Guest Review with Michele

Since starting my blog I have meet some amazing people! One of my favourite is Michele. I meet Michele on twitter and we have been chatting ever since.

A little bit about Michele.

Reading is my favorite pastime, but I also enjoy writing, playing the piano, singing and my newest loves: reviewing and blogging about the books I read. I am a wife to an understanding husband who has grown accustomed to repeating things whilst I'm lost in the pages of a good book. I am a mom to an incredibly sweet little girl who is an avid reader herself. I have worked in the medical field for the past 20 years.

My love of reading stems from growing up near an Air Force Base, where friends were always being transferred out. My childhood friends were always leaving, but my book character friends never did. Now, having a family, a busy home life and work keep me from traveling like I would like, but in my books... I've been everywhere!

Stalk me here:
Blog:  http://abellestales.blogspot.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/ChelesBells1
Goodreads:  http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5464054-chelesbells

Shatter Me review:

From Goodreads: The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal. As long as she doesn't hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don't fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war-- and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she's exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

It has been 264 days. 264 days with no human interaction. 6,336 hours without feeling the warmth - the touch of another person. 264 days without using your voice. This is the world Juliette lives in - if you can call it living. One might think Juliette would be broken. Shattered. One would be wrong. Juliette is strong, she is defiant, and she is a survivor.

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

But her whole world changed the day that Adam walked through the cell door. Adam. The only person to ever really know Juliette. The only one who ever saw her. Who ever cared.

“‘You can't touch me,’ I whisper. I'm lying, is what I don't tell him. He can touch me, is what I'll never tell him. Please touch me, is what I want to tell him.”

And thus begins the exciting and powerful story written by Tahereh Mafi. I can easily say Tahereh’s writing style is the most unique style I have had the pleasure of reading. The way she wrote Juliette made her seem so real. So easy to envision yourself in the role of Juliette. And so easy to wish you were the one Adam was looking at.

“I'm oxygen and he's dying to breathe.”

Adam. Hubba Hubba. I’m sorry, do people even say “hubba hubba”? I know I never have. But then again, I never knew Adam until now. I blame thank Tahereh Mafi for bringing Adam to life. He is truly a magnificent man with looks to die for and eyes you could drown in, but with the added bonus of a beautiful soul (and tattoos… did I mention the tattoos?? Swooooon).

“Adam stares at me so long I begin to blush. He tips my chin up so I meet his eyes. Blue blue blue boring into me. His voice is deep, steady. ‘I don't think I've ever heard you laugh.’"

The phrasing of this story and the pictures that Tahereh Mafi painted with her words are stunning. I found myself repeating sentences I had just read over and over, for the simple reason of loving how they sounded and tasted.

"And we stand like that until I'm too old to remember a world without his warmth."

Shatter Me is one of the few books that I ever finished reading…only to open it right back up and start again. And it wasn’t just Juliette and Adam that had me captivated… Warner is deliciously evil. If I am ever held against my will…. Oh please, let it be Warner doing the holding.

“He takes too long to speak; his eyes are busy traveling the road map of my body. I want to rip up the carpet and sew it to my skin. He smiles and offers me his hand.”

Then there is Kenji, who is just delightful in every way.

“Well damn. But you make crazy sound so good”.

I can’t wait to read more about the amazing characters that Tahereh Mafi created and that I can’t seem to stop thinking about. If you haven’t already picked up your copy of Shatter Me….do it now and thank me later. Right now, I think I’m going back for thirds.

My touch is lethal. My touch is power.