Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

I absolutely loved Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi.  The first in a series of three books, Shatter Me introduces the characters who play throughout: Juliette, Adam, and Warner. Two guys?  You already see a problem.

The story opens with the main character, Juliette, imprisoned in an asylum.  In this dystopian society, there is no touchy feely treatment of sick people or prisoners.  Instead, Juliette has been locked away in a very solitary solitary confinement without sufficient food or comfort of any kind.  When we first meet her, she seems to be teetering on the edge of insanity as a result of the isolation.  She also struggles with the knowledge of what she is and what she can do: a person who can kill someone simply by touching him/her.

Just when Juliette seems ready to lose it completely, she gets a roommate, Adam.  Young, good-looking, and curious enough about Juliette that he actually wants to talk to her, he is your basic hot guy character.  But maybe Adam isn't everything he appears to be (except the hot part; that seems accurate).  Is he there to help Juliette or to hurt her?

When she is suddenly dragged out of her cell and brought to the young commanding officer, Warner, things take an unexpected change.  Warner, it appears, believes that Juliette would make the perfect tool in his army.  He also has a massive - and a little bit inexplicable - instantaneous attraction to Juliette.  Oh - and Adam seems to work for him.

So is Adam a traitor?  What's Warner's deal?  Is Juliette going to fall for him or maybe for Adam after all?  You'll just have to read it and find out.

LAME FACTOR:  I loved it so a definite 0/5.

YOUR PARENTS WILL FREAK FACTOR:  In spite of Juliette's supposed inability to touch anyone without killing him, there is lots of touching, but nothing too explicit.

BRAIN POWER:  The story is well-written but easy enough for the average reader.

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Anna and the French Kiss was one of those books that got me so hooked into the relationships between the characters that I wanted to skip to the end to see what happened.  I would like to say that I was mature and resisted the temptation, but I only held out overnight and then took a look.

Anna Oliphant, a student happily heading into her senior year in high school in Atlanta, has her world turned upside down when her father announces that he has signed her up for a year in a Parisian boarding school, mainly so that he can show off to his friends.

I don't think it takes much imagination to figure out that Anna absolutely hates the idea.  She wants to be with her mom and brother, to develop her relationship with her latest romantic interest, Toph, and to hang out and enjoy her last year of high school with her best friend.  Worse, when she does arrive in Paris, she feels as though she doesn't fit in.  She's intimidated by the people, by her inability to speak French, and by all of the unfamiliar territory around her.

But Anna is a really likeable girl and soon enough she makes friends, including the American/British/French hybrid Etienne St. Clair.  Anna barely has to look at him before she totally falls for him - as is the likely reaction of the reader as well.  He is simultaneously cool and nerdy, troubled and sweet.  He also has a long time girlfriend, something neither Anna nor Etienne is willing to forget.

So how does it turn out?  Have some self-control (unlike yours truly) and read it through to the end.

LAME FACTOR: 0 of 5 of course!

YOUR PARENTS WILL FREAK FACTOR:  There are some normal teenage shenanigans.

BRAIN POWER:  You can handle it.

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