Fracture
Author: Megan Miranda
Publication Date: January 17th, 2012
Publisher: The Walker Childrens
Genre: YA/Paranormal/Romance
Synopsis:
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. 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?
My Thoughts: I really wanted to read this book since the moment I discovered it on goodreads shortly after it's release. It did not fail to please!
This is the kind of story where I really can't talk much about the story line at all, I don't want to give anything away. I went into this story with a rough idea of what I thought would take place, and I was completely, and pleasantly, surprised instead. The story carries some great unexpected details that I would hate to spoil, it is much more fun to discover them on your own. I will, however, say that I really enjoyed Megan Miranda's writing style. Everything was pretty to the point, like every line spoken, and every event had a direct relation to the story line. I find a lot of stories carry lots of filler, meaningless dialogue or unimportant events, this story has none of that. Everything that happens, happens for a reason, it's 100% great story line.
The story is told by Delaney, the main character, and may I just say that I really love her name! In fact I found that the 3 most important characters in the story had pleasantly unique names, them being Delaney, Decker, and Troy. Decker is Delaney's best friend since childhood, they've done everything together, he is also the one who pulled her out of the lake and saved her life. Upon almost losing her, Decker realizes just how important she is, and what his feelings toward her really are, and in comes our love story, or in this case, more like a love battle, but again I won't splurge details, you will have to read for yourself to see what I mean. Troy, is a very mysterious, seriously creepy, guy that shares Delaney's near death experience, and also shares the same results. That being that they are literally pulled towards death, they can feel when people are going to die. Things are a roller coaster with Troy, at first Delaney is pretty pleased to find someone she can talk to about this un-explainable craziness, of course she has told no one about what is happening to her. But after some time, she discovers that they don't really see their abilities in the same light...
I think that Megan Miranda did a great job personifying a teenager, Delaney, in this story. Her thoughts, and outlook, and mannerisms, and actions, are all bang on. It doesn't feel forced, she's a very real character is the best word I can find to describe her. As well, Decker was a pretty strong character, I would say I could almost feel his presence, his emotions concerning Delaney or almost a force to be reckoned with, I could feel his energy, like a solid, protective presence, coming off the pages. Then there is Troy, he was a tricky character indeed, at times I couldn't tell if he was the good guy, or the bad guy, someone to be pitied, or just a certifiably crazy person. It all comes together in the end, and we discover what kind of person he really is, but I'm not telling! There were times in the story that I was seriously creeped out, this book definitely has it's eerie moments, and I really enjoyed them!
You hear all the time about people having near death experiences and they come back with this renewed vigor and lust for life, and they perceive everything as just so wonderful. That is definitely not the case for Delaney, it's pretty much a downward spiral for her as soon as she wakes up from her coma. This story is like a great example of, you don't know what you got until it's gone, as Delaney starts to lose everyone and everything that was a big part of her life, and all because of what happened to her. There were times when I'm sure if I was her I would have given up, but she definitely has determination, and strength!
Sometimes when reading a book, I come across a line that really jumps out at me, it's either meaningful or I just really like/ find it well written. And I will sit there and read it a couple times and just think about how awesome it is. I usually write them down and save them. I found one in this book that I thought was just plain great, I'll share it with you as a little excerpt/taste test/sneak peek.
"He dragged me through the house, and I let him, because I wasn't sure who I was scared of most at the moment. The stranger I was learning about to quickly, or the woman I'd known my entire life who was quickly becoming a stranger."
