Hysteria by Megan Miranda

About the book

Hysteria is Megan Miranda’s second novel. It is published by Bloomsbury on 14^th February 2013 and the book is 352 pages long. Thanks to the publisher for providing me with an e-book through Net Galley.

Synopsis (Taken from Goodreads.com)

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?

What I thought

Megan Miranda’s first book, Fracture was a fantastic read and something which was quite different to other YA books. Because of how much I liked Fracture, I was desperate to read Hysteria, her second offering. The synopsis sounds exciting and very strange, which made me want to read it more.

Main character Mallory killed her boyfriend, apparently in self-defence although she doesn’t exactly remember what happened that night. All she can remember about is how much blood there was. With her story being believed by the police, Mallory is allowed to get on with her life although she is having problems concentrating. As she is struggling, her parents send her off to the boarding school that her dad also attended. She doesn’t want to go, leaving her best friend but she doesn’t have much choice.

The beginning of the book was very hard hitting, not wasting any time getting into the plot and telling us that Mallory had killed her boyfriend. I liked this that was revealed almost immediately even though not all of the details are given. This creates an instant sense of intrigue and mystery and it made me want to know more. Also, Mallory seemed like quite a nice girl so it really made me question whether or not she really had it in her to kill someone – especially her boyfriend.

As the story gets going, and Mallory moves off to her new school, little snippets of what happened that night are revealed. Mallory is hearing things, which she has ever since that night, and at times, it makes her think back and slowly remember what actually happened. Finding out the truth takes near enough the whole book but I really enjoyed this. I liked only getting tiny bits of information because it made me more and more desperate to find out what she did and why.

Normally I hate a boarding school setting but this one was different. Mallory is moved there for very good reasons and I do think she needed time away from everything that happened. The school gives Mallory chance to also meet new people who both help and hinder her in trying to forget about killing her boyfriend. I really enjoyed the mix of characters at the school because there was a good mix of good and bad. Reid was by far my favourite though even if at times it did seem as though he was thrown in just to be the love interest. It was also interesting to see Mallory have to interact with people she didn’t want to be around as it showed all sides of her.

The plot was just as exciting and mysterious as the synopsis makes it sound. Megan Miranda has a brilliant way of making her readers want more, making each chapter more gripping than the next and keeping many questions left open until the very last pages. Getting to the end of the book, I couldn’t read quick enough to find out what was going on but it was a massive shock to me!

Even though I loved Fracture, her first book, I think Miranda has done even better this time.

Hysteria was a book I just could not put down. Miranda’s words are addictive her story even more so!