Book Review: Fracture by Megan Miranda

Fracture by Megan Miranda
Release Date: January 17, 2012
Publisher: Bloomsbury/Walker Childrens; 272 pages

Eleven minutes passed before Delaney Maxwell was pulled from the icy waters of a Maine lake by her best friend Decker Phillips. By then her heart had stopped beating. Her brain had stopped working. She was dead. And yet she somehow defied medical precedent to come back seemingly fine—despite the scans that showed significant brain damage. Everyone wants Delaney to be all right, but she knows she’s far from normal. Pulled by strange sensations she can’t control or explain, Delaney finds herself drawn to the dying. Is her altered brain now predicting death, or causing it?

Then Delaney meets Troy Varga, who recently emerged from a coma with similar abilities. At first she’s reassured to find someone who understands the strangeness of her new existence, but Delaney soon discovers that Troy’s motives aren’t quite what she thought. Is their gift a miracle, a freak of nature—or something much more frightening?

I cried within the first 10 pages. Apparently authors love when they make their readers cry. (At least Maggie Stiefvater loves it) But by page 50 she had me laughing so hard I ended up in a 5 minute long coughing fit. By the end of the book, she had me crying or tearing up at least two or three more times. It was an emotional ride, for sure.

These characters are strong, they're every day teenagers who have something bizarre and incredible thrown at them. Delaney should be dead but she isn't and she's struggling with the after effects of practically being dead for 11 minutes. It seems Decker never really lets go of the guilt he has for being the reason he almost lost Delaney, a person whose been his best friend since he can remember. These two bumps heads more often than not and its frustrating but totally realistic. Then you add Tara and Troy to the mix and things just go completely out of whack. I really liked Troy and the fact that he really connected with Delaney on a different level and that really drew me in. I can't really say any more without giving parts of the story line away so I'll stop with that :)

The Publishers note in the front of the book says to make sure you have time to read this book because once you start, you won't be able to stop. They weren't lying. I'm reading it for the second time and I'm still struggling to put it down and I know what's going to happen! That's when you know its a good book. This is definitely an author I'm going to be keeping an eye on because this novel was just absolutely brilliant. There have been three books I've read that I've texted all of my friends who read, telling them they have to read. Fracture was the first, as well as Fateful & Shatter Me. (As you can see, I've read a lot of books too, so that's saying something!) I recommend this to everyone, anyone - if you like reading, you should pick up this book come the new year. You won't regret it.

I leave you with this question, which is seen throughout the book: "If you have one day left to live, what would you do?"

*highlight to view spoiler* And can I say its one of the first stories I've read where the girl ends up with the best friend instead of some hottie that comes along. That's one thing that frustrates me with YA literature. The best friend always gets screwed and she ends up with some random hottie she meets. So thank you, Megan, for making sure Decker and Delaney ended up together. I was going to throw the book across the room had this not happened. *spoiler*