In another riveting tale of life and death, Megan Miranda's masterful storytelling brings readers along for a ride to the edge of sanity and back again. (From Goodreads)
This is Megan Miranda's sophomore novel, but it's the first of hers I've read. And as soon as I have a moment, I'll go back and read Fracture because I'm so impresed with her writing. This book was intense and riveting. Maybe I've watched a little too much SVU lately, but it seems like this situation is one that probably happens too often, but is never really talked about. Mallory kills her boyfriend in self defense and then has to deal with the aftermath of that moment of high pressure and snap decisions. She was scared, she reacted, and now she's living with the consequences.
The reality line is so blurred in this novel because Mallory can't remember certain parts of that night and then she's haunted by his death. She hears things and feels things - she wakes up repeatedly with hand-marked bruises on her shoulder. I was never really sure if something paranormal was happening or if it was all in her head. It was actually quite terrifying and there are some great almost-gothic scenes in this novel that I wasn't really expecting.
The best part of this book is the way the past - the leading up to an actual moment where she kills her boyfriend - is weaved in with the present tense. There's this dual intensity happening because her life is at stake in the present and her life is at stake in the past. We know right away that she kills Brian, but we don't know the why or what actually happened until the last few pages of the book. Generally when a book switches from past to present, I tend to like one narrative line more - generally the present tense - and I'll kind of dread the points where a book takes me out of a story to give me backstory, but this book does it so well. I loved both story lines and I'd get excited when she'd tell more about what happened that night or how her relationship with Brian progressed.
Even more than the terror and the killing, this book is kind of really about mending relationships and moving on. Naturally, after she kills her boyfriend, her relationships change. People are afraid of her, her mother locks her bedroom door at night, her best friend still loves her but feels abandoned when she goes to boarding school. Then she's in a new setting and still doesn't have a clean slate because there's Reid, a boy she has a history with. They rekindle the spark between them and even though she seems a little crazy and she has a few issues to deal with, there seems to be a strong flame there. But it was the way her relationship with her mother played out that was really amazing. Mallory is hurt because your mother is supposed to love you no matter what, and now her mother doesn't trust her and actually seems to be scared of what she'll do. After a lot of work, on both their parts, they seem to start to mend their relationship a bit and that was really beautiful.
My heart was beating so hard through most of this book, and not just for the scary parts. There are emotional moments that make you love and care for Mallory. I was really in her head and indignant for her when people treated her like she could snap at any minute. I kind of can't believe how much I got into her stories. I can't imagine having to do what she did and then live with myself after that. She's a strong character and whether she admits it or not, she has some awesome people in her corner. I was really impressed with this novel and I can't wait to read more of Megan Miranda's work, because she totally hooked me with this one.
