overwhelmingly arrogant, and just all-around, hair-pulling infuriating. This attitude never changes and probably never will. I can't say much different for the rest of the characters, with the exception of Jin, who is adorable, despite his Gary Stu tendencies.

One hit, and she would never see the samurai with sea-green eyes again.

It's fine to put a non-Asian trait on an Asian character, such as green eyes, but to place a huge emphases on it and to make it so that it's one of the main reasons why anyone would be attracted to them is completely. Not. Fine. It's about as grossly offensive as having East Asian characters dye a strand of their hair purple to "spice them up."

I've come to the conclusion that Jay Kristoff can't write a romance. Yukiko and the green-eyed Iron Samurai, Masari and Kasumi. Even Yukiko and Buruu's platonic relationship. All forced and terribly-paced, with horrible reasons behind all of them. These relationships had even drove me to hate the cast even more. I wouldn't care if all of them died alone by the end of this.

"Sama, please. Enough for one day, hai?"

Yes, please, sama. Enough for one day. Why do you need to put a foreign word in if a perfectly suitable word in the English can replace it? Especially if that word has no significant importance? The abundance and misuse of Romaji thrown here and there had me slogging through the pages, sometimes having me at a loss at what the characters were referring to. The glossary at the back was a waste of space, since I'd rather not go back and forth to see what this and that meant.

With all the passion in my heart, I urge you not to pick this up. It's tempting, but not worth it. I'm sure plenty of others have pointed out these problems, and to support an author who will continue to perpetuate this-this insult while disregarding genuine concerns (look it up) would be just as bad. We need diverse books, but not these ones.

The Maze Runner

Author: James Dashner
Series: The Maze Runner, #1
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Release Date: October 6, 2009

Imagine waking up one day in total darkness, unsure of where you are and unable to remember anything about yourself except your first name. You're in a bizarre place devoid of adults called the Glade. The Glade is an enclosed structure with a jail, a graveyard, a slaughterhouse, living quarters, and gardens. And no way out. Outside the Glade is the Maze, and every day some of the kids—the Runners—venture into the labyrinth, trying to map the ever-changing pattern of walls in an attempt to find an exit from this hellish place. So far, no one has figured it out. And not all of the Runners return from their daily exertions, victims of the maniacal Grievers, part animal, part mechanical killing machines.

Thomas is the newest arrival to the Glade in this Truman-meets-Lord of the Flies tale. A motley crew of half a dozen kids is all he has to guide him in this strange world. As soon as he arrives, unusual things begin to happen, and the others grow suspicious of him. Though the Maze seems somehow familiar to Thomas, he's unable to make sense of the place, despite his extraordinary abilities as a Runner. What is this place, and does Thomas hold the key to finding a way out?

In The Maze Runner, Dashner has crafted a creative and engaging novel that's both mysterious and thought provoking.

Call me a dumb hipster, but I hate reading mainstream. There's no rational reason or tramatic childhood experience behind it. Every time I see a Gossip Girl or Uglies on a shelf, I have the sudden urge to make a face and walk in the other direction. For the last five years, Maze Runner was no exception. Until now, of course. So why the sudden change of heart?

Because the movie trailer was awesome, that's why.

It had won me over in a way that the book cover and summary hadn't, prompting me to buy myself a ticket on the last day of showing. Although my mind wasn't blown by the time the credits rolled, I've grown to love most of the characters and decided to give the source material a try. Was it worth it? After a week of letting both pieces of work settle in my mind, I'm still not sure. On some points, the movie was better, while on others, the book was.

And before you say it, no, this won't be one of those side-by-side comparison reviews. This is going to be all about the book. Starting now, anyway.

"Shouldn't someone give a pep talk or something?" Minho asked.

"Go ahead," Newt replied.

Minho nodded and faced the crowd. "Be careful," he said dryly. "Don't die."

Thomas wakes up in a place known as the Glade, devoid of any memories of the life he had before and left only with his name. As the inhabitants of the Glade help him adjust to his new home, he learns that they're trapped a giant, every-changing maze, their activity policed by deadly creatures called Grievers. Desperate to escape their situation, Thomas dreams of being apart of the Runners, the only ones permitted to leave the Glade and fin an exit. If only he can stop being annoying as fuck so I could sympathize with him.

... he had to do it. Somehow he KNEW he had to do it. It was such an odd thing to feel, especially after what he'd just seen... Thomas knew he was a smart kid—he somehow felt it in his bones. But nothing about this place made any sense. Except for one thing. He was supposed to be a Runner.

Look, I understand he has questions, like anyone would in his situation, and he wants to make himself useful. That's great. But to hear him whine about how he wants to be a Runner, and how no one will immediately stop what they're doing and answer all his questions for nearly two hundred pages gets really irritating really fast. Sure, a few characters call him out on it and he eventually learns to shut his mouth, but they take their sweet time going about it, and Thomas' character screamed of Gary Stu.

Another thing I disliked about him was his major relationships with Chuck, a young boy to come before him, and Theresa, the first girl and last person to come to the Glade. I simply cannot see anything in them that could warrant his strong attachment. Chuck was a creepy little brat, and Theresa... was a creepy little brat as well! Although I've been told that they serve a greater purpose in later books, as far as I can tell, Chuck was only put in to be the tragic kid who somewhat drives the protagonist to do things and Theresa the future love interest who shares an eye-rolling, forced connection with him. I had to keep myself from skimming whenever they shared a conversation.

Perhaps what saved The Maze Runner for me was Newt, the second-in-command of their settlement, and more importantly, Minho, leader of the Runners. Utterly charming and hilarious characters that stood out against a two-dimensional cast. I swear, Thomas shared more chemistry with them than Chuck and Theresa. In fact, from my standpoint, Thomas would faster fall in love with Minho, which I totally support. I also love that the author is an advocate for diversity and actually shows it in his works. Couple this with an enjoyable story, The Maze Runner turned out to be more-or-less on-par with the movie. With the questions I've been left with, I'll give the sequel a try as well.