Fracture [Hardcover]

Megan Miranda (Author)

Book Description

Release date: January 17, 2012

Eleven minutes passed before Delaney Maxwell was pulled from the icy waters of a Maine lake by her best friend Decker Phillips. By then her heart had stopped beating. Her brain had stopped working. She was dead. And yet she somehow defied medical precedent to come back seemingly fine
-despite the scans that showed significant brain damage. Everyone wants Delaney to be all right, but she knows she's far from normal. Pulled by strange sensations she can't control or explain, Delaney finds herself drawn to the dying. Is her altered brain now predicting death, or causing it?


Then Delaney meets Troy Varga, who recently emerged from a coma with similar abilities. At first she's reassured to find someone who understands the strangeness of her new existence, but Delaney soon discovers that Troy's motives aren't quite what she thought. Is their gift a miracle, a freak of nature-or something much more frightening?


For fans of best-sellers like Before I Fall and If I Stay, this is a fascinating and heart-rending story about love and friendship and the fine line between life and death.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Seventeen-year-old Delaney Maxwell has the chance for a do-over. She survived the seemingly unsurvivable—11 minutes beneath water, before being pulled out. But her survival has come with a price: she now has the ability to sense when another person is near death. She is drawn to Troy Varga, another accident survivor, who has her same ability, but while he tries to shorten the suffering of the dying and help them towards death, Delaney is determined to save them. The unique plot would be enough to draw YA readers to Miranda’s first novel, but add multifaceted characters, a true-to-life high-school setting—complete with all the cliques—and the fearful love-hate relationship with Troy, not to mention a love affair between Delaney and the boy who saved her, and the novel has further appeal. Pair this with Cynthia Voigt’s Izzy, Willy-Nilly (2005), Wendelin Van Draanen’s The Running Dream (2011), and Davida Wills Hurwin’s A Time for Dancing (1995) for interesting reads on living life in the midst of death. Grades 8-12. --Frances Bradburn

About the Author

Megan Miranda was a scientist and high school teacher before writing Fracture, which came out of her fascination with scientific mysteries-especially those associated with the brain. Megan has a BS in biology from MIT and spent her post-college years either rocking a lab coat or reading books. She lives near Charlotte, North Carolina, where she volunteers as an MIT Educational Counselor. Fracture is her first novel.www.meganmiranda.com

Product Details

• Age Range: 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Walker Childrens; 1 edition (January 17, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9780802723093
• ISBN-13: 978-0802723093
• ASIN: 0802723098
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (136 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #551,403 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Megan graduated with a degree in Biology from MIT and spent her post-college years working in biotech and, later, teaching high school Science. She now lives in North Carolina with her family. FRACTURE is her first novel.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 44 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Great premise with a disappointing ending January 22, 2012

By Amanda Welling

Format:Hardcover

First Impressions: I was lucky enough to receive Fracture to review and was very happy that I did because I had my eye on it for quite a while. I liked the premise of the story and how the author decided to create a story wrapped around a scientific mystery. It also reminded me a little of Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver, which I really loved. Another nice thing about this book? It is a stand-alone, and I haven't been reading very many of them lately.

First 50 Pages: The book begins with a ton of action that actually really surprised me. I didn't expect that the story would start with Delaney breaking through the ice and spending eleven minutes submerged, and consequently, dying. I knew it was coming from reading the synopsis, but I didn't think it would happen so quickly. There is a lot that goes on just in the first 50 pages of this book, so I was seriously hooked from the start.

Characters & Plot: After Delaney dies and is saved by Decker, her best friend/neighbor, she is taken to the hospital where no one expects her to survive, and if she does, she would be a vegetable. After six days in a coma and despite having serious physical brain injuries, Delaney wakes up and seems perfectly fine.

Now I have to stop and say that this is where my (hopefully would have been) five star review just went downhill with every page. I stopped liking the book about a quarter of the way through, and I literally had to push my way through the rest. I seriously wanted to enjoy this book and I hate, I HATE giving bad reviews. I really do! Especially when I read a book that I have seen nothing but great reviews for. So I want to say, please don't take my word for it. Many other people have loved this book.

I didn't like Delaney. It is hard to love a book when the main character annoys you to the point where you just want to pull all of your hair out. She was a smart girl, which I liked, and she wasn't ashamed of her intelligence. However, she treated her friends horribly, she couldn't make up her mind about which of the three (yes, three) boys she wanted to be with, and she consistently did things in opposition to her previous remarks or actions. For example: At one point in the book, Delaney runs away from Troy in sheer terror of him, yet she is smooching him later on. It drove me bonkers.

Delaney's parents were even worse. They were controlling. They treated Delaney like she was five years old. What 17 year old isn't allowed to use the oven? For real. They had Delaney very sheltered, which showed in her personality and I just couldn't enjoy these characters, not even a little bit.

Now, there are three boys pining for Delaney's attention: Troy, Decker, and Carson. Carson is the boy who gives Delaney her first real kiss and he is a bit of a player. Decker is the boy next door who so obviously loves Delaney and she just doesn't see it. Troy is the stand-out of the bunch. He is just like Delaney. He had major brain damage from a terrible car accident where his entire family was killed except for him. He also has the same mysterious gift/curse that Delaney has. He can tell when someone is about it die.

I didn't really like any of these characters either. Carson was probably the best of the bunch and I do feel really bad for what happens to this character. Decker isn't a bad guy, but he couldn't really make up his mind about what he wanted either. Did he want Delaney or did he want to be with dim-wit Tara? One minute he professes his love to Delaney, but he goes back out with Tara.

As for Troy, he has a lot of potential to be a great character but he never made it that far. I just thought his character was underdeveloped and I wished I had known more about who he was and why he did the things he did.

Final Thoughts: The book ended abruptly and I had a lot of unanswered questions still floating around in my own brain. The ending felt very rushed and it wasn't well done in my opinion. I never found out why Delaney and Troy were the way they were, which was disappointing. Would I give a recommendation to read this book? Honestly, I'm not too sure I would. Based off of my own reading experience alone, I would say no, but SO many people have loved this book, so maybe this one just wasn't for me. If you are interested in reading Fracture, I would suggest looking around at some other reviews before you make the decision to buy it. I do think the author has a lot of potential and I can see her doing very well in the future!

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fracture by Megan Miranda January 23, 2012

By Amber @ Down The Rabbit Hole

Format:Hardcover

It feels premature to say I just read one of my favorite books of 2012 but I'm going to say it anyway. Fracture is every bit the stuff favorites are made of. Every sentence is something I wanted to commit to memory and hold close, the characters all felt so raw and real and the story had me guessing until the last chapter... and speaking of the last chapter, it had me reeling. Beautiful, complex, and raw, Fracture is one debut you won't be forgetting.

There are too few characters that get under your skin and implant themselves into your heart. Delaney Maxwell, "miracle and anomaly", is most certainly one of those girls. From her first chapter, I could tell she was someone I was going to fall in love with and she didn't disappoint. True nerd to the core, she is witty and intelligent without seeming like a know-it-all and her inner turmoil all feels real and valid. The slow measures in which she went insane and then pulled herself out of it is so subtle, it sneaks up on the reader. Being a passenger in her head, we know the reasoning behind her actions and it is all valid. But then the author expertly slips in the reactions of other people and we, as readers, get a rare opportunity to view her as we probably would if we were around her. I loved how real Delaney was, how her actions and reactions and interacts all felt like something a living, breathing person would do.

And you want to talk about solid relationship building? I haven't seen a best friend story told like this since The Body Finder series by Kimberly Derting. Just like Jay and Violent, Delaney and Decker are given the chance to fall in love. Decker is flawed, he makes plenty of mistakes in this novel, but for me, that's what made him human. I'm really tired of guys that are too nice or too rude. Decker was the perfect in between. But the most important part is that he was always there for Delaney, whenever she truly needed him. And Delaney knew she could always call Decker, no matter how angry they were with each other. Watching these two fumble around in the darkness of their own grief, each trying to figure out how to deal with it in their own way and still grow together was addictive, sweet and absolutely wonderful.

The only thing I knew about this novel was that "Decker pulled me out at eleven". I had no idea what to expect for a plot and was pleasantly surprised when what I found was part thriller, part contemporary with just a dash of the unexplainable. Like a runaway freight train, I had no idea where this story was racing to and was shocked when we crashed into the final destination. I literally had no idea where would end up and the ending completely shocked me in all the right ways.

Fracture had me laughing, it had me crying and it had me feverishly marking each page where I'd find even more beautiful revelations, heart-breaking emotions, or pulse pounding scenes. The range of emotions jammed into this relatively small novel is just incredible and the complexity of grief and happiness is remarkable. The author plays with the shadows between miracle and damnation with the mastery of an author with 20 novels under their belt. Yet, this is a debut writer. If this is novel number one, I can't wait to see what Ms. Miranda is going to proved us with next. My only small compliant is with the length. I'd have like to see 50 more pages not because it felt like the novel needed it but because I wasn't ready for Fracture to end. I didn't want to stop hanging out with Decker and Delaney.

Like cracks in the ice, there are a million different ways to express how beautiful and amazing Fracture truly is. But probably the best and most effective way is with the words of the author herself. Fracture is "a miracle, an anomaly". Fracture is "alive".

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars There are better YA books out there April 7, 2012

By Fall Into Books

Format:Hardcover

I really wanted to love this book. The concept was intriguing, and when I saw it in the library, I snatched it up, ran home, and started reading it right away. Unfortunately, that little bit of excitement I had from finding it at the library finally was the only exciting part of this whole experience. The book just fell flat. The plot was flat, the characters were flat, the supposed mystery was flat, the "action" was flat, the "romance" was flat. Flat, flat, flat. *yawn*

My first problem with this novel is that every character was a self-centered, stupid jerk. Decker was the worst friend ever. I wouldn't have been friends with him. But Delaney was a pushover, so that was fine. And Delaney, who was supposed to be sooo smart, if a little fat (which apparently made her hot, according to her... though she complained about it all the time but refused to work out - basically doing as much damage as an anorexic character would because not being active at all is unhealthy, too), keeps doing stupid, bratty things. She storms off in the middle of a freezing cold forest after drowning and almost freezing to death, for instance. She's just stupid. Carson is a manwhore, but that's okay and everyone loves him. However, Delaney judges Tara constantly because she's a whore. Sexual double-standard much? I mean sure, she's probably just jealous, but still. Very catty. Troy was also stupid, and I still don't know what his issue actually was. Anyway, moving on.

The pacing was slow-as-molasses, and the supposed suspenseful parts weren't at all suspenseful. There really was no big mystery, and for such a unique idea, the plot was extremely predictable. The romances were all annoying, and of course, motivated by self-centered reasons. Needless to say, this was not a feelgood book. I spent most of the novel hating everyone and being bored. I asked myself on more than one occasion if it was over yet. Turns out it wasn't. Also, the ending didn't answer any questions really. I mean sure, one thing happened, but it didn't answer a question. It was just an action that had occurred several times before and led to various forms of disaster. So what would happen this time? Well, no one knows. A few things were tied up, but at the end I was left with two feelings: "This is very ambiguous" and "so what? This book did not speak to me at all."

All of that being said, Miranda's writing was fairly good and the idea itself was a unique and interesting one. I just feel that it wasn't executed as well as it could have been. I will try another one of Miranda's books because I feel that she does have talent. It just wasn't fully utilized in this book, I think. I'm sure some people will love this book, and it didn't have a lot of the annoying YA trends like insta-love or superhero vampires. It just didn't work for me. I'd say check this one out from the library before buying it.