Book Review: Fracture by Megan Miranda

SUMMARY: 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.


OPINION: 5 STARS

Fracture is one of those books that is, for the most part, a contemporary, yet it has that one thing that seems not quite right, that element that is hinting at something supernatural, and Miranda weaves it together beautifully. I picked this book up, intending to read just a chapter, and ended up reading it straight through. Intense, and gutting and real and engaging, I felt emotionally wrought by the time I was done. This is a book that stuck with me for days after I finish, and even now, still gets to me.

Delaney is an interesting character, a bit of a mess, sometimes a little selfish, but mostly just a girl who's stuck in a unique situation with not a lot of people to turn to for help. Pained over the growing distance between herself and her best friend, Decker, and desperate for answers, Delaney's story is an emotional, intense, yet hopeful one. Her entire characterization is fantastically done, having moments where she lets the world crap on her but then standing up for herself and others in more important moments. Intelligent, perceptive, and resourceful, Delaney is a well rounded, well built character and a girl to root for.

Then there's Decker, a boy that's left me with mixed feelings. Definitely someone who makes mistakes, and does a few things that make it hard not to hold a grudge, there is still an underlying desperation, pain and want within him that is palpable and beautifully woven in. Playing his own large role in the plot, and testing Delaney in some ways, Decker is a character to both love and hate, and I enjoyed every single second of it.

I loved the plot and concept of this one, with the way Miranda has twisted the brain science aspect into something just beyond the scope of believability yet plays it in as though it really could happen. Steeped in realism, this book is heavily emotional, focused very much on Delaney yet pulling in some other elements to push things forward as well. Steadily paced, with a lot that happens in not so many pages, and having some shocking twists and painful turns, Fracture is impossible to put down once you start. With subtle brilliance in it, a great scientific side that is tweaked to hint at realism while still being something new and specific to this book, and absolutely stunning characterization, Fracture is a striking debut.

Details:

Source: ARC received at ALA

Reading level: Ages 12 and up 

Hardcover: 272 pages

Publisher: Walker Childrens

Publication Date: January 17, 2012