Hysteria by Megan Miranda

Title: Hysteria
Author: Megan Miranda
Publisher: Walker Children's
Release Date:  February 5th 2013 
Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Goodreads

Wow, what a whirlwind of a book! I was very impressed with FRACTURE last year and knew I had to read anything Miranda ever wrote ever. I was really excited when NetGalley gave me access to Hysteria, and even more excited that I couldn’t seem to put it down.

HYSTERIA is about a girl named Mallory who we discover has killed her boyfriend. It’s told alternating in the past and present, so we get glimpses of relationships Mallory had up to the point where she killed her boyfriend. The book’s plot takes off when Mallory is sent to a boarding school where she reunited with Reid (isn’t that such a hot name? Anyway) and is involved around another murder mystery—only this time she knows she didn’t do it.

 One of the things I really enjoyed about HYSTERIA was how Miranda really did give Mallory a sense of “hysteria” throughout the book. Obviously Mallory is still coping with the fact that she killed her boyfriend, and she struggles to not dive off the deep end. I loved the descriptions of the pulsating walls and the fact that she was getting bruises on her shoulder and we had no idea if it was real or not—sort of like BLACK SWAN. However, after a while, I thought these descriptions were a little overkill because, really, I JUST wanted to find out what was happening and why Mallory killed her boyfriend. So pacing toward the middle was a bit lagging for me.

 I had no doubt in my mind that I would love Miranda’s characters. I loved Colleen, Mallory’s BFF, but sometimes I wasn’t sure if I could trust her or not. I also enjoyed swoon-worthy Reid and the relationship Mallory had with her parents. The main characters really stuck out in my mind and I was eager to see how the plot would pan out for them.

[**SPOILER ALERT**] Okay, so one of the only things I had trouble with was after Mallory rescues Colleen, it jumps right into a scene with her parents talking about the dude who wandered into the woods when her dad was a student at the prep school. I was like WTF?! The scene was so randomly placed that I found myself not caring because—hello—I wanted to see if Colleen freaking survived! [**END SPOILER**] 

Overall, I really enjoyed HYSTERIA and will basically read anything Miranda writes because it is seriously that awesome. Her writing is intriguing and brilliant and she knows how to really write a captivating YA book!

You can purchase your own copy of HYSTERIA February 5th, 2013! Just click the links above and GET READING.