Shiirleyy's Bookshelf has migrated to Dear Shirley ! I will continue to post book reviews but there will also be a lot of personal and travel-related posts :)

Book Review: Fracture by Megan Miranda

29 Jan 2012

Title: Fracture
Author: Megan Miranda 
Publisher: Bloomsbury Australia
Release Date: January 17th, 2012
Format: Paperback 
Source: Publisher for review (Thank you!)


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

—despite the scans that showed significant brain damage. 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?

For fans of best-sellers like Before I Fall and If I Stay, this is a fascinating and heart-rending story about love and friendship and the fine line between life and death.

Thought-provoking and emotional, you'll be swept away with Megan Miranda's raw and gripping debut. Definitely an author to look out for in the future!

I was really cautious upon starting Fracture, since I knew there would be a love triangle, and being the sort of person who absolutely despises unnecessary love triangles, I even put off reading it for a while. But after acutally reading it first-hand, I realised it was far from what I expected. And in a good way too. The "love triangle" in Fracture, is far from the usual angsty, nonsensical extravaganza that causes a perfectly well-written book to become an utter disappointment to me. Fracture was different, however. Everything that usually would've annoyed me - say, misunderstandings between two people, that leads to this whole pointless drama-completely flew out the window when I read this, and even I can't believe how much I enjoyed it.

Oh, Decker! How I wish he existed in real life. I usually don't like two best friends falling for each other (I just think a guy and girl should be able to remain friends without having any romantic feelings develop between the two) , but that thought disappeared gradually as I read on. Decker's exactly the kind of considerate and  protective guy any girl would want by her side.
'"And I lost it. I slept at the hospital.Actually, I didn't sleep at all. I couldn't eat. I just waited. And I made all kinds of bargains with God. Anyone but you.Anyone at all." His voice dropped to a whisper. "Everyone but you." '

 That quote instantly shattered my heart. Delaney is truly lucky to have Decker by her side.

As for Troy...I'm still confused about how I feel about him. From the very first time I met him, it was quite obvious there was something...not right. As I read on, it became increasingly obvious that Troy was messed up, both mentally and emotionally . Yet his actions weren't entirely uncalled for. I mean, we all know it's wrong  to end someone's life, but what if that person would die in a matter of days, or hours and they're actually suffering during their last few hours alive? Would you watch them suffer, feeding them pills to prolong their life, but really only prolonging their suffering? Or would you send them off, to stop their suffering? At times I definitely sympathised with Troy, and as much as I thought him as messed up, even delusional at times, there's no doubt his intentions were good, although his actions may be unforgivable.

Now my mind's whirling with unanswerable questions, and I have no idea whether it's a good or bad thing. What would I do if I only had one day to live? What makes a person human? Do miracles exist? And of course, how can someone, trapped for 11 minutes under in a frozen lake actually survive, especially since she had already died? Not exactly questions I can answer right away, but these are definitely questions that will haunt me for a long time after finishing Fracture.

If you love a good thought-provoking novel, that leaves you in a huge mess wondering what you would do had you been in that situation, then Fracture is the perfect book for you! Beautifully written, suspenseful and truly enlightening, Fracture completely blew me away. Highly recommended for everyone!


12 comments:

  1. I got this one for review as well so I can't wait to see what I think of it! I am really interested in the love triangle. Last few books I read didn't quite have love triangle :P Awesome review, Shirley! So glad you enjoyed it! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I should have requested this one on netgalley when I had the chance because it sounds TOO good to pass up now that I've read your review! I've actually heard mixed things about Troy but I think I'd like him since I'm always one for the creepy guys :> Anyway, really glad you liked it! Seriously, I need this like, NOW but they don't have it in NZ yet D:

    ReplyDelete
  3. YAYYY!!! Then you'll be reading it soon, yeah? Lol it's not much of a love triangle...that's why I liked it! Haha, really? You should totally recommend those non-love triangle books to me! Thanks Celine :D

    ReplyDelete
  4. EXACTLY THIS, Shirley! You mirror my thoughts so much on this book, especially with Troy. He definitely provided a lot of conflict on my poor heart. But Decker, oh DECKER!! I ao adored him!! Megan explored his relationship with Delaney superbly. I really loved this and so glad you did too! It definitely left me with a lot of questions afterward. Amazing review!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sam @ Realm of Fiction7 September 2012 at 19:03

    Great review, Shirley! I'm glad you were able to like this. I have spoken to quite a few people now who had mixed feelings towards this book so I'm still unsure if I will love it or hate it. :P Hopefully I will enjoy it, too! :)

    Sam @ Realm of Ficton

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow, it was up on netgalley? Awwww...don't worry, it'll be out soon! ( hopefully in NZ too!) Troy was...creepy but he was definitely a fantastic character! LOL Yeahh if you like creepy guys, then you'll probably like Troy as well :D Hope you get a copy soon <3

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank you Sam! I've read mixed reviews about this as well which was why I was so cautious when I started reading it. But I ended up really enjoying it :D Hope you'll enjoy this too <3

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh, TROY & DECKER <3 Such fabulous characters! Damn! I wanted MORE of DELANEY & DECKER! For once I like a romantic relationship between two best friends, and I don't get more of them :( Eeeeee! So happy you enjoyed this as well :D

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh my gosh, that quote! I'm in love already! This is one of those books that I really wasn't planning on ever reading ... until I read all the reviews! Now I can't wait. Great review!
    Book Light Graveyard

    ReplyDelete
  10. YAY!! Another awesome review for this one -- it just makes me even more excited to read this! LOL you're so right about love triangles being very trendy now to the point where, unless it's done perfectly, it can be kind of frown-worthy. But I'm glad that you really liked this book despite that! Decker sounds SO sweet, and I'm kind of intrigued about delusional-boy Troy! ;)

    Amazing review, Shirley! :) I don't know why I keep putting this book off -- if you loved it, I hope I will too! <3

    ReplyDelete
  11. I'm so glad to find another great review about this book! I can't wait to read this book after reading your fantastic review! Thanks for the review, I hope I will enjoy this book as well! :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. I'm happy to see you liked this one so much--I really want to read it, even though I've seen some mixed reviews, too. Hopefully I'll end up agreeing with you!

    Bookish Valentine Gift Ideas at The Midnight Garden

    ReplyDelete

Hey there,
Thank you so much for stopping by my blog :) Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment section; I appreciate all comments left here!
If you have a blog, I'll be sure to visit it and comment back(I love finding new blogs so feel free to leave a link!)
Thank you & have a nice day