Shatter Me: Chapters 21–35

by Tahereh Mafi
Juliette has the power to paralyze or kill people with a single touch. The Reestablishment government wishes to use her as a weapon to secure world domination — but Juliette has her own plans.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–10, Chapters 11–20, Chapters 21–35, Chapter 36–Epilogue
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. liable
    likely to be or do something
    “You're not exactly stable, you know. You're liable to kill someone."
  2. multifaceted
    having many aspects
    Her life is so incredibly unbearable so immensely multifaceted too glamorous for the leashed legacy of her loins to understand.
  3. admonish
    scold or reprimand; take to task
    I wanted to tell her that his seventh scream didn't mean he was trying to be obnoxious, that her fourteenth admonishment in the form of brat/you're such a brat/you're embarrassing me you little brat/don't make me tell Daddy you were being a brat was uncalled for.
  4. writhe
    move in a twisting or contorted motion
    He fell to the floor and writhed around until I'd dropped everything in my hands and every feature on my face.
  5. moderate
    make less severe or harsh
    “You will have to...work...at one point or another,” he says, making an effort to moderate his voice.
  6. forgo
    do without or cease to hold or adhere to
    “Even if you were to forgo my condition, you are here for a reason, Juliette. I convinced my father that you would be an asset to The Reestablishment. That you’d be able to restrain any rebels we—”
  7. relinquish
    do without or cease to hold or adhere to
    “Now I need you to focus. I need you to relinquish your hopes of living like everyone else. You are not normal. You never have been, and you never will be. Embrace who you are.”
  8. postulate
    take as a given; assume as an axiom
    "No,” I lie, and I’m trying to untangle the truth from the false from assumptions from the postulations but run-on sentences are twisting around my throat.
  9. revulsion
    intense aversion
    I have to swallow back the revulsion bubbling in my mouth. His perfect face. His perfect body. He repulses me. I want his exterior to match his broken black interior.
  10. reverberate
    ring or echo with sound
    3 distinct electronic screeches reverberate around the room and Adam looks past me like he can't understand where he is for a moment.
  11. solace
    comfort offered to one who is disappointed or miserable
    He finds a strange sort of solace in my company; he thinks I can relate to him and his twisted notions, his cruel upbringing, his absent and simultaneously demanding father.
  12. convulse
    shake uncontrollably
    I’m practically convulsing in fear of what this might mean.
  13. appraise
    consider in a comprehensive way
    Soldiers everywhere, their eyes everywhere, appraising me with both fear and something else I’d rather not consider.
  14. splay
    widen or spread apart
    I don’t understand my hands and what they’re doing or how they decided to fly forward, fingers splayed, charging toward the window.
  15. devoid
    completely wanting or lacking
    I want to be stupid, dumb, mute, completely devoid of a brain.
  16. erratic
    having no fixed course
    I'm a mess of electricity, humming with life and lightning, hot and cold and my heart is erratic.
  17. incredulity
    doubt about the truth of something
    "Really...?" I have one whisper of incredulity, one conscious effort to believe what's never been done.
  18. fervent
    characterized by intense emotion
    He's everywhere up my back and over my arms and suddenly he's kissing me harder, deeper, with a fervent urgent need I've never known before.
  19. obsolete
    no longer in use
    He's kissing away the pain, the hurt, the years of self-loathing, the insecurities, the dashed hopes for a future I always pictured as obsolete.
  20. breach
    an opening, especially a gap in a dike or fortification
    "There’s been a breach,” he says, his voice broken and breathy, his eyes darting between me and the door.
  21. waver
    move hesitatingly, as if about to give way
    Warner’s gun misfires and Adam catches his arm and twists his wrist until his grip on the weapon wavers.
  22. earnest
    devout or heartfelt
    "I love you," he says to me, his eyes just as earnest as I remember them, his words just as urgent as they should be.
  23. unhinged
    affected or as if affected with madness or insanity
    Warner is writhing on the floor, unhinged in a way I never thought possible. He looks wild, his eyes disbelieving, horrified.
  24. chafe
    tear or wear off the skin or make sore by abrading
    The cord is chafing my legs into a fiery mass so painful I'm surprised there’s no smoke.
  25. inherently
    in an essential manner
    “—probably without your knowledge, and despite testing positive for the radiation, you were entirely whole, biologically. There was nothing inherently wrong with you.”
    Nothing inherently wrong with you.
  26. blatantly
    in a completely obvious manner
    The observation is so blatantly false I actually start laughing.
  27. futility
    uselessness as a consequence of having no practical result
    Every step is a step away from the asylum, away from Warner, away from the futility of the existence I've always known.
  28. infringe
    advance beyond the usual limit
    Right now, I'm too shy to ask. I don't want to infringe on his emotional boundaries.
  29. bouillon
    a clear seasoned broth
    He pulls the lid off the tinfoil container to reveal a small square. It looks like a bouillon cube. He points to the cube and then nods at the microwave.
  30. discretion
    freedom to act or judge on one's own
    No one but soldiers are allowed outside after sunset, each soldier armed and instructed to fire at their own discretion.
  31. wayward
    resistant to guidance or discipline
    Adam brushes back wayward strands of hair from James' forehead.
  32. fissure
    a long narrow opening
    The earth cracks open and I'm falling into the fissure.
  33. convenient
    suited to your comfort or purpose or needs
    “Benny says that a lot. She says my excuses are ‘awfully convenient.’” He makes air quotes with two fingers. “She says it means I don’t believe you. And I don’t believe you.”
  34. allocate
    distribute according to a plan or set apart for a purpose
    But Adam says James is allocated a certain portion for every meal, and he's required to eat it by law.
  35. guttural
    relating to or articulated in the throat
    There’s a low, guttural sound of agony.
Created on Tue Aug 04 12:53:23 EDT 2020 (updated Tue Aug 11 10:31:03 EDT 2020)

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