The beginning of “Shatter Me,” a dystopian young adult series, feels like a blur of paranoia and nervous observations. Juliette, the protagonist, has the ability to kill with merely a touch, and has been locked away her entire life due to this unfortunate power. She doesn’t know much of the world beyond the cold cell she’s lived in, where nights and days endlessly blend together after seemingly a lifetime of mastering the skill of killing time — that is, until for the first time in years, she’s reunited with one of the few people who actually cares about her.

Now, 24 years after being published, the “Shatter Me” series is still gaining popularity through its recently-released “Watch Me” book — the first of a new spinoff series based on the original books. 

With its vivid imagery and unique skill of putting the reader directly inside the protagonist’s head, “Shatter Me” is distinctly different from other YA novels and is an overall compelling read — but it doesn’t feel like much of a dystopian one. Despite being targeted as having both elements of romance and dystopian fiction, the reader never really learns many details about the corrupt government called the Re-Establishment, or about the overall world of “Shatter Me” at all. Instead, the story is largely focused on romance, which feels somewhat disappointing for its intended genre.

The main character of “Shatter Me,” Juliette, is someone whose unfortunate situation was really mostly due to sheer bad luck. Toward the beginning of the story, the fragmented structure and crossed-out lines of text mirror Juliette’s scattered, fearful mind, allowing readers to feel a loneliness that persists for much of the book. When she meets Adam, a soldier and former student she’d known at school, this all begins to change.

Almost immediately after meeting Adam, there’s a noticeable shift in Juliette’s voice as well as in the anticipated overall plot, as the storyline between the two characters consumes most of the story. Despite readers’ expectations of being introduced to Juliette’s world and gaining a deeper understanding into her backstory, the main focus is on the almost-immediate romance. This ends up leaving the dystopian elements of “Shatter Me” not very developed, and doesn’t feel satisfying for a genre that tends to have much more world-building. 

Overall, while “Shatter Me” offers a unique writing style and character depth, it doesn’t feel world-driven enough, as the story is mostly about a romance that takes away from an intriguing plot idea. While it doesn’t fulfil the expectations of the genre it was marketed as, it still is a complex and interesting story that can easily be enjoyed by many readers — just perhaps not ones looking for a primarily dystopian story.