Fracture by Megan Miranda

Delaney had been underwater for eleven minutes before her best friend Decker pulled her out. She was trapped in icy waters under a partly frozen lake in Maine for an entire eleven minutes. Her heart had stopped beating. Her brain had stopped functioning. She should have died—but somehow she didn’t. Against all odds and despite the scans showing brain damage, Delaney is alive. But she isn’t completely well. She finds herself waking in the middle of the night with a strange itching sensation from within her body and hands that won’t stop shaking. She finds herself pulled in strange directions which all seem to lead to people dying. Delaney’s terrified that something is seriously wrong with her, but she doesn’t know who to turn to; her parents don’t know how to deal with her anymore, and her relationship with Decker isn’t the same. But then she meets Troy, and he seems to know exactly what she’s going through. Like her, he’s drawn to people who are dying. But what is this strange ability? Is it a curse, or a gift? And what are they supposed to do with it?

Fracture is a book with a fascinating concept but a story that is not quite as spectacular to accompany it. Miranda has created such an unusual premise of a girl who, for all intents and purposes, was and should still be dead, but isn’t. I was intrigued by Delaney’s unusual situation, especially as it became apparent that it was connected to something greater and possibly more sinister—the deaths of others. However, I was much less impressed by how these ideas manifested in the story. The reasons for, precise nature of, and implications of Delaney’s strange ability are never really explained, even though this ability is very central to the novel as a whole. The focus, instead, seems to be on Delaney’s evolving relationships with her family, friends, and new acquaintances. This would be fine if it was well done, but Delaney’s tendency towards melodrama in describing how she’s been wronged became rather irritating. I was also disappointed with the ending, which didn’t leave much sense of accomplishment or conclusion. Though Fracture certainly has a unique premise, the poor execution of its story made reading it less enjoyable than it could have been.

Fracture will still be enjoyed by fans of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin, Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma, and Frost by Marianna Baer.

Rating: 3.5

Review copy from NetGalley