Hysteria by Megan Miranda

 

Pages - 272

Published by Bloomsbury Books in February 2013

Goodreads Summary

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?

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It is so lovely to see how a writer progresses on their journey from debut to established author. None are more obvious and pleasing that reading Megan Miranda’s second book Hysteria. As much as I enjoyed her first book Fracture, I really feel this is so much stronger both within the writing and the plot. The plot is fast paced and thrilling. Plenty of page turning moments as I became desperate to find out what really happened. The truth is kept extremely well hidden until the final chapters.

This book deals with strong themes of loyalty and friendship. Mallory and Colleen have one of the strongest friendships I have ever seen in a novel and believe me; the author really puts their loyalties to the test. Nothing can break these two up and it was extremely wonderful to read that. High school friendships can be so fragile, just a whiff of a rumour or a hasty spoken word of jealousy and the bond often comes crumbling down, but with these two even murder can’t break them apart. Nor can Mallory’s enforced stay in a boarding school. I bonded with these two immediately, their ‘us against the world’ mentality appealed to me. I found myself sticking my fingers in my ears, not wanting to listen to the rumours that spread concerning the murder of Mallory’s boyfriend. There is a mean streak among many of the secondary characters. Jason has a touch of cruel intentions about him and Krista could give the mean girls a run for their money.  The nasty lengths they all go to in order to get what they want leads to horrific events.

I do like a book that teaches me something new and this one most definitely ticked that box. I learnt more about hysteria and the effects it can have on the body. Memory loss and memory blockages due to extreme stress play a major part in the plot in this book. Mallory has hidden from her thoughts what really happened because it is all too tragic to remember, but you find that memory issues occur throughout the book dealing with different characters who have suffered too.

I was impressed with how the author got around the instant love craze that has besieged the YA market. Within this book, Mallory has known Reid since she was a child. Their parents were close and she had spent time during her childhood with him which made it easier for them to become close quickly.

This is an excellent thriller which reminded me of Michelle Jaffe’s style of writing.  I really enjoyed this book and I look forward to the next thriller from this author. She has obviously found her niche and she creating some spectacular stories to fill it with.