Shatter Me was strangely difficult for me to get into. First, Juliette spends much of the first half of the novel being completely obedient to the horrible regime that locked her away and seemed completely resigned to her terrible fate. It also doesn’t help that she spends far too much time feeling sorry for herself, calling herself a “monster” and dripping with angst. There were times I wanted to tell her to just get over it. Thankfully, throughout the novel Juliette’s adventures help to meld her into a stronger, better person who is more confident and empowered.

I’ve also read some interesting reviews that have discussed how much they loved the writing style in Shatter Me. I’m not sure I like it -in fact, I was torn for much of the book. Most of the writing is done in stream-of-conscious style that really gets into Juliette’s head, but left me out of breath by the end of most sentences. It didn’t seem that polished or crisp to me. Again, this did get better as the book went on, but I wouldn’t rave about the writing style here. However, some sentences here were amazing emotional gems that really were beautiful.

I wouldn’t call Shatter Me the best dystopian novel I’ve read this year, but it’s still worth reading. It’s certainly something different in the genre with a unique style approach that’s unlike anything else I’ve ever read. Recommended for fans of dystopian romance.

Have a lovely day,
Samantha
laptop.sam@data.com” rel=”nofollow”>

I purchased the ebook through iBooks (on my iPhone) the same day I received the BYU alumnus magazine that mentioned your publication. It is a Smashwords edition, but I do not recall exactly when I downloaded it, but you probably do, now that you know how I heard of it.

I did not keep any notes on the mistakes I found; my statement was meant more as a general overview of the writing style. I guess I’m not going to be in your debt, after all, nor am I going to get my name in the acknowledgments section. Rats.

And yes, your mission was definitely accomplished. I probably should have mentioned your subtexting style, which I honestly did notice (and appreciated) while I read. It is refreshing to know that there are still some writers that are willing to take the more difficult road of keeping profanity in the background, instead of just tossing it out there.

Which version of the book did you read? Did you get it through the kindle app on your iPhone or through iBooks or the nook or kobo apps?

Here’s why I ask…

Since publication, I’ve probably versioned the kindle book about 15 times from customer feedback, and my own repeated reads/listens. The most recent update was maybe 6 months ago. If you’re still finding errors in the kindle edition after that, I would be in your debt if you could pass on anything you remember. If you give me anything that leads to an edit, your name goes into the acknowledgments section at the end. (if that’s what you want, that is)

Unfortunately, I don’t sell many books through smashwords, which feeds everywhere but kindle (tens vs thousands) and their ebook upload process is very restrictive/difficult, so I’ve not updated that one nearly as much.

I’ll make sure to upload a corrected manuscript to smashwords soon.

BTW: I’m surprised that on a content rating site, my subtexts against profanity and illicit sex weren’t mentioned. However, I wanted that stuff to be in the background and largely just slip into the subconscious unnoticed, so maybe that’s a “mission accomplished”

Thanks again for the fair review!