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Wednesday 29 February 2012

Review: Fracture by Megan Miranda


Title: Fracture
Author: Megan Miranda
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Publication Date: 5 Jan 2012
Source: Review Copy
Challenge: DAB
Rating: 5/5

Synopsis from Goodreads

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?


REVIEW

The first thing I have to say regarding this book is that it is something completely different in Young Adult fiction. An amazing mix of paranormal, romance, death and bereavement.

Written in first person narrative, from the perspective of Delaney, having survived 11 minutes in a frozen river, the fact that she is alive is a miracle in itself. But something has happened to Delaney, something that not only terrifies and confuses her but also fascinates her to a degree.

Following her accident Delaney retreats into herself, unable to confide in anyone until she meets Troy. Having the same ability himself, although it isn't fully explained until the end exactly what these abilities are. Delaney has always felt like an outsider, only popular by proxy via her friendship with Dexter (the totally hot boy next door *swoon*). I adored Dexter, he would do anything for Delaney although she really doesn't realize it. At times I felt like shaking her so she would understand the depth of Dexter's feelings for her, risking his own life to save her. However, I did feel that both Dexter and Delaney were afraid to alter the status of their relationship, worried that if they did they would lose their friendship. The flip-side to this is that dating other people caused a strain on their friendship.

Troy, is a stark contrast to Dexter, thinking in color Troy would be the dark to Dexter's light in personality as well as appearance. Despite his charm, Troy is one of the freakiest characters I have ever come across. He was deeply disturbing/disturbed, to the degree that I actually feared for Delaney's safety whenever she was with him.

Although Troy and Delaney have similar abilities the way in which Troy reacts to his 'ability' made me question the reason they were given this 'gift/power'. Ultimately what is their purpose? I don't think this was fully developed and would love to see more of Delaney's story after this book.

There a numerous twists and turns within the plot, nothing can be taken for granted, I was kept guessing to the very end. Images of Grim Reapers and Guardian Angels danced through my imagination.

This book is a fast paced, dramatic mix of action, romance blended seamlessly with elements of the paranormal. An ingeniously crafted tale with a completely unexpected ending, that stayed with me a long time after finishing the book. As I stated earlier, I would really love to see Delaney develop further. I hope that Megan Miranda may write a sequel *crosses fingers*

9 comments:

  1. I bought this one last month, I cannot wait to read it now :)

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  2. It's amazing, isn't it? :) I loved this book. I was hoping for a sequel as well but Megan said there won't be one. :( Although I kind of agree with it - the story is pretty much finished. Too bad! But I'm definitely looking forward to reading her next book :)

    Great review!

    Vicky
    Books, Biscuits, and Tea

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  3. Great review, I'm really looking forward to reading this one, thank you!

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  4. Great review but I didn't like this one near as much as you did. I did like the more contemporary issues, the grief, the difficult in dealing with loss but I found some of the paranormal aspects lacking a little bit.

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  5. I really enjoyed this one, thought it was a great book but didn't like her mother or Troy x

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  6. I really need to get round to this one. Great review Emma :D

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  7. I liked this one but I couldn't love it because of Troy and her mother. They really annoyed me! Great review :)

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  8. God I hope there's a sequel! I was in love with this book the second I picked it up. I'm hoping that Megan Miranda could possibly find a creative way to branch off this book. Not to mention, I would love to read more of Delaney and Decker's relationship, It's addictive<3

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    Replies
    1. I feel the exact same... I also think Megan could do some really cool things in the next book about Delaney and her mom's relationship. There is definitely an unfinished story of Delaney's mom and her weird behavior that could be elaborated on! Crossing my fingers:)

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