Hysteria

by Megan Miranda

Mallory killed her boyfriend, Brian. She can't remember the details of that night but everyone knows it was self-defense, so she isn't charged. But Mallory still feels Brian's presence in her life. Is it all in her head? Or is it something more? In desperate need of a fresh start, Mallory is sent to Monroe, a fancy prep school where no one knows her . . . or anything about her past. But the feeling follows her, as do her secrets. Then, one of her new classmates turns up dead. As suspicion falls on Mallory, she must find a way to remember the details of both deadly nights so she can prove her innocence-to herself and others. In another riveting tale of life and death, Megan Miranda's masterful storytelling brings readers along for a ride to the edge of sanity and back again.

Genres: Young Adult, Mystery, Thriller, Contemporary, Romance, Mystery Thriller, Fiction

Kindle Edition

First published February 5, 2013

About the author

Megan Miranda is the New York Times bestselling author of All the Missing Girls; The Perfect Stranger; The Last House Guest, which was a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick; The Girl from Widow Hills; Such a Quiet Place; The Last to Vanish; The Only Survivors; and Daughter of Mine. She has also written several books for young adults. She grew up in New Jersey, graduated from MIT, and lives in North Carolina with her husband and two children.

Her next thriller, You Belong Here, will be published on July 29, 2025.

Follow @MeganLMiranda on Instagram, @AuthorMeganMiranda on Facebook, or visit www.meganmiranda.com

Reviews

[Maja (The Nocturnal Library) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t believe I’ve ever seen such an interesting premise so thoroughly destroyed. For the second time (the first being Fracture, of course), Megan Miranda had a fantastic idea and just didn’t follow through. When I requested this book, I was pretty sure I would be getting a psychological thriller of some sort, possibly with paranormal elements. But a thriller should be thrilling, right? Yeah, Hysteria… not so much.

So I let him whisper in my ear and put his hands on my hips. And I listened to him list all the ways in which I was slowly killing him. None of which turned out to be the actual way that I killed him.

Mallory is a murderer. When her boyfriend Brian broke into her house drunk, she stabbed him and left him to die. The court ruled it as self-defense, but Mallory doesn’t really remember much of it, and no one else was there to tell her exactly what happened. Ever since the funeral, which she didn’t attend, Brian’s mother keeps stalking her and her own parents lock their bedroom at night.

Mallory simply has no time to relax. When she’s with other people, she must deal with the looks and whispers. When she’s alone, something is always there, a shadow of some sort that keeps her awake and trembling at night. There are some authors who can create an eerie atmosphere with seeming ease, but Megan Miranda is not one of them. None of the things that were happening to Mallory got to me, nothing touched me at all.

To be quite honest, I don’t even know how to explain this mess. The first few chapters promised an unreliable narrator (my favorite), an eerie atmosphere and a mysterious, unpredictable plot. Sixty pages in, I had an unlikable heroine in a boarding school, completely surrounded by mean girls and with the full attention of a gorgeous boy. This book was a lot of things, but mysterious it wasn’t, and it certainly wasn’t unpredictable.

In the end, killing her boyfriend was the least of Mallory’s problems. She was allowed to attend school just months later, despite obvious psychological trauma. And it wasn't just any school, it was a boarding school, where teenagers sleep around each other. AND she managed to steal a knife. Am I the only one who thinks this isn’t likely AT ALL? Yeah, thought so.

Romance… *sigh*. Romance was my favorite thing about this book, and even that was slightly ridiculous. Mallory and Reid knew each other before she arrived at the boarding school. Their dads were friends, so when Reid’s dad died, Mallory was there at the funeral. She tried to kiss him then, and he stepped away. (Imagine that, he refused to make out on his father’s funeral, the nerve of him!) Two years later, Mallory still resents him for it and refuses to be nice to him. Reid is the most popular boy in school, he knows Mallory just stabbed her boyfriend to death, and still he insists on following her around like a lost puppy.

As a general rule, I try to find something nice to say about each and every book I bother to review, but Megan Miranda didn’t make that job easy at all. The best I can say is that I finished it, which I suppose isn’t much. I strongly recommend that you at least sample this one before buying it.

[Emily May]

Gave up.
Even though I had some problems with Fracture, it was creepy and entertaining, unlike this which was just boring (I read to chapter 5, page 70).
Also, we are introduced immediately to two (I'm assuming, because of the way they are portrayed) potential love interests (good guy she's known forever vs cocky bad boy she's just met). Then, of course, there's the use of bitchy, pretty blonde girl - whose t-shirt is indecently tight - to make our protagonist look better...
Right now I honestly don't care what happened to her boyfriend and who murdered who. Dull and disappointing.

[Katherine · Rating 1 out of 5]

”We stopped checking for monsters under the bed when we realized they were inside of us.”

Setting: Massachusetts and New Hampshire;2013

Cover Thoughts?:First of all, if you read the story, the cover makes absolutely no sense. It makes no sense even when you look at it without knowing what the story is about. It looks more like a bad Pablo Picasso painting than an actual book cover.

Plot:Mallory killed her boyfriend, Brian. She can't remember the details of that night but everyone knows it was self-defense, so she isn't charged. But Mallory still feels Brian's presence in her life. Is it all in her head? Or is it something more? In desperate need of a fresh start, Mallory is sent to Monroe, a fancy prep school where no one knows her . . . or anything about her past. But the feeling follows her, as do her secrets. Then, one of her new classmates turns up dead. As suspicion falls on Mallory, she must find a way to remember the details of both deadly nights so she can prove her innocence-to herself and others.

”We have a bit of a situation, being that my daughter killed a boy-specifically her boyfriend- in our kitchen, and people are really none too pleased about that here, you see.”

This book was a CHORE to get through. I normally love books with unreliable narrators and mysteries you shouldn’t be able to figure out until the very end. What I DON’T love in mystery books, however, is when the author feels the need to drag it on… and on… and on… and on. I think the author even forgot she was writing this book and just kept writing until her editor told her she had to stop. I agree with what a lot of other viewers say when they said that this book had a promising premise, but absolutely horrible execution. It started our OK enough, but then it went downhill about as quickly as a landslide. And that one event that happened towards the ending had me yelling in rage (sorry, to all the neighborhood cats and dogs I scared while in the moment. I can’t help it that the book had a stupid moment. You can send your therapy bills to the author).

Characters:

”’Sometimes, I think I can feel him,’ I said. ‘ Hear him, even. I mean, I do.I do feel him. I do hear him. Like he’s right here…’”

Mallory Murphy finds herself in perhaps the stickiest situation ever after she killed her boyfriend in self-defense and no one believes her. She’s then shipped off to the stereotypical YA boarding school full of mean girls and creeps to get away from her town populated by mean girls and creeps (she and Colleen are the only normal people in her town, apparently). Right away, the reader can sense that something’s not quite right with good ole’ Mallory, even though she says everything’s fine. You never know if the horrible things that are happening to her are at the hands of someone else or herself.

”And that was just like Colleen. She didn’t send cryptic messages, saying anything but what she meant. If she loved you she said I love you. I she hated you she said I hate you. She said what she meant. And she did what she wanted.”

If there was one character I could honestly say I liked, it was Colleen. The best buddy who will do absolutely anything for you no questions asked. She tells it like it is, talks the talk and walks the walk. Basically, you’ll want to be her best friend by the end of it, and wonder why on earth she doesn’t use more of her fabulous advice on er bestie. I mean, seriously….

Pros:

”Because it was here.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
My whole head throbbed with it.
The beating of his hideous heart.”

In the beginning, I thought the prose was brilliant. Not because it was anything original or new, but the way it flowed across the page and how easy it was to read… at first. As you can probably guess by the said review, this went downhill quickly. Over time the prose became dull and repetitive.


Cons:Pretty much everything, to be honest. Again, the premise could have been brilliant, but the way it was written made absolutely no sense and was terribly dull. It was boring, tiring, and confusing at the same time. Every time I looked at this book, I groaned inwardly. So I knew this would probably be a two star review.

But then, something happened towards the end; we finally know why the heck Mallory killed Brian (after dragging it on for an entire damn eternity). And it made me RAGE. YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT THIS COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED IF DYLAN HAD JUST STAYED IN THE GODDAMN KITCHEN?!! IF HE HADN’T BEEN SUCH A WUSS THAT HE WOULD RATHER LEAVE THEN CONFRONT HIS DRUNK, OUT OF HIS MIND BROTHER AND RATHER LET HIS WOULD BE CRUSH TRY TO DEFEND HERSELF AGAINST HER DRUNK, OUT OF HER MOND BOY TOY?!! DYLAN, YOU ASSHOLE!!!

And the whole “Jason was murdered” plot was completely ridiculous, the motive laughable, and it just goes to show you that teenage girls are the most terrifying species on the face of this planet. Thank god I’m planning to teach elementary school; I wouldn’t have made it as a high school teacher. There’s only so much sass I can take. Plus the whole “gay lovers” storyline came out of nowhere. It honestly just felt like the author was saying to herself ,”Oh shit, I gotta add more diversity to this to please the masses, so I’ll just add this plot line to make people happy.” If you’re going to go that route, do it RIGHT. Make the couple have chemistry. Don’t just plop them in the story and hope for the best.

Love Triangle?:Get ready for this people, but there are actually TWO love triangles in this book revolving around the same girl. Complete overkill, if you ask me. The first one (also the main one), I Dylan and Brian, who happen to be brothers. No, really.

”I didn’t know Brian at first. First, there was Dylan. My lab partner in chemistry, and something else, something lingering under the surface, waiting to bubble over.”

Oh, of course, we have the good brother and the bad brother, fighting over the same special snowflake. I can totally envision this going well. Dylan is the supposed sweet, golden boy who is lab partners with Mallory in chemistry (cause they have PERFECT CHEMISTRY together, get it? I’m hilarious, I know). If only he didn’t have a girlfriend, everything would be great. Except he does. Which leads to Mallory making the moves on Brian, Dylan’s older brother.

”I liked Brian. I liked Brian in the way that girls like boys when they see them surfing. And the way girls like boys slinging their arms over them in front of their friends. And I liked the way he reminded me of Dylan, only he was Dylan times two. More outspoken, easier to read. And best of all, he didn’t already have a girlfriend.”

Brian, the badass who gets drunk and is bad news from the get go. But unlike his little bro, he doesn’t have a girlfriend, so that makes it totally cool. Except for the fact that Dylan quickly becomes jealous that Brian is now dating her perfect chemistry partner. DUDE, YOU HAVE A GIRLFRIEND. YOU CAN’T HAVE BOTH. You’re already on my bad side, and you’re making it worse.

The second love triangle is at the boarding school, but it doesn’t play that big of a role. Might as well mention it anyways though. Reid (aka Golden Retriever) vs. Mallory vs. Jason (aka Stereotypical YA jerk).

Instalove?:Surprisingly, no.

A Little Romance?:Mallory Murphy is one of those YA special snowflakes where no matter how bonkers she is, all the guys are still attracted to her (must be dem milkshakes). First, we had Dylan, and you all know my feelings about that little prick. Then, there was Brian, and we all know how well that went. Once at the boarding school, what do you know, there are TWO MORE GUYS who are attracted to her. Good grief, does she have this special scent that sends all the boys running or something? We have Jason (Dead Body #2, so I’d be safe to say that it didn’t go well). And then we have Reid.

Reid, the puppy dog who seems to follow his master friend Mallory everywhere. They’re like the human versions of Bo Peep and her Sheep. No matter how many bat-shit crazy things she’s done in the past, he’s still willing to stick with her, even if she’s cuckoo. If I were him, I’d be running, not walking, the other way. Scratch that, I wouldn’t be running, I’d be running and then climbing up the nearest tree. But NO, he sees those special snowflake qualities about her and he MUST let her know that he’s head over heels with her. Look, dude, I’m all in favor of giving people a second chance here and there, but there’s a line that needs to be drawn when it comes to this kind of behavior, and the line has been drawn with Mallory.

Now that I think of it, this may actually be the prequel for Gone Girl, considering how closely similar the characters are to Nick and Amy.

Conclusion:Ladies and gentleman; my bad reading streak continues. If you’re expecting a YA mind-fuck, you’re in for one, just not the one you expected. You’ll be mind-fucked by how mind-numbingly boring this book is, and characters that are so stupid that you’re IQ will drop. It could have been so much more, especially with the good writing in the beginning. But it quickly went downhill, which is such a shame considering how good this book could have been.

[Rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

Initial reaction: You know those times when you start off really liking a book but then as you go along it feels like a balloon that deflates as time goes on, which by the end it's no longer floating but barely tracing the ground? That's what this book did to me. Man, I sincerely thought I'd come out of this reading experience singing the praises of this book because it actually started off intriguing enough. It really did. Yet it became more ridiculous and formulaic as time went on and by the time it went towards the ending, I wanted to throw the book at several characters and events for tugging with my suspension of disbelief. That's not to say that this novel didn't have good moments and places in its writing, but on the whole? What a disappointment.

Full review:

Oh, "Hysteria" - words cannot convey the level of disappointment I felt in finishing you, especially considering you had such a great premise and potential to make this a meaningful, eerie, and ultimately captivating read. Instead, you settled for the familiar, the cliched, the completely and utterly silly elements of shock value to lend to a muddled conclusion regarding characters that were difficult to care about in the first place.

Yeah, to say I'm disappointed with Megan Miranda's latest effort is to note a significant understatement. I don't say this to be crass or catty, but I think there was so much potential here, especially with the strong way this novel came out running in the very beginning. I think at some point, the fatigue or length of the narrative started to show its respective wear and petered out to a lackluster ending that did nothing with the surge of emotions and respective players and events that it could've handled much more in the duration of the novel. To see it stumble so far down from where it started really disappointed me, and while I was willing to speak for its respective strengths in the beginning, by the end, I kept wondering what the heck happened to make it fall so hard and fast as it did.

I'm getting ahead of myself slightly, so I'll take a moment to briefly recap: Mallory is a young woman who killed her boyfriend and she is quite haunted by this factor. That's perhaps enough for you to run out and pick up this work in some measures, no? (As well as that cover, which I personally thought was a nice touch to the mood of the novel.) Because that premise in itself makes you wonder two things: 1. Why/How did Mallory kill her boyfriend? and 2. What is she experiencing in her life in light of that factor?

"Hysteria" establishes itself as a bit of a mystery/psychological drama, and there are parts in this work that assert and accent itself beautifully. I was really taken by the level of emotional detachment Mallory experiences in spurts because it felt realistic, even palpable in points for her level of fear, isolation, and uncertainty. She's not the most likable character, mind you, and her emotional filter is not going to be one that many readers latch onto readily, but for the most part, I thought Miranda started off with her rather well. There were times when I had to suspend my disbelief at certain turns and players in the story (example: Jason, who comes across as kind of this clingy jerk that you're not sure is supposed to be a love interest, but tends to hang around Mallory even when he realizes she's a murderer).

There were very potent images of psychological turmoil and questioning/bargaining on Mallory's part through this novel, and the writing conveys an eeriness that suggested to me that Miranda knows how to evoke those emotions well. But somewhere along the journey of this novel, that sentiment became very lost and haphazardly drawn - lending to rather stark cliches (your typical bitch slamming, slut shaming, girl-on-girl hate parade) and some emotional turns that just didn't make much sense. I personally didn't mind the trading storylines of Mallory discovering what happened on the night she murdered her former boyfriend and why (considering the emotional blockage she had), but the buildup did not match the emotional payoff or coming to terms. It felt very shallow and underdeveloped once it was revealed. Also, I didn't find the parties affected by the death to be as fully realized or full of heart as they could've been. Then there was another twist of fates in the book where, while I thought it was a potent thing to have Mallory facing another death in the school environment where she is and be in the criminal crosshairs again, the resolution for that particular measure came so quick and underdeveloped that I wanted to throw up my hands and say "How could you screw that up so badly?" There were parts of it that did have me on my toes, but as far as the emotional payoff was concerned? It didn't connect nearly as much as it could've, and I had problems with the rather quick resolution and lacking development there.

The characters I have a very mixed reaction to. I did want to care for Mallory's respective experiences, and there were times when I sympathized with her in some of the more direct encounters and haunted thoughts. But my investment in her quickly soured when she started acting in ways that didn't make sense to what was put in front of her and just how insufferable she comes across in points. I didn't really see her family's reactions or many of her circle of friends reactions as palpable after a time either. It felt very contrived for drama and after a certain point I wanted to throw the book at all of them. Reid was a character I actually liked for a time and was probably the closest to Mallory that I actually sympathized with for a time, but even after a while, his reactions to certain things didn't add up for me and I felt disappointed by it.

"Hysteria" really dropped the ball more in the line of its progression to the end, which wasn't surprising for me considering Miranda did seem to struggle in the palpable aspects of her previous work "Fracture" (which I would argue was a better effort for grief, while this examined more of a fear frame on a psychological level) as it approached the end. I guess in the aftermath of reading both, I consider it a point of construction to make that Miranda's endings could be less harried and necessitate more detailing in order to give the works more of a rounding out.

Still, I think "Hysteria" may strike some well with the intrigue and its ability to keep one guessing up until the very end, and the writing/descriptions in spurts can be eerie and beautifully drawn, but the payoff isn't nearly as strong as it could've been, with characters that were never fully realized, and I was very disappointed with that.

Overall score: 2/5

Note: I received this as an ARC from NetGalley, from the publisher Walker Childrens/Bloomsbury.

[PinkAmy loves books, cats and naps · Rating 2 out of 5]

To get away from publicity after stabbing her abusive boyfriend to death, Mallory is sent to Monroe, a boarding school. She begins hallucinating and developing strange marks on her body. Then a boy is found dead in her dorm. Is someone gas-lighting Mallory, to is she not who she claims to be.

HYSTERIA started with such a strong premise, but the execution fell flat. If I just killed my abusive boyfriend, the last thing I'd do a few weeks later is kiss a new guy and start dating. I would certainly hope some adult would insist I get therapy. I also didn't believe all the teens at the school would ostracize Mallory after finding out about her stabbing her abusive boyfriend. More teens have empathy than are sociopathic.

I enjoyed Mallory's relationship with her BFF, even if they didn't always make the best choices. Everyone should have a friend as loyal as Colleen.

HYSTERIA isn't a terrible read for the kindle bargain price of $1.99, but I wouldn't pay more.

[Zemira Warner · Rating 2 out of 5]

This whole book was a moment of great frustration. Since I didn’t have any (high) expectations I thought everything would be fine. I would get a creepy mystery about some dead dude. The girl would try and figure out who actually did kill him and everyone would apologize to her because they all thought she was the one who killed him. But by the end of the book the whole murder wasn’t even THAT important because she had to solve another murder and fight with mean girls.

The main character kept on digging her grave throughout the whole book. Her parents ship her of to this boarding school which sounds fantastic if you ask me. By fantastic I mean, if I was a sane person not accused of stabbing my boyfriend. She should ship her ass to a looney bin till she sorted out her problems. Not send her into a place where she can get it on with everyone, since this wasn’t an all-girls boarding school.

There were too many YA stereotypes in this book I couldn’t ignore. First of there was a bunch of mean girl and the main mean girl, Krista was of course blond and somewhat slutty looking. Then there was a guy she knew before and a new cocky/obnoxious ladies-man. Acting like a bunch of brats, not just the ‘bad’ characters. I could deal with all of this is any of them had any real personality. But there wasn’t anything new about them. They were just like every other typical annoying kid.

You can find this review and much more over at YA Fanatic.

[Nafiza · Rating 3 out of 5]

So in case you didn’t know, I love Fracture by Megan Miranda. I thought it was brilliant and when I heard that there is going to be a sequel, I did a happy, nerdy dance. I picked up a copy of the ARC of Hysteria from ALA and I am part of the blog tour. Hopefully, I will remember to list the tour stops at the end of the review but just ask me in case I don’t.

Anyway, moving on to the novel.

To be completely honest with you, I am still a bit uncertain about how I feel. This book is compulsively readable – Miranda’s prose still has the ability to suck me in and keep me reading. The novel is relatively short and I managed to finish it in three hours. But then again, I read inordinately fast where aesthetic reading is concerned. Heh. The pacing of the novel is very fast, perhaps too fast, and I think there were moments when the novel would have benefited from a slower pace and a bit more detail.

Mallory has killed her boyfriend. That much we know. The details of the night are purposefully left blank and it is only as the novel progresses that we become aware that there is more to the story. (Obviously.) The thing is, the more I found out about Mallory, the more I disliked her. Or rather, if not an active dislike, I felt indifferent to her. It became difficult for me to sympathize and/or even empathize with her. There are two distinct narratives taking place. The whole boyfriend killing and the boarding school drama. There are characters introduced but their motivations remain blurry. They are not as individuated as I would have liked.

Why Mallory is sent away from her parents when she needs them most gave me pause. Why isn’t she seeing a shrink – would the court not make that mandatory? Wouldn’t that be good parenting? I mean, I was convinced by Mallory’s perceptions of her parent’s rejection – that was well done but I still think the premise would have made more sense had there been a longer period of time between the boyfriend killing and the boarding school attending.

The romance doesn’t impress me too much here which is too bad because Decker from Fracture was kind of awesome. I think the problem here is that there were too many boys. The narrative began reaching for a crucial problem but then would falter and introduce another factor. It also seemed ridiculous to me that Mallory would make the moves on a guy at his father’s funeral and then be hurt when she is pushed away. I mean, come on now, his dad had just died! There were more things on his mind that a relationship, ya know? The ending is also a tad confused and seems a bit cobbled together though this just may be because I was reading the ARC copy. I wasn’t satisfied by the whole resolution to the boyfriend killing mystery either – it just seemed a bit antic-climactic after all the building up it had received.

I think the best thing about this novel was the friendship between Mallory and her best friend. It was heartwarming and satisfied all my yearnings for true portrayal of sisterhood in YA novels. There was actual friendship and the best friend wasn’t used as a willing ear to hear the many problems of the protagonist and I appreciated that.

In conclusion, this is a mixed bag of nuts, you guys. Some of you may appreciate it more than others. I was entertained by this novel but I cannot in good conscience say I was swept away by it. I think you’ll have to make up own your mind about this one as I am truly conflicted about my own feelings. However, I can safely assert that Miranda’s writing style is fresh and engaging and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next (other than the sequel to Fracture!).

[~Tina~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sixteen year old Mallory Murphy killed her boyfriend but can't remember what really happened that night. Mallory's parents worried about all the gossips and threats decided to give her a fresh start, in New Hampshire at a boarding school that her father once went to. Monroe Academy.
Thinking that her problems might be past her, Mallory starts to feel the boom of an eerie presence that wont seem to let her go. Someone or something wont let her forget that night making Mallory feel like she's losing her mind. When a boy turns up dead at the academy, Mallory is accused, but she doesn't remember that night either.
Could it be possible that Mallory may have done it again?

Hysteria is a gripping psychological thriller that plays with your mind and pulls at your heart from the very first page on. Megan Miranda was born to write for this element. She has such an amazing flare for bringing mysteries to life in sharp, clever and crisp ways.
While I was reading this it almost felt like I was in a dream. I wasn't sure what was real and what wasn't. I think that's my favorite part about reading thriller type books. The unknown and just sitting back and trying to figure out whats going on within the minds of these characters. Miranda knows how to take you there.
I loved all the memory flashbacks, it's the glue that really held this story together. It kept going back to that faithful night piece by piece till the reader gets every shred of emotion to add to the devastating conclusion.

I was really impressed with how well these characters were developed. Miranda does a fantastic job of making certain characters feel unhinged in both dialog and personality traits.
Mallory is the kind of character that your willing to go that extra mile with. She's brave and bold but she's also shattered and confused. Trauma has a way of getting under your very skin to the point of hysteria. At one point I was even questioning her sanity. Miranda does an amazing job making the reader second guess everything they think they know, but still want to believe in them at the same time.
Colleen is the kind of best friend that everyone should have. Her never ending faithfulness brought a smile to my face. But I think it was Reid that really owned me. I love the how protective and loyal he was and I adored the way he always seemed to believe in her when no one else seemed to.

The story line was a whirlwind of emotions and creeptastic scenes where my paranoia was even getting the best of me. I kept looking over my shoulder to make sure no one was there. Spooky stuff my friends. There was also very little to no romance in this book, but the moments we did get still made me smile.
I really loved the ending to this book as well. We have two story lines that entwine, the one is the mystery of Mallory's missing memories of the night she killed her boyfriend and the other is a boy who was killed at the academy. I liked the fact that the stories complimented each other instead of causing it to feel overwhelming or distracting. It was very well done.

Bottom line, I had a really great time with this book. The plot was thrilling and suspenseful, the characters were captivating, dark and real while the writing was pulse pounding and exciting. I don't read many mystery-thrillers but the way Megan Miranda writes makes me want to be a fan of this genre. Looking forward to seeing what she comes up with next!

[Jenni Arndt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hysteria was a novel that caught my eye the moment I saw the cover reveal. I loved the font treatment, the popping use of the color red and the eerie feel that it conveys so well. Once I started reading the novel I was quick to realize that the eerie feel was going to be a running theme between the cover and the text which was so great. But as the story wore on my failure to connect with the characters on a deep level kept it from reaching amazing status and left it as simply an enjoyable read.

The short, fragmented thoughts Miranda uses to convey emotions is definitely effective. It’s not flowery, it’s simple and to the point which is something that I always find myself appreciating. While the clipped style can be a bit disjointing at first, I always find myself sucked in and a fan of the style once I get going. It’s a bit reminiscent of how I felt from Teeth by Hannah Moskowitz, or Cryer’s Cross by Lisa McMann. There’s a lot of mystery to this novel and we are spoon fed little details slowly, very slowly. We know that Mallory has killed her boyfriend Brian in her house and that it was deemed self defense in her own home but we don’t know exactly what led up to the murder. The way we got little glimpses of what happened that day and the days before was awesome! I really liked when I saw we were getting a flashback and I think Miranda used them very well in this case.

As for the characters, I really wish that I had connected with them a bit more. I was definitely intrigued by Mallory. Her psychosis is up for question here and it had me second guessing everything that happened around her wondering if it was simply her hysteria manifesting itself. But I failed to really feel for her. I felt like we didn’t get to know enough about her outside of what she was experiencing after the murder. I would have liked to have gotten a better glimpse at how the event had changed her so that I could feel how jarring it was for her personality. The one thing we do get to know about her from before the event doesn’t exactly make her out to be a good person, but I would have liked more of that, good decisions or bad. I have to say that my favorite character was her best friend, Colleen. She was incredibly supportive and understanding of what Mallory goes through.

The mystery is what really sucks you into Hysteria. Not only do we slowly unveil what happened to lead Mallory to where her life is today but we also travel with her to a boarding school where the students all seem to have their own agenda and Mallory learns that she can’t ever really escape her past. This was definitely a book that I had a lot of fun reading & that I thought about a lot when I put it down but I would have liked a little more substance to the characters. If you’re looking for a good mystery to pass your time, this could be the one for you!

An Advanced Readers Copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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You can read all of my reviews at Alluring Reads.

[Mehsi · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG holy wow. A boarding school murder mystery with a dash of romance and a story that will draw you in. I loved this one, it was just what I needed and what I wanted. Meet Mallory she murdered her boyfriend, but what made her do it? Through parts taking place before the now events we find out about what happened before, after, and what happened during. Who is stalking Mallory? (though I had a fast suspicion quite soon) I felt sorry for Mallory and all she went through and still was going through thanks to the new girls at her boarding school. I loved how the author wrote Mallory, how at times you were doubting her memories because of the things she did now. I loved the friendship between Mallory and her best friend. The ending holy wow! The romance.. I wasn't to sure about as it felt too soon too rushed, but in the end I was quite happy with it.

[Trisha · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Secrets weren't a currency. They were a burden. A heavy, dangerous burden."

I'm so disappointed. I had read the synopsis and saw the shelved genres and had made some assumptions about what kind of story I was getting. And, oddly, this wasn't that one at all.

I have to shelve this as something akin to a silly horror story. Where there is gore and murder and blood and....elements that aren't always what they appear.

[starryeyedjen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I kind of loved Megan Miranda's debut novel Fracture  when I read it early last year, so I had pretty high hopes for Hysteria, despite seeing a lot of mixed reviews for it.  But I know what resonates with me as a reader, and I rarely go wrong with psychological thrillers, so I maintained those high expectations.  I just knew that I would enjoy this novel, and I'm not at all surprised that I was right.  That's the price you pay for being an insufferable know-it-all...you can't surprise yourself anymore.  =)

The author has a background in science, and it shows in both Fracture and Hysteria, in the way she presents the story in a slightly clinical manner.  I can see why that would be off-putting for some readers, but I love it.  Science and the paranormal weave together in this story to create a narrative that is both emotionally gripping yet able to confound the reader into suspecting everyone.  I also love the use of flashbacks and half-dreams throughout the story to impart secrets or otherwise hidden knowledge.  While some aspects of the mystery were easy to speculate upon, others remained elusive till the bitter end.

So, normally I need to really feel a connection to the main characters in order to truly enjoy a novel, but in this case -- and with Fracture, if I really think about it -- the mystery itself was the aspect I was most drawn to, and since it encompassed a big percentage of the storyline, it made the fact that I wasn't completely enthralled with the characters a little easier.  That's not to say that the characters weren't likeable or relatable; they simply won't go down as my favorite characters or anything.  And that's okay with me.

The relationships in the book balance out the characters in such a way that I was able to overlook a lot of character flaws.  Like the fact that given a chance, Mallory would rather run than face her problems.  Every single time.  She did a lot of running in this story.  But her friendship with Colleen put us back on even footing.  Because even though Mallory wasn't ready to meet her own problems head-on, she would do anything for her best friend, including fighting Colleen's battles if need be...and vice-versa.  The fact that there was such a strong, solid friendship at the center of this story really compensated for any of the shortcomings it might have had.

There's a bit of romance in this book.  Nothing earth-shattering, and no love triangles, but we do get to witness two (three?) very different relationships in Mallory's life...all within the last six months.  These relationships are all equally important to the story.  It isn't all about the murdered boyfriend but rather about the repercussions.  It's about the memories, the ability to determine reality from the imagined.  It's about the friendships and relationships that survive and the ones that don't.

Hysteria is a stark look at how one night, one choice, can change the course of  your life.  Full of heartbreak, betrayal, and guilt, it's a slightly gritty contemporary with a paranormal vibe, and if you enjoyed Fracture, I can almost guarantee you'll like this book, as well.  In fact, I can't think of a reason why I wouldn't recommend this novel to someone.

Thanks to Bloomsbury & Netgalley for providing a copy for review.

This review can also be found at The Starry-Eyed Revue.

[Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

2024

2020

2019
Mallory is just a normal teenage girl. She sneaks out to go to parties. She hangs out with her best friend. She likes going to the beach. She is normal. Until one night she's not. One night when she kills her boyfriend. And then nothing is normal anymore.

Mallory is an okay character. She suffers from the trauma of killing her boyfriend, Brian. She struggles because her family ships her off to a private school, Monroe, (for a fresh start) in the middle of nowhere. But she doesn't get the fresh start her family wanted because the other students all seem to know where she came from, why she starting going there. And she can't seem to clearly recall the events that lead up to her stabbing her boyfriend.

The unclear situation only goes from bad to worse when she starts going to the new school. She hears the continues boom, boom, boom of Brian's heartbeat. She thinks someone is breaking into her room. Her shoulder gets bruised (for no reason) at night, eventually blistering. She keeps seeing Brian's mother. And then she starts seeing Brian. But neither of them are really there. Some of that is explained, but a lot of it is not.

Then another boy dies. He also attends Monroe with Mallory, and they have a not to great history (mostly because he is definitely the reason that everyone at school knows Mallory's background. Being the dean's son, he had access to all of her files - apparently). Plus, he dies inside of Mallory's room. And he's been drugged with Mallory's sleeping pills. And he's killed with the knife that Mallory admits is hers. So, things aren't looking to great for Mallory.

The few issues I had from the story stems from Mallory being the narrator. She's a little unreliable since she has such cloudy memories from the previous murder. And since she is on sleeping pills there are huge blocks of time that are unaccounted for for her. And some things are never explained (I'm assuming because she never learns about them, so she can't explain them herself). And I did think it was a little odd that she decided to stay at Monroe. I understand she doesn't want to go back home because everyone views her as a murder there, but everyone at school knows about that, too. Plus, there's been the new murder there, as well, and while she didn't perform that murder, it did happen because of her (sort of).

2018

[Katie_la_geek · Rating 4 out of 5]

For this review and more visit my blog

When I first started reading this book I was pretty sure I was going to be disappointed. There appeared to be all the clichés I hate in YA literature. The parents seemed neglectful, the best friend was promiscuous and it looked like there might be a love triangle.

But it turns out I was wrong.

As I carried on reading all of these issues, that I was sure were going to appear never came to pass and instead of rolling my eyes at the clichés I found myself utterly absorbed in this psychological thriller.

Hysteria studies the after effects of trauma and questions if what you see and hear is real, or a product of a damaged mind. Lately YA has produced a lot of these kinds of story, where the main character losses their other half and was involved in their death. This book is slightly different from the others; it has a more sinister edge and focuses less on the past as some of the others do. I liked this, it set Hysteria apart slightly, made it different.

The characters were all pretty good. Mallory was likeable and did the right thing most of the time. She had moments where you want to slap her upside the head but she was mostly alright. Her best friend, Colleen, was bubbly and vibrant. I found their friendship to be the key relationship in this book. The love interest, Reid, was sweet but didn’t have the strongest personality. Jason was sinister and dangerous, a truly nasty guy. I was so happy that Mallory noticed this straight away and kept her distance from him. And then there were the group of vicious girls, each of them menacing but all of them very different.

Hysteria goes from horror, to Thriller, to a ‘who done it’ mystery then back again. It was Mean Girls meets Psycho. It was not perfect, there were a few bits that didn’t make sense but it was gripping and very entertaining.

The publisher provided me with a free copy of this book in exchange for and honest review

[Sophie Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED Fracture! Megan Miranda instantly became an auto buy for me. CANNOT wait to read this book!

[Melanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too much swearing and confusing at times...

[Callie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Boarding school, unreliable narrator. Good YA mystery.

[Siobhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This had such promise, it was pretty creepy, gripping, and had the fun of an unreliable narrator. But overall it was a bit lackluster unfortunately.
I kept waiting for some big twist, or for everything to come together, but the different plot lines ended up being pretty much unrelated.
3 stars for being a gripping, fast read.

[Melanie (TBR and Beyond) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh, it wasn't HORRIBLE but it was pretty damn lackluster. I wasn't expecting much but I was bored through-out most of this one. I likely won't even do a review - I finished it last night and can barely remember it now lol

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

(I received a digital copy of this book for free on a read-to-review basis. Thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing Plc and Netgalley.)
Mallory has been having a hard time of things, and the sleeping tablets aren’t really helping. Every time she looks at her kitchen she’s feels it throbbing, and every time she closes her eyes, she hears the boom, boom, boom of a heartbeat.

This is all because of an incident that left her boyfriend Brian stabbed and bleeding to death on her kitchen floor. An incident that Mallory can’t even really remember properly. All she knows is that she killed him, and now she has to learn to live with it.

Now though, Mallory’s parents are sending her to boarding school for a fresh start, although to Mallory it feels more like a punishment. Why has the noise of the beating heart continue to haunt her though? And why does she still feel Brian’s presence? Has Brian’s mother followed her to her new school? And what about the nightmares that seem shockingly real?


This was a good book. Totally one of those that keeps you up late cause you want to find out what happens next.

Mallory was an interesting character, but she was also a bit of a mystery, mainly because there was so little information surrounding the event that ultimately defined Mallory’s life at the time of the story. We know that Brian died, we know that Mallory stabbed him, but that’s all we know. Memories are revisited during the course of the book, which shed a little more light on what happened, but it’s never 100% clear why Mallory stabbed him, or exactly what took place.

To be honest, I really did not understand why Mallory had actually stabbed Brian, and I did wonder if she was maybe a little crazy. Mallory most reminded me of Mara Dyer from ‘The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer’, who I also thought needed psychiatric help. Even having finished the book I’m not sure if Mallory over-reacted a bit when she killed Brian. Things just weren’t clear enough from Mallory’s memories to really explain what happened that night, which was a little disappointing.

This ‘WTF is going on?’ theme then continues once Mallory gets to boarding school. She has weird episodes where she may or may not be dreaming, and senses strange things. There’s also real-life things that are happening to Mallory, where it is also unclear who or what is the culprit, and when disaster strikes again, Mallory once more finds herself in the firing line.
This sense of mystery keeps going throughout the whole book, and right up until the end it is unclear how and why certain events have occurred.

I think my favourite character was Mallory’s best friend Colleen, who was so loyal and would do absolutely anything to protect Mallory, which was exactly what Mallory needed. Colleen was an amazing friend to Mallory, and I was glad that Mallory actually appreciated her, and felt the same way back.

Mallory’s mother was a bit of an odd one too. She seemed to be coping pretty badly with coming to terms with what Mallory had done, which you can’t really blame her for, although I think that Mallory really needed her mother’s support to come to terms with things herself, so her mother being a bit absent emotionally really didn’t help.

Mallory being sent away to boarding school felt like the right decision to me. Although she hated the idea, I can’t see how sticking around in a town where everybody treats you like a murderer, and your victim’s mother has it in for you, would have really helped.

Overall; I enjoyed this book, and the mystery element was done really well. I would have liked things to be a little clearer by the end though.
7.5 out of 10.

[Haley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mallory doesn’t remember what happened the night she killed her boyfriend Brian. The evidence shows it was in self-defense, but still her once loved town now hates her. To get away from everything, and get away from everyone that knows of her crime her parents send her away to her father’s old prep school, Monroe. Mallory just wishes none of this had happened, but to escape the memories of Brian and the glares from people in her town she agrees to go.

Since Brian’s death Mallory has been losing her mind, she’s hearing things, things that she shouldn’t be. When a student at Monroe is murdered, everyone looks to Mallory. Now Mallory must find out what is going on at Monroe to clear her name, or possibly find out that the monster has been her all along.

Megan Miranda has done it again! Being a huge fan of Megan Miranda’s book Fracture I was immensely excited to pick up her novel Hysteria. While Hysteria didn’t quite live up to the expectations Fracture had set for it, it was still an enjoyable read that was well worth the hours I invested into it! The problems I had while reading Hysteria were how unlikable most of the characters were (including the main character Mallory) and how some moments throughout Hysteria felt very repetitive. Besides those two flaws, Hysteria was a great creepy, eerie, roller coaster of a read packed with plenty of mystery!

Now while most of the time I did not enjoy Mallory as a character, she was still so interesting to read from! I couldn’t imagine what she was going through, she couldn’t remember the night she killed Brian, most people in her town hate her now, her own mother is scared of her (mother hides the knife block), she’s being sent to private school, there was just so much going on in her life! There was some parts where I felt bad for Mallory, but I constantly felt conflicted whenever I felt bad for her. She killed someone, and even if the court says it was self-defense, the fact that Mallory herself worries she is guilty makes it hard as a reader to feel bad for her. I have never read a book that made me question how I feel about the main character so much, and that made this all the more of an enjoyable read. In this case the character that will steal the readers heart is most likely going to be Reid, Mallory’s love interest at Monroe, he is such a caring and helpful character that it was hard not to fall in love with him!

Overall if you’re looking for a YA rad that gives you chills, has a great mystery, and plenty of twists and turns, then I highly recommend picking up Hysteria by Megan Miranda.

[Andreea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley.com and Bloomsbury Publishing Plc for sending me this e-book.

I was somehow disappointed with this book, not because it wasn't good, but because I expected so much more from it. Seeing the cover and reading the description, I thought Hysteria was going to be a little bit creepy and full of suspense. Unfortunately, for the most part it was another "girl goes to another school, encounters some mean girls and falls in love with a nice boy" story. Don't get me wrong, there were some suspenseful scenes and some mysteries that needed to be solved, but for me those weren't enough. I think the plot should have been more focused on those aspects than on the teenage drama or romance.

Mallory is a 16-year-old girl who killed her boyfriend-Brian. Though she can't remember what exactly happened, the evidence points to self-defense, so she is cleared from the accusations. Since her parents think that she is in danger because Brian's mother is stalking her, they decide to send Mallory to a boarding school (I don't really understand what they were thinking: that once she gets there she will forget everything and have a happy life?). Unfortunately her life doesn't become easier. Everyone knows about the incident and is judging her, she is still haunted by the event and on top of that she thinks that someone is after her. Mallory has a sleeping disorder, every night she has the same nightmare and in the morning she finds bruises on her body. Even though she knows this is wrong, she never tells anyone about it, and she refuses to seek help. At the boarding school she also meets an old friend, Reid, who eventually becomes her boyfriend.

I liked the fact that we don't know from the beginning why Mallory decided to kill Brian. Throughout the story there are some flashbacks about her past and little snippets that help us understand what happened that night. Then, there are the nightmares and the marks that appear every morning on her body. I am still a little bit confused about how she got them, but those two elements were actually what kept me interested in Hysteria and made me finish reading it in a few hours. Even though those were my favourite parts of the book, I still think they could have been more developed and that the author should have written more about the psychological aspect of the book instead of romance or teenage drama. I wanted the book to be more dark and more focused on Mallory's struggle to fight Brian's memory. Also, I found some things a little bit predictable (I am mostly talking about the person who was stalking the main character at the boarding school).

All in all, I think Hysteria was better in premise than execution, but I still recommend it. It is a good teen thriller.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

(This review can also be found on my blog The (Mis)Adventures of a Twenty-Something Year Old Girl).

I am a HUGE fan of Megan Miranda. I love the way she writes, and I love the plot of her stories. When I saw Hysteria by her, I knew I had to read this book! I must say that she didn't disappoint me.

Mallory killed her ex-boyfriend in self defense, so she claims, but she can't really remember what happened that night. Mallory's parents ship her off to a boarding school to get her away from everything that happened back at home. However, she can't help but feel that her ex-boyfriend's ghost has followed her. She can hear his heartbeat. She has the impression of a hand indented on her shoulder from where she's being grabbed by his ghost. Not long after Mallory arrives, another pupil is found dead in her room. Mallory claims she was sleeping and can't remember anything. Could she have possibly done it? Is Mallory a killer?

The title of this book called out to me. Hysteria is a brilliant title for this book, and it suits the story rather well.

How wicked does the cover to Hysteria look!?! The cover was another aspect that made me want to read this book. Whilst the cover doesn't really let you know too much about what's going on with the story, the design is still amazing!

I loved how the setting of this book mostly took place at some old boarding school surrounded by a forest. Yes, it is a bit cliched, but it worked well for this book.

The pacing was fantastic. There was never a dull moment in this book. I kept on reading without ever wanting to put this book down. It is very action packed and thrilling!

As for the dialogue, I felt it was fantastic. I imagined it to be exactly how older teens would speak. Be warned that there are a few swear words, but they aren't overly used just for the sake of swearing. The dialogue is smooth and never once feels forced.

The characters of this story were developed quite well. I loved how Mallory seemed very down to Earth, yet was always trying to get her memories back. She just felt very real. Reid was fantastic! I loved the way he wanted to protect Mallory. Colleen was my favourite character. I loved her free spirited attitude towards everything!

Overall, I thought this story was very well executed. There weren't really any major plot twists, I thought, but the story itself was really great!! This had me on the edge of my seat...well my bed as I was laying down reading it.

I'd recommend this book to everyone aged 15+ as it's such a good book!

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a thriller book. This is one of those "mystery" books. The way the author wrote the book...I can't describe it. It was good but it jut didn't quite work the way I think she intended.

The main character murdered her boyfriend who happens to be the older brother of her last crush. She basically dates him cause he would kiss her. Yeah good thinking. Can't see how that would cause problems at all.

The flashbacks did not workout for me. They were usually flashbacks of that night, but at different times. Some parts were skipped and I felt really lost. Honestly, I didn't feel a need for her to kill him. Maybe that's cause it wasn't written well. When we find out Dylan was there and left because everything was fine, I was rolling my eyes. You snuck off with your brothers girlfriend, everything is not fine.

I really enjoyed Reid. I'm still not sure why he wanted to date an emotionally unstable girl, but hey whatever works for him. He seemed genuinely worried for her, which was nice. He's the most popular guy but is down to heart and isn't like most popular guys. Wow didn't see that coming. He could date ANYONE and yet he chooses a murderer. Once again I don't know why. Mallory was too whiney for my taste.

The part that is driving me most insane is the end!!!! It's like the author was first making the murderer Dylan but then went wait, I don't want the book to end. So this whole convoluted scheme was developed and was never really explained. I think krista did it??? Why? I am still not sure. I don't understand anyone's motives except Dylan, and he really didn't do anything except spy on her.

I'm giving this book 3.5 stars. I could not put it down because I was trying to piece everything together. It never happened, but it was still an interesting book.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5 stars


This book is a YA contemporary mystery. I am definitely liking this new trend -so many YA books seem to be including a mystery element.

The narrator is Mallory. When the book begins we find out that Mallory stabbed her boyfriend Brian in her kitchen. And killed him. But we don't know any of the details.

Her parents send her to boarding school (the same one her dad went to). But she has to leave her best friend Colleen.

Also, she can't really remember much of what happened the night Brian died. So a very interesting aspect of the book is the flashbacks of the night he died.

There are a few potential love interests in this book. The main one is Reid, a boy who goes to the boarding school (his father went to school there with Mallory's father - they were best friends).

I wasn't really sure what to expect from this book. I wasn't sure if there was going to be a paranormal/ghost aspect to the book. Or if it would be a straight YA contemporary mystery. I would definitely classify it as the latter.

I enjoyed this book a lot. I wanted to find out what caused Mallory to kill her boyfriend. There is also a second mystery in the book. And I was very interested in seeing that solved as well.

I think if you like YA contemporary mysteries then you should try this book. It was very enjoyable.

I really enjoy YA contemporary mysteries, so I was very glad to be able to read this book.


Thanks to netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for allowing me to read this book.

[Michele at A Belle's Tales · Rating 2 out of 5]

*2.5 stars*

I was really looking forward to Hysteria after getting my first look at its eerie cover and especially after reading the summary.

Unfortunately, Hysteria just didn’t deliver the thrills the way I had hoped it would. The pacing was slow, and I didn’t connect at all with the main character Mallory, who I found to be flat and annoying. I took issue with her parents sending her off to boarding school so soon after the traumatic experience of her murdering her boyfriend in self defense. Granted, I could understand if their motives were based solely on keeping Mallory safe, but her mother’s irritating instability and the fact that she was afraid of her daughter instead of for her were off-putting and I struggled to stay invested in the story.

There were some enjoyable moments; and I liked Reid, although I felt his character was a bit underdeveloped. While this book wasn’t a win for me, it still was not a book I could walk away from. I stuck with it and was glad to have my suspicions confirmed in the end.

Bottom line: Boarding school, mean girls, and juvenile behavior made this a hard read for this not-so-young adult to appreciate.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

This review can also be found on my blog, A Belle's Tales

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Se on sitten siinä. Viimeinen lukematon Megan Mirandan kirjani. Nyt pitää sitten aina odottaa niin tajuttoman kauan uutta julkaisua kun tekee mieli lukea tämän naisen kirjoja. Möh :<

Minua hieman jännitti tämän lukeminen, sillä kaikista Mirandan kirjoista tämä on saanut alhaisimmat pisteet täällä Goodreadsissä. Viihdyin Fracturen ja Soulprintin parissa niin hyvin, että halusin pitää tästäkin. Ja kovasti pidinkin. Ei ihan noiden kahden tasolla, mutta pidin reilusti enemmän mitä Vengeancesta.

Miranda osaa kirjoittaa. Piste. Niin yksinkertaista. Hän osaa käyttää kieltä tavalla, joka kolahtaa minuun todella lujaa. Pidän hänen tyylistään kuvailla tunteita ja tilanteita, hahmojen ajatusmaailmaa ja persoonallisuutta. Teksti soljuu niin luontevasti eteenpäin ja tarinaan on aina todella helppo uppoutua. Hänen kirjansa eivät kenties ole mitään maailmaa mullistavia, mutta minulle hän on lempikirjailijoita.

Hysteria oli viihdyttävä teos, joka oli parempi kuin odotin. Kivaa yllättyä positiivisesti!

Neljä tähteä!

[Sheri · Rating 2 out of 5]

So this is just a page turner ghost-ish book. Nothing special and rather soap-opera-esque (it is a bunch of rich people and there are a lot of murders), but entertaining enough. It was all way too convenient and nothing about either plot is really very believable.

Coda Jan 5:
Okay, so last time this happened I read the whole damn book (Mrs. Stanley Bliss by Ted Elkin) and then went to write a review and was confused. This time, I thought right away that I had already read it, but thought it was weird that my goodreads didn't show the review when I noted that this is what I am currently reading. Either way, I have NOT read much in the past few days (about 44%) and remember the book entirely (and still don't like it much) and so I am officially quitting as of last night.

[Gray Cox · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Meh" and predictable.

As well as the hottest girl ever that all boys worship cliche, but the writing wasn't bad and neither was a lot of the concepts behind this storyline, I might give this author another try sometime.

I think the biggest issue is that the ending felt rushed, if this all had been foreshadowed more it would have been a stunning read, but instead it felt really thrown in.

[lizzy &#x1faf6;(lorenhalesgirl)]

Dnf @20%

I’m sorry I just couldn’t get into this book. The premise of it was very promising i will say. I just didn’t like the writing style and the characters as well. Especially our main character Mallory 🫣 like some of the comments she would say. It’s also so boring too and the chapters are way too long. Sadly this was not my cup of tea and that’s alright.