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Book Review: Hysteria – Megan Miranda

Hysteria
Author: Megan Miranda
Series: None
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Mystery, Horror
Publisher: Walker Childrens
My Rating:

Summary:

Everyone knows that Mallory killed her boyfriend, Brian.
They even know it was self-defense.
But no one knows what really happened, including Mallory. Her parents’ fear – and the community’s curiosity and contempt – beat at her incessantly, constant companions to her own anxiety.
Hoping to give her a fresh start, Mallory’s parents ship her off to Monroe, a fancy prep school where secrets are the currency fueling social interactions. And it’s not long before Mallory’s secret is uncovered and used against her. Someone knows exactly what happened between Mallory and Brian – someone who wants her dead. Until she remembers the details of that tragic night, Mallory, and everyone around her, is in grave danger…
Following her highly celebrated debut novel, Fracture, Megan Miranda has penned another gripping psychological thriller that will keep readers entangled between reality and paranoia.

 
First Sentence: My mother hid the knife block.

My Review:

I enjoyed reading Megan Miranda’s debut novel, Fracture, mainly due to Delaney and Decker’s strong bond. Their bond was sweet, loving, and you could easily see how much they cared about one anther. When I heard that Megan Miranda was writing another book, Hysteria, I was beyond excited to get my hands on it. The synopsis reminded me a bit of I Know What You Did Last Summer by Lois Duncan, but I figured out that Megan Miranda might do something unique to it – maybe a special plot twist – and easily pull it off. I was dead wrong. Hysteria is in a completely different league from Fracture – it was boring, lacked any kind of emotional value, and was desperately lacking suspense and most importantly, horror.

I couldn’t connect with any of the characters. Most of the characters were superficial and two-dimensional characters with the exception of Mallory, Colleen, and Reid. I could easily describe all the characters using a single word: evil, popular, or weak. Since I didn’t connect with any of the characters, that caused Fracture to also lack any sort of emotional value for me. When Mallory nearly dies, who cares? When one of them were hurt, who cares?

I absolutely, completely, 100% hated Mallory with a passion. Now the reason why I hate Mallory might be a minor spoiler, but you’ll find out about this in the first 5% of the book anyway, so I’m going to go ahead and explain why I hate her. So Mallory likes this guy. He already has a girlfriend, but likes Mallory back. He doesn’t break up with his girlfriend, so she decided to go after his older brother. Then, yes, I’m not finished, then she kills this older brother. And oh my goodness, that’s not all! Two months later, she re-meets her childhood crush and instead of thinking I already killed my boyfriend, I should stay away from this guy or who else knows what would happen?, Mallory basically drools over her childhood crush, thinking how hot he’s grown and if they would have any chance together. (Just so you know, I also skipped a major part of her “romance” because you won’t find out about this until 75% of the book. But just so you know, the part I forced myself to not tell you about drove me nuts.) Please Mallory, calm down. I can smell your hormones from a mile away. Not to mention, you should see all the rants I had about her in my notebook.

Mallory also might seriously be a psychopath. She has this obsession with knives (as demonstrated by the first sentence) and after another terribly tragic event happened to her, the very next day Mallory was making out with a new guy in public. I wanted to high-five Mallory’s mother when her mother basically yelled at Mallory asking if something was deeply wrong with her. I agree Mallory’s mother, something definitely is wrong with Mallory.

The whole mystery and horror component of Hysteria is namely non-existent. Why? Well, there are two reasons: the writing was bland and you couldn’t connect with any of the characters. Well, maybe except for Mallory’s mother since she was the only sane one in the entire book. It’s hard to feel scared for any of the characters when you didn’t connect with them and maybe (okay, definitely) hate them.

Last, but not least, Hysteria left me with a major plot hole.

However, there is only one good thing about Hysteria as a fellow blogger pointed out, Hysteria made me absolutely hysterical over the book. I can’t stand Mallory.

Overall, bottom line, skip this book. It would drive you absolutely crazy with hate and boredom. Hysteria will make you rant, pull out your hair, and make you want to throw the book against the wall in frustration. Next time I’m reading a book Megan Miranda wrote, I’m going to be very, very careful.

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-Kelly

Posted by Kelly on 3-01-13 · 14 Comments
Categories: 2013 book, book review Tagged: 2 star

« Monthly Wrap Up: February 2013
Stacking the Shelves [22] »

Speak Your Mind

  1. Kimberly Vincent says

    3-01-13 at 3:14 PM

    connecting with the characters in a book really makes or breaks a book for me. If I can connect with the characters then I will most likely love the book, but If I can’t connect with the characters I will most likely hate the book.
    Great review, and I will not be reading this book.

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      7-25-13 at 6:31 PM

      Agreed. You pretty much summed it up.
      Thank you! (:
      And yeah, skip this book.
      Kelly recently posted…Top Ten Favorite Beginnings/Endings In BooksMy Profile

      Reply
  2. Nicole says

    3-02-13 at 1:00 AM

    Ashley my co-blogger had a similar not-great experience with this book. It’s such a shame. By your description of Mallory I can’t imagine myself feeling any different than you do. I’m not even going to bother with this one anymore. Thanks for the honest review!

    Nicole @ The Quiet Concert

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      7-25-13 at 6:35 PM

      I’m glad that I’m not the only one who feels this way about the book. I wish I could have enjoyed it more. :l
      No problem! ;D
      Kelly recently posted…Top Ten Favorite Beginnings/Endings In BooksMy Profile

      Reply
  3. Kenia says

    6-01-13 at 11:03 PM

    Because of the rating I think about reading this one, even if I kind of love the cover.

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      6-03-13 at 4:37 PM

      Yeah, the cover is cute, but the inside of the book is not. D:
      Kelly recently posted…Some BEA Tips & Hints I Wish I Knew BeforehandMy Profile

      Reply
  4. Maida @ Literary Love Affair says

    7-18-13 at 11:28 PM

    That is such a bummer for this! I was actually looking forward to reading this. I was intrigued, and now I am disappointed. And I really understand about not liking a book if you can’t connect with any of the characters.

    Thanks for the honest review!

    ~ Maida
    Literary Love Affair 
    Maida @ Literary Love Affair recently posted…Waiting on Wednesday (32)My Profile

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      7-20-13 at 12:55 PM

      Yeah, I was also really looking forward to reading Hysteria, but boy, was it a disaster.
      Kelly recently posted…Stacking the Shelves [42]My Profile

      Reply
  5. nurmawati djuhawan says

    7-25-13 at 4:03 AM

    sounds a great book…i already put on my tablet to read..
    thx u for the review :)

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      7-25-13 at 6:36 PM

      I hope you’ll like it Nurmawati!
      Kelly recently posted…Top Ten Favorite Beginnings/Endings In BooksMy Profile

      Reply
  6. Susan T. says

    9-22-13 at 4:08 PM

    It seems that people either love or hate this book! It’s too bad that the mystery and horror aspects aren’t developed better since that would be the draw for me. I might give it a go anyway!

    Reply
    • Kelly says

      9-22-13 at 4:35 PM

      I hope you’ll like this one better than I do Susan! At least you don’t go into the book with high expectations. :P
      Kelly recently posted…Banned Books Week Giveaway HopMy Profile

      Reply
  7. Vivien says

    1-01-14 at 12:30 PM

    I did end up enjoying this one, so it’s a bummer to hear it didn’t work for you. I’ve heard that people tend to struggle with this author. Hopefully the next book will do you better :)

    Reply
  8. Cali W. says

    1-04-14 at 3:05 PM

    Great review! I didn’t really enjoy this book either. Mallory creeped me out as well (with the knifes etc.)

    Reply

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