Book Review: Hysteria by Megan Miranda

Title: Hysteria

Author: Megan Miranda

# Of Pages: 336

Publisher: Walker Children’s

Publication Date: February 5, 2013

Source: NetGalley

Level: Young Adult

Rating: 5 Hearts

Synopsis

(From Goodreads)

Mallory's life is falling apart. Her boyfriend was stabbed. He bled to death in her kitchen. Mallory was the one who stabbed him. But she can't remember what happened that night. She only remembers the fear . . .

When Mallory's parents send her away to a boarding school, she thinks she can escape the gossip and the threats. But someone, or something, has followed her. There's the hand that touches her shoulder when she's drifting off to sleep. A voice whispering her name. And everyone knows what happened. So when a pupil is found dead, Mallory's name is on their lips. Her past can be forgotten but it's never gone. Can Mallory live with that?

My Verdict

Fracture, Megan’s Miranda’s first book was one of my favorite reads of 2012. Needless to say I was pretty flipping excited to get my hands on a copy of Hysteria before it’s release thanks to NetGalley! I know one thing for sure, Megan definitely knows how to write a psychological thriller!

I recommend setting aside a large chunk of time to read this book because once you start you’re not gonna want to stop. The book pulls you in from the very first chapter and never lets you go. Every moment I wasn’t reading this book I was thinking about it. All morning at work I thought about what had happened, what was going to happen, and wishing I was reading at that moment.

At first I didn’t think it was really all that suspenseful, but don’t worry, it gets there! Boy does it get there. I had so many scenerios swirling around in my head as I tried to put all the missing pieces together.

I think I’ve said before how much I love books that are set at boarding schools, they just hold so much potential. This one takes place at Monroe Prep, a boarding school set in the New Hampshire wilderness. I liked the setting, thinking back there wasn’t anything special about it but it fit the story perfectly, which is all that really matters.

A quick peek at the characters and relationships:

• Mallory was a likable main character, you sympathized with her from the very beginning and wanted to see her happy.

• Colleen, Mallory’s best friend, there was just something about her I didn’t like. There relationship was a little weird at times but okay for the most part.

• Time to talk about the love interest. Sigh…. Reid is officially one of my favorite book boyfriends of all time. He is so sweet, caring, protective, genuine, and trusting you couldn’t help but fall in love with him! 

As for objectionable content there was a decent number of F words used throughout the book. For some reason they surprised me every time. Something about the way they were used just didn’t seem to fit the characters or situation.

Overall, this was a heart-pounding, mind-twisting book that I thoroughly enjoyed!