Fracture

by MS Megan Miranda

[jnikkir]

4.5 stars

I devoured this book in a single day... and now I wish that I had made it last longer. The sequel's release date of Winter 2014 is just--I can't even fathom that much waiting at this point.

Anyway, on to my actual thoughts about the book... which I loved.

One of the best things about this story is that all of its elements -- paranormal, some romance, and a little bit of medical thriller -- blend together seamlessly. The paranormal stuff isn't overdone, the medical issues are extremely thought-provoking, and (disregarding the love-triangle which I have a bit of a problem with) the relationship and budding romance between the two main characters is really refreshing and extremely sweet.

Delaney and Decker are fantastic: completely realistic and never stilted, which is one of my main issues with a lot of YA stuff lately. Megan Miranda's teens act like teens -- and as another reviewer noticed, too, the parents actually act like parents. Shocker!

I was also pleasantly surprised by Miranda's writing style -- smooth, perfectly paced for the amount of story there was to tell, and actually really beautiful in parts. I don't usually expect that from this type of book, but there it was, and I was glad to find it.

I feel like I have to mention, though--the only thing I did not enjoy about the book (and the reason for the -0.5 stars) is Troy. I guess I didn't find him as likable as a lot of people did, even before it was revealed that he was actually killing the people whose imminent deaths he sensed. To me, the only thing that felt forced was that Delaney had to keep associating with him even when she knew that he'd tried to kill her, and that he was killing/had killed other people, too. Yeah, she had to keep running into him because of the plot, but I thought she was way too accepting of his actions, and too willing to be around him despite them. I guess I felt like the necessity of Troy's presence to the plot messed with Delaney's otherwise great and very relatable character, and forced her character into situations that just weren't smart (even though she was portrayed as otherwise very intelligent). So that did bother me a little.

But overall, that is a tiny complaint in the grand scheme of this book. It's a really great blend of realistic and engaging characters, a refreshing writing style, and a lot of thoughtfulness on the issues presented. Definitely a 2012 favorite.