Tahereh Mafi marks a highly anticipated return to the Shatter Me universe with Watch Me, a new spin-off series set to release from Storytide, a new imprint of HarperCollins Children’s Books, on April 15.

In Watch Me, solider James Anderson, younger brother to Shatter Me protagonist Aaron Warner Anderson, hopes to follow in his brother’s footsteps by sneaking into Ark Island, the stronghold of the authoritarian regime The Reestablishment. Meanwhile, assassin Rosabelle is tasked with killing him at any cost, and living in a surveillance state means she can’t afford to make any mistakes. But murdering her mark grows troublesome when the two begin developing feelings for one another.

Mafi’s YA series debuted in 2011, at the height of the dystopian trend that included Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games series and Veronica Roth’s Divergent novels. In Shatter Me, Juliette, a young woman capable of killing anyone should she touch them for so long, is the focus of the seven-book series. When she’s arrested by The Reestablishment, she meets soldier Adam and Chief Commander Aaron Warner, and so begins their journey towards overthrowing a dangerously powerful regime and falling in love.

Shatter Me released to much fervor, with foreign rights sold in 19 countries, and 20th Century Fox purchasing the film rights before the book had hit shelves. Over the course of its 10-year run (the final installment of the series, Believe Me, released in 2021), there has been a massive uptick in interest of the book with the rise of TikTok and its reading community. Shatter Me is touted as a BookTok favorite, with #ShatterMe amassing more than 300,000 posts on the platform.

“Gratitude surpasses every other emotion by far,” Mafi told PW. “Writing is such a solitary and uncertain career; I’m tremendously grateful to be able to still be doing this for a living.”

More than 10 million copies of the Shatter Me books have been sold worldwide in 33 territories and the series has been translated into 28 languages.

Returning to the Reestablishment

Mafi said she was inspired to return to the Shatter Me saga as she watched the real world “grow more dystopian. It was a balm to escape into something familiar, the way we return to favorite movies and TV shows for comfort,” she said. “It was almost a relief, where I had the authority to try and reassemble a bit of humanity on the page.” Set 10 years after the events of the final book, Watch Me explores new aspects of The Republic while offering glimpses of characters from the past “in a completely fresh way,” said Tara Weikum VP and publisher at Storytide, and Mafi’s editor for 15 years. “It’s such a treat to discover what everyone is doing now, and to see how they play a part in this new story. And all Shatter Me readers loved James, the kid brother of Adam and Warner—so they’ll be immediately invested in him as one of the main characters in Watch Me, all grown up.”

And the angst that readers love in to see the relationships of high-stakes fantasy books will certainly be present too. “There is always something simmering under the surface, and Tahereh imbues even the most tension-filled moments with clever humor,” Weikum said. “Her ability to redeem even the most flawed villains who become love interests is a testament to how fully realized and three-dimensional these characters are.”

HarperCollins has plans in store for excited readers to reenter this beloved universe with style. As special editions of books continue to grow popular, fans looking for a limited edition can order copies with exclusive features including a shimmery jacket with holographic foil, designed endpapers, and holographic edges.

Mafi is set to appear at Barnes & Noble Union Square in New York City for the midnight release party of the book next month. This won’t be the only opportunity for readers to meet Mafi, as HarperCollins invited fans to vote for the other markets that Tahereh will travel to. She will be going on a U.S. tour hitting the winning cities, Miami, Chicago, and Sacramento plus more, and heading to the U.K. to promote the book as well.

Ahead of the highly anticipated release, Mafi hopes that her new book can offer a reprieve to readers grappling with tensions across the world. “More often than not, we turn to fiction for escape and relief—and it’s always my hope that the stories I write help shift a little weight from readers’ hearts.”

Watch Me by Tahereh Mafi. Storytide, Apr. 15 $21.99 ISBN 978-0-06-341900-1.