Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

I couldn't resist starting this trilogy. If someone tells me it's similar to the Hunger Games trilogy, I have to read it! Shatter Me is a dystopian story about a 17-year old girl named Juliette. She has been living in deplorable conditions in a prison cell, being fed minimal food, with limited opportunities for personal hygiene. She was imprisoned because of something she did (which we don't initially know.) What we do know is that her touch will kill. If she touches anyone, or anyone touches her - bare skin to bare skin - they will most likely die. Even before being imprisoned, she lived a life of isolation. Her own parents didn't love her. She was considered a diseased freak.

One day she gets a cellmate. His name is Adam Kent and she recognizes him from her elementary school days. He treats her poorly, but she helps him anyway by showing him the ropes of prison life that she had to learn the hard way. Shortly after Adam's arrival, however, she is released into the hands of Warner, the young leader of the "new world". She soon finds out that Adam was sent in to test her. Adam is a soldier for Warner. Warner doesn't see Juliette as a freak. He sees her as power. He sees her as a weapon he can use against his enemies (the rebels). Juliette is not on board with this new arrangement, and fights against Warner's wishes, until she discovers that Adam will be severely punished (beaten) if she doesn't conform. Juliette does not want to harm anyone ever, not even the people who abuse her. She is frightened of her ability to kill.

She figures out that Adam does indeed remember her from their early school days. He volunteered to go into her prison cell. He has a different motive than Warner does for Juliette however. We also find out that Adam is immune from Juliette's special powers, which is helpful of course! Then all hell breaks loose! Everyone (Warner, Adam, the rebels) wants Juliette. Things gets dicey when Adam & Juliette escape from Warner's compound. Juliette has no idea what's really "outside" in the rest of the world. If I had already been in possession of the second book of this trilogy, I would have started it immediately. Unfortunately, I don't. It's a quick read and definitely intriguing. I do love dystopian novels!

Wendy's Rating: ****

The Women by Kristin Hannah

I am a huge Kristin Hannah fan. I have read most of what she has written, including before she ventured into writing historical fiction. I have only rated one of her novels 4 stars instead of 5 stars, and I know that rating was not a popular opinion! Ha! I just didn't like how whiny the main character was. Anyway, I digress. I really loved this book. This was definitely a 5 star read for me! It was painful to read at times, but honest. My father served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War. He didn't see combat (fortunately). I was too young to know what was going on in our country at that time, but I have always felt awful for the returning veterans. Many of them didn't even have the choice to go to war! So why were they treated so terribly when they returned to the US? After WWI and WWII it was considered honorable to fight for one's freedom from tyranny. That's what they thought they were doing. It's not their fault that we were losing the war and that the US continued to send young men (and women!) to their deaths even after the tide had turned and the US realized it was a fruitless battle. It's deplorable and makes me heartsick. What I didn't know is that the women serving in this war were not considered "veterans". They also saw the horrors of war.

The story portrayed Frankie's despair very effectively. First, being treated like a second-class citizen by her father (as many - most? - females were back then, including in my own military family); being betrayed by the man she loved; being told that "women" were not in Vietnam over and over again; being told that she was not considered a Vietnam vet after serving two terms; not being able to get help from the VA Hospital; becoming a victim to addiction because of the lack of knowledge about the mental & emotional damage done to active duty soldiers -  and surgery nurses in the field! (PTSD); being exposed to Agent Orange continually, which caused women to miscarry.

The entire book I was praying for a happy ending for Frankie. I wanted her to be acknowledged by her father. I wanted her to feel loved. I wanted her to become stronger because of her traumatic experiences instead of succumb to them. She had two amazing best friends (Barb & Ethel) that supported her, fortunately. I'm not sure where she would have ended up if it wasn't for them. She also ended up having incredible, loving support from a man she couldn't quite marry. He was really awesome. The ending was what I hoped for. Thank goodness.

Wendy's Rating: *****