Megan Miranda
336 pages
Release: February 5, 2013
Publisher: Walker Children's
Source: NetGalley
★★★☆☆
You can read the Goodreads summary here.
Mallory killed her boyfriend Brian, but she's not entirely clear on the why or how, but everyone knows it was self-defense so she isn't charged in his death. Instead, her parents send her away to a private school for a fresh start. Her classmates are suspicious, however. She's ostracized by practically everyone except for Reid, a childhood friend. But her dreams haunt her in a disturbing way and when a student turns up dead... Mallory is once again the spotlight.
That cover. Look! It's what drew me to this novel from the beginning and I couldn't wait to read it. The description made Hysteria sound like a great psychological thriller, and while there was some definite psychology, the thriller aspect was lacking a bit. I wasn't at the edge of my seat, but I was very interested to learn what happened with Mallory when her boyfriend died, and then of course what would happen to Mallory after that fellow student turned up dead.
Mallory can't quite remember what happened that evening with Brian. As the novel goes on, we catch bits of pieces of memories that we as the reader must piece together along with Mallory. I've seen this plot device used before and it's never bothered me, but I found the execution in Hysteria to be a bit disjointed and confusing. I have to admit, I'm still a little puzzled over both murders.
What I did find extremely interesting was the psychological drama Mallory put herself through. Every night she could hear whispers and footsteps. She couldn't help but think Brian's mother was there to get her. Handprints showed up on her skin after she took her sleeping pills, and she never could remember what happened overnight. This part of Hysteria was so engrossing to me! I really wanted Mallory to feel better, because let's face it, she was pretty much a good kid who had to deal with some unfortunate circumstances.
Three stars. Three and a half if I was into half stars. I wanted to love and adore this novel, but the disjointed plot, particularly at the end, left me a little confused and uninterested. However, if you're a fan of psychological YA novels, you really should give this one a try. I wouldn't hesitate to read anything else by Megan Miranda; in fact, Fracture has been on my wish list for quite some time.
thanks for review and I loved the book cover :)
ReplyDeleteI have this on my Nook and will be reading it soon! I also requested this book because of the cover. It's a really great cover! Also I like a pschological thriller every now and then, but I like everything to be fully explained in them, so I hope this doesn't leave me with too many questions!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry this came up a little bit short. I love creepy stories and this may be not the best but I will sill read it. The cover sold it for me. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review. I was iffy on reading this one now I know I should just pass. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI'm a huge fan of psychological thrillers but this one sounds a little too disjointed for me and yours is not the only review that has made that comment. I might check this one out eventually but I won't set my hopes too high. Great review!
ReplyDeleteThanks for review! The thing that drew me to the book was the cover as well! :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the cover, it definitely drew me in. I've been thinking about checking this one out and I think I might pick it up eventually but I'm not going to rush out to buy it.
ReplyDeleteThis does sound like a fantastic premise, the cover is amazing, and I love psychological thrillers. I'm kinda sad you only rated it 3/3.5 stars, because the first half of your review, I was thinking that this was going to turn into one of my favorite books of all time. I do tend to like disjointed books/movies... as long as they're intentionally disjointed. Unintentionally disjointed is bad. I'm not quite sure what it was was from your explanation (a little of both?). Either way, I think I'll check it out anyway.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely give it a read, I think you'll like it!
DeleteI adore psychological YA, so I'll definitely give this a try. I hope I can see past the confusing bits, because those parts often trip me up. It's unfortunate that it wasn't as great as you were hoping, but it sounds like you still liked it :)
ReplyDeleteThe summary reminded me a bit of Mara Dyer at first (which I have not read) and that cover is definitely eye catching! I'm not a huge fan of thrillers but I'll give this a go, thanks for the review!
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