Fracture by Megan Miranda

Title: Fracture
Author: Megan Miranda
Publisher: Bloomsbury
ISBN: 978-1-4088-1739-1
Pages: 262
Series: N/A
Type: Young Adult Contemporary
Source: ARC Won
Goodreads

Delaney Maxwell falls through the ice of a frozen lake in Maine and though her friend Decker manages to pull her out, she's already been in the freezing water for eleven minutes. When she wakes up in the hospital everyone thinks it is a miracle, but Delaney has come back different. Having survived death she is now drawn to the dying. When Delaney meets Troy Varga who possesses the same abilities she soon begins to wonder if Troy truly is a kindred spirit or something far more sinister all together.

Fracture was not a book I'd even heard of until I won a copy randomly at an event. I sat down today to read a couple of pages and ended up glued to the story. What I expected to be either a thriller or a love story turned out to be both with a huge side of things to think about. Somehow the author has managed to create a young adult book that explores the concepts of live vs death, fate, what it means to truly live and the morals of euthanasia. I love that the book poses the question "If you had one day left to live, what would you do?" because it really makes you think about what your priorities are.

In terms of characters I really liked Delaney and Decker. To me it was obvious from page 6 that Decker was in love with Delaney but I liked that. It meant that as the reader I knew both what Delaney was going through and the issues she was oblivious to.

Troy also wasn't a cookie cutter bad boy - he's written in shades of grey which adds to the morality questions raised by the book. All the major characters in the book are incredibly well-developed and have their own stories to tell which creates an intricate tapestry. Some of Delaney's friends aren't quite as well developed, but this story is about Delaney and those closest to her so it didn't bother me too much.

The romance aspect of the book is beautifully written and manages to avoid the pitfalls of protracted love triangles and insta-love. The entire book is written in gorgeous prose and manages to build tension, pose questions and make me sigh in turn. You are plunged into the action right at the beginning and I'm still thinking about the book even after closing the cover.

All in all, this is an awesome debut that I definitely recommend and I'll be looking for more by this author.

Plot: 10/10
Characters: 9/10
Ending: 9/10
Enjoyment: 10/10
Cover: 9/10

Overall: 47/50