Teaser Tuesday: Fracture by Megan Miranda

Title: Fracture
Author: Megan Miranda
Publisher: Walker Children's (January 17, 2012)
Source: ATW ARC Tours

From GoodReads:

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.

Fracture by Megan Miranda was compelling from the very first sentence. The ARC I received came with a note from the editor playfully warning readers that they may want to make sure they have some spare time ahead of them because they won't want to put this book down. I wish I had heeded that warning. Then, maybe I wouldn't have found myself staying up till three in the morning in order to finish.

I seriously couldn't stop reading Fracture. It wasn't the racing pace of an action based novel, like The Hunger Games, or even the high drama and urgency of something like If I Stay. Instead, Fracture had a steady pull throughout the entire story. Think of those heart rate monitors in hospitals. Most books would have a heart rate that is going ballistic. First it's steady, then it goes into shock. Just as it's steadying out again...another heart attack! Fracture's heart rate is much steadier, but it's beating at an elevated rate. The steady pulse of new, captivating information, keeps the reader glued to the page.

I rarely have an opportunity to say this about a book, but I loved ALL of the characters. There was no "bad guy." There were characters that did not act in the most flattering ways (sometimes, even horrific ways), but I could see why they did so, even if I didn't agree with it. This helped me connect to not just Delaney, but to her friends, family, and new people she meets. I couldn't help but feel sympathy for all of them as they dealt with the near death of Delaney, along with the other twists and turns Miranda had to offer.

Throughout the story, I felt as conflicted as Delaney. She didn't always act in ways I'd choose, but I couldn't fault her choices either. The most endearing and frustrating relationship was the one between Delaney and Decker. They both have profound experiences and need to work their way through them. Sometimes, getting what you want is harder than it should be. Life is hard. Miranda gave an extremely realistic look at relationships and how people relate to one another during difficult moments.

For me, reading Fracture was an experience. I got as much psychology and philosophy as I would in a textbook, but through the lends of a beautifully written story. It's a book that'll stay in my mind and my heart. The story is completely timeless. It asks the basic life questions about life and death and what it truly means to live. I imagine Fracture will be a book I'll periodically pick up throughout my life, just to relive the experience and see if my perspective on any of the issues or characters has changed.

Overall, Fracture is touching. It's emotionally and mentally stimulating. It's a book I'd recommend to anyone who likes to read.

Final thoughts:  Buy it. Actually, buy two and give one to a friend.