# Tahereh Mafi
**Tahereh Mafi** (born 1988) is an American author of young adult and middle grade fiction, best known for the dystopian romance series *Shatter Me*, which she began in 2011 and has since extended past its original trilogy with sequels, novellas, and a spinoff series.[1](https://www.fantasticfiction.com/m/tahereh-mafi/) • [2](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/articles/tahereh-mafi-to-write-shatter-me-spinoff-series/) She is a #1 New York Times bestselling and [National Book Award](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-book-award)-nominated author of over a dozen novels, which have sold millions of copies and been translated into more than thirty languages.[3](https://www.taherehmafi.com/about)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1988, in a small city somewhere in Connecticut[1](https://www.fantasticfiction.com/m/tahereh-mafi/) • [4](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2109616/tahereh-mafi/) |
| Debut | *Shatter Me*, November 15, 2011[5](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/author/tahereh-mafi/) |
| Best-known series | *Shatter Me*: 11 books including novellas, plus the spinoff series *Shatter Me: The New Republic*[6](https://www.booknotification.com/authors/tahereh-mafi/) • [1](https://www.fantasticfiction.com/m/tahereh-mafi/) |
| Sales and reach | The *Shatter Me* series has sold over 8 million copies worldwide; her books have been translated into over thirty languages[7](https://s28434.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/70/2025/10/2025_FBF_Catalogue_LOWRES-spreads-nc.pdf) • [3](https://www.taherehmafi.com/about) |
| Award recognition | Longlisted for the 2018 National Book Award for Young People's Literature for *A Very Large Expanse of Sea*[8](https://agenceelianebenisti.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/WRITERS-HOUSE-Frankfurt-2020-Childrens-Rights-Guide.pdf) |
| Family | Married to author Ransom Riggs since 2013; they live in Southern California with their daughter[9](https://time.com/4475641/tales-of-a-kids-lit-power-couple/) • [3](https://www.taherehmafi.com/about) |
| Agent | Jodi Reamer of Writers House, LLC[3](https://www.taherehmafi.com/about) |
## Life
Mafi was born in 1988 in a small city somewhere in [Connecticut](https://www.edgepedia.org/connecticut), according to her publisher biography, and currently resides in [Santa Monica, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/santa-monica-california).[1](https://www.fantasticfiction.com/m/tahereh-mafi/) • [4](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2109616/tahereh-mafi/) She is Iranian-American, an identity that shapes her contemporary fiction.[10](https://ojs.library.dal.ca/YAHS/article/download/11013/9795) In an interview with the Los Angeles Times she described a central theme that runs through all of her books: "the outsider looking in and learning to accept herself as she is," which she called deeply personal to her and her experiences.[11](https://www.latimes.com/books/la-et-jc-tahereh-mafi-20180222-story.html)
She lives in [Southern California](https://www.edgepedia.org/southern-california) with her husband, the author [Ransom Riggs](https://www.edgepedia.org/ransom-riggs), known for the *Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children* series, and their daughter.[3](https://www.taherehmafi.com/about) The two met through a mutual author friend in what Riggs called the same waters of Southern California young-adult-bookhood, and they married in 2013.[9](https://time.com/4475641/tales-of-a-kids-lit-power-couple/) In their Santa Monica home office they write side by side at a long desk, and at the end of the day they often read their output aloud to each other for encouragement rather than criticism.[9](https://time.com/4475641/tales-of-a-kids-lit-power-couple/)
## Shatter Me
Mafi's first book, *Shatter Me*, published in 2011, centers on Juliette, whose lethal touch has led The Reestablishment, a harsh government run by the military, to confine her in an asylum.[2](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/articles/tahereh-mafi-to-write-shatter-me-spinoff-series/) The series combines coming-of-age romance with a depiction of an America gone savagely wrong, in near-future dystopian settings.[12](https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/mafi_tahereh)
The series grew well beyond its original trilogy. After *Ignite Me* (2014) closed the first arc, Mafi continued with *Restore Me* (2018), *Defy Me* (2019), *Imagine Me* (2020), and *Believe Me* (2021), interspersed with novellas such as *Destroy Me*, *Fracture Me*, *Shadow Me*, and *Reveal Me*; the sequence counts 11 books.[1](https://www.fantasticfiction.com/m/tahereh-mafi/) • [6](https://www.booknotification.com/authors/tahereh-mafi/) In 2024 she announced a spinoff series set in the same universe, *Shatter Me: The New Republic*, beginning with *Watch Me* (April 2025), which follows James Anderson infiltrating the final stronghold of The Reestablishment ten years after its fall.[13](https://www.taherehmafi.com/news) • [5](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/author/tahereh-mafi/) • [14](https://link.me/tahereh) *Release Me* (April 2026) and *Escape Me* (2026) continue the spinoff.[5](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/author/tahereh-mafi/) • [1](https://www.fantasticfiction.com/m/tahereh-mafi/)
The series has been a commercial standout: it has sold over 8 million copies worldwide, and its publisher promotes special collector's editions in the United Kingdom.[7](https://s28434.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/70/2025/10/2025_FBF_Catalogue_LOWRES-spreads-nc.pdf) A *Shatter Me* movie has been announced as in development; the series was earlier optioned and reported as being adapted for television.[15](https://www.aol.com/articles/bestselling-author-tahereh-mafi-teases-130000000.html) • [9](https://time.com/4475641/tales-of-a-kids-lit-power-couple/)
## Other fiction
Mafi writes in several registers beyond dystopia. Her middle grade fantasy duology comprises *Furthermore* (2016), about a girl named Alice Alexis Queensmeadow searching a magical land for her missing father, and *Whichwood* (2017).[9](https://time.com/4475641/tales-of-a-kids-lit-power-couple/) • [5](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/author/tahereh-mafi/)
Her contemporary novels draw directly on her background. *A Very Large Expanse of Sea* (2018), her first contemporary novel, follows a Muslim American teenager in the period after 9/11; it was longlisted for the 2018 [National Book Award for Young People's Literature](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-book-award-for-young-peoples-literature), was named by Time magazine as one of "the best YA books of all time," and is in development for film with Levantine Films.[11](https://www.latimes.com/books/la-et-jc-tahereh-mafi-20180222-story.html) • [8](https://agenceelianebenisti.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/WRITERS-HOUSE-Frankfurt-2020-Childrens-Rights-Guide.pdf) • [3](https://www.taherehmafi.com/about) *An Emotion of Great Delight* (2021) follows an Iranian American hijabi teen facing anti-Muslim prejudice in 2003 America, and received a starred review from Kirkus.[16](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/articles/best-ya-of-2021-tahereh-mafi/)
Her fantasy series *This Woven Kingdom* (2022) is Persian-inspired romantasy; it has reached four books with *These Infinite Threads* (2023), *All This Twisted Glory* (2024), and *Every Spiral of Fate* (2025).[1](https://www.fantasticfiction.com/m/tahereh-mafi/)
## Style
Mafi's prose is distinctive within young adult fiction. Academic commentary on *Shatter Me* describes her stream-of-consciousness style and fragmented syntax as mirroring her protagonist Juliette's fractured state of mind.[17](https://ijellh.com/index.php/OJS/article/download/11565/9592/18053)
## References
1. [Tahereh Mafi, Fantastic Fiction](https://www.fantasticfiction.com/m/tahereh-mafi/)
2. [Tahereh Mafi To Write 'Shatter Me' Spinoff Series, Kirkus Reviews](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/articles/tahereh-mafi-to-write-shatter-me-spinoff-series/)
3. [About, taherehmafi.com](https://www.taherehmafi.com/about)
4. [Tahereh Mafi, Penguin Random House](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2109616/tahereh-mafi/)
5. [Books by Tahereh Mafi, Kirkus Reviews](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/author/tahereh-mafi/)
6. [Tahereh Mafi List of Books, Book Notification](https://www.booknotification.com/authors/tahereh-mafi/)
7. [HarperCollins Frankfurt 2025 Rights Catalogue](https://s28434.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/70/2025/10/2025_FBF_Catalogue_LOWRES-spreads-nc.pdf)
8. [Writers House Frankfurt 2020 Children's Rights Guide](https://agenceelianebenisti.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/WRITERS-HOUSE-Frankfurt-2020-Childrens-Rights-Guide.pdf)
9. [Tales of a Kids'-Lit Power Couple, Time](https://time.com/4475641/tales-of-a-kids-lit-power-couple/)
10. [Journal of Young Adult Studies article on Tahereh Mafi](https://ojs.library.dal.ca/YAHS/article/download/11013/9795)
11. [Exclusive: Tahereh Mafi on 'A Very Large Expanse of Sea,' Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/books/la-et-jc-tahereh-mafi-20180222-story.html)
12. [Mafi, Tahereh, The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction](https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/mafi_tahereh)
13. [News, taherehmafi.com](https://www.taherehmafi.com/news)
14. [tahereh mafi on Linkme](https://link.me/tahereh)
15. [Bestselling Author Tahereh Mafi Teases Her New Novel 'Escape Me', AOL](https://www.aol.com/articles/bestselling-author-tahereh-mafi-teases-130000000.html)
16. [Best YA of 2021: Tahereh Mafi, Kirkus Reviews](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/articles/best-ya-of-2021-tahereh-mafi/)
17. [Prophetic Vision in Tahereh Mafi's Shatter Me, IJELLH](https://ijellh.com/index.php/OJS/article/download/11565/9592/18053)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Literature and written works › Writers and literary biographies › Children's, comics, and media-genre writers › Children's and YA authors › Young adult authors*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license