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Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Разбий ме by Tahereh Mafi, Техере Мафи

87 reviews

gracesvcr's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is a spoiler free review. Other than the parent section but it's blurred out. Full review on my Goodreads

Warning: This will be a long review.

Preface: (You can skip this part if you just want the book review) This was the first real book I read on the kindle (other than some kid books that I couldn't annotate in), and honestly, it was a great introduction. It really made the book fly by so quickly (and the writing style too). The kindle was so much easier to bring around than a physical book especially one that is 300 pages or more. I've now found the beautiful world of kindle annotations where I can yap until my heart gives out.

The Characters:
Many characters and storylines in the romance genre tend to be extremely surface level and flat to me (hence why it's not my first choice genre). Mostly, many characters in romance novels are typically just quite boring, but in Shatter Me, it pleasantly surprised me.

Anytime I found something to be a little unrealistic (like a communication between or feeling about another character from one to the other), it was later explained. Though, I do understand that this is a fantasy/dystopian novel. It's not made to be realistic, but I feel like for any book regardless of fiction, fantasy, or otherwise, the characters being realistic plays a crucial part in my enjoyment of a book.

The characters were so well rounded and some of them really grew on me. I oftentimes have a hard time actually connecting with the characters in many books I read (this is coming from a contemporary fiction and nonfiction reader). The characters in this book surprised me with having genuine deep layers to them. They aren't just one cookie cutter idea. They don't just have one motive or just one feeling, they are complex. They have a reason behind every emotion and every action. This is what made them feel real to me and also played a major part in me coming to a 5 star rating. So I definitely enjoyed this aspect of Shatter Me.


Young Teen/Parent Friendly:
For any parents reading this, depending on parenting style and personal boundaries, this book is appropriate for ages 12-13 and up. Further detail in minor spoiler below.
Even though there is a romance aspect to this book, there are no depictions of sex. Since this is a dystopian/fantasy book, if you have ever seen Maze Runner, Hunger Games, or any other dystopian film, there are depictions of some physical violence like fight scenes or use of guns. The scenes in my opinion are not graphic, but they are included for the story to progress


How this aspect contributed to my rating:
I don't think this is a spoiler but I'll blur it out in case. Includes talking about the spice level. This is just a personal preference, but
I loved that there were no graphic depictions of sex in this book. It was still extremely passionate and the romance aspect/tension between characters was definitely still there. Many people enjoy romance for the spice aspect, but I tend to really enjoy the interpersonal communication and relationships being built rather than steamy scenes every other chapter. If a spicy scene is included in a book, I am not against it, but I enjoy when there is a purpose behind adding it in like how it would improve the story in a way.



The Prose:
What really got me other than the characters was the writing style. Something about Tahereh Mafi's voice through writing this book was beautiful. I personally love when there are so many good quotes for me to highlight and look back or comment on. The style of writing was very different from what I'm used to reading but different in a very positive way. I really enjoyed the creativity and beauty that seeped through every page of this book.

Lastly, the book was so well thought out. This kind of goes hand in hand with the character aspect I talked about earlier. While reading, it really felt like Tahereh Mafi spent so much time perfecting this book. Every action, every scene, every feeling was so well thought out which contributed to the readability and emotional investment.


Feedback/Comments:
I appreciate if anyone took time to read this review. Although I rated this 5 stars and thoroughly enjoyed it, I am open to your own criticisms you may have of the book. I do ask that if anyone feels compelled to comment and disagree with my review that it remains civil. I really enjoy hearing constructive criticisms and different view points, but I do not enjoy an argument.


Thank you for your time, I hope that anyone considering this book that enjoys fantasy/dystopian novels with a little romance picks this up and loves it as much as I did.

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ladybug12793's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


This is based in a dystopian society. It is somewhere to hunger games, except for the trials (yet at least)with a little bit of magic added in. If you don’t like bloated, purple prose then you will absolutely hate this book. There is a lot of fluff and repetitiveness as well. Honestly, not much happened in this book and I think it could have been shortened to a Novella. I did enjoy the world building, however, and will continue on the next book.

0 🌶️

“blush of roses on my face. His eyes scan my silhouette and the slow motion makes my heart race. I catch the rose petals as they fall from my cheeks, as they float around my body, as they cover me in something that feels like the absence of courage.”

i’m sorry, but what? Just an example of it being too much. 

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infjkiki's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5


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spatterson7's review against another edition

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mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


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madi_reads13's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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greenknightemrys's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0


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thelaurajay's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25


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hoops_literary_library_life's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75


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sharlapeggy's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I enjoyed this book a lot! I look forward to reading the next one in the series and learning a bit more about the characters. My only criticism is that I didn’t really rate the ending (but I appreciated why it needed to be this way to lead into the next book). 

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anjh's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

i had high hopes for this book considering how popular it is. it was really good, the writing is incredibly poetic and i think that’s part of what makes it so good. 
i’m not usually that into fantasy and dystopian books but this wasn’t bad, i did enjoy the magical element and didn’t find the world too confusing which i often do. 
i was kind of surprised how much smut was in this lol. as someone who is generally incredibly bored by smut and romance n such i kind of skimmed over it or skipped it but if you are into smutty stuff i def recommend it lol. 
but omg the writing. the crossing out of sentences really added to the poetic style - i loved it. i think the main highlight of this book was the writing style. it was just beautiful 

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