Book Review: Fracture

Media Type: Ebook (ARC)
Title: Fracture
Author: Megan Miranda
Publisher: Walker & Company
Pages: Hardcover; 264
Release Date: January 27, 2012
Source: NetGalley
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Intended Reading Group: Young Adult
Content Screening: Mild Language
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HDB Rating: 4 Keys to My Heart
Recommended to: Readers who are looking for something a bit different.

Add it on: Goodreads / Shelfari / Amazon / B&N

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?

What impressed me most about Fracture, right off the bat, was the attention to detail. The way that Megan Miranda portrays Delaney’s struggle to fit back into her old existence is done beautifully. I didn’t expect Delaney to be able to just merrily skip back into her own life, and I was happy to see that wasn’t the case. She is hurting, she is lost, and she feels the difference in the way people treat her now that she is a “miracle”. For Delaney, it isn’t just the unknown of the ability that she’s been given. It’s much more than that. All she wants is normalcy. The life that she once had. In Delaney’s case, she now knows that ignorance is in fact bliss.

The story takes off at a speedy pace from the time Delaney awakens, and the reader is treated to some very interesting character interactions. Delaney has to put her life back together with Decker, her best friend. She has to figure out how to fit back into her life with her parents who treat her like something breakable. Worse yet, this new ability has attracted a dark and sinister boy named Troy. Watching her navigate the twists and turns that this new lifestyle throws at her made Fracture a lot of fun to read. Questions about euthanasia, and life choices also show up here and really make you think.

As much as I loved the writing though, what fell short for me was Delaney’s character. I didn’t love her, or hate her, but rather felt kind of blandly about her whole persona. There were times in the story where she was extremely over dramatic. Then others where it almost felt like she was bordering on manic. Let’s be honest, Delaney has been through one hell of an experience. I can give her a lot of wiggle room mentally for that. Even still, her personality bordered on whiny and hypocritical a lot, which was tough for me to read. I loved her story, I just didn’t particularly love her.

I can honestly say that, as a whole, Fracture is a very well written and intriguing story. I know without a doubt that there are tons of readers out there who will wholeheartedly love Delaney’s character, and that is why I still 100% recommend this book! I am but one reader in a sea of many. If you read Fracture for no other reason, read it for the fact that it blends two very different story types into one amazing book. Delaney’s story isn’t the happiest one, but it is well worth your time.

FTC Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. I was not monetarily compensated for my opinion.