I know for certain that there will be lots of mixed reviews about Megan Miranda’s debut novel but for me, it was a strong five star novel and I don’t hand out five stars lightly. The book isn’t perfect but its strengths are such that they overshadow the lesser elements and make the reader, well, me, forget the imperfections exist. The premise of the novel is intriguing and I felt that the execution stayed true to it. One of the strengths of the novels is its characterizations, the way in which the characters are developed and grow throughout the book. Delaney is one of the strongest protagonists out there. She manages to absorb you into her world, into the events occurring in her life without seeming like a caricature of a person, or acting as though the emotions she is evincing are artificial. The emotions she expresses, her despair, her confusion, these are all so realistically rendered that I found myself feeling her emotions – and this doesn’t happen to me often. (Aside: I have become proficient at holding myself apart while reading a novel, firmly in the place of a reader as this is very helpful when doing a close “reading” of any novel so any book that can grab me so completely automatically confirms its awesomeness.) The romance in this is complex. While other people will say there is a love triangle, I hesitate to label it as such because it manifests in a way that is not at all similar to other love triangles. There is a complexity in the relationships – actually, no, I don’t think it’s a love triangle at all. There are emotions yes, but as I said, they are complex and I appreciate how Miranda gave the age old trope a very different twist. I also like the way she played out another often used trope: the best friend dilemma. Decker may be the “other” guy, you know, the Jacob person, who usually loses out on the girl due to the appearance of sparkly creatures, and it would have been ridiculously easy to go that route but Miranda doesn’t and I am very thankful for that. Decker and Delaney’s relationship is layered, there are years, hours and lifetimes, of history between them. Neither of them are perfect and Delaney’s reaction (and hostility) towards him are warranted. Delaney doesn’t behave like a pendulum swinging back and forth between two boys and I am very thankful for that.But you know, the main reason I gave this book five stars was because of the writing. I am not going to lie. It is the writing that gets me every single time. And the writing in Fracture is beautiful. I’ll leave you with an excerpt that will hopefully convince you to give this book (and Megan Miranda) a chance:“I leaned against my door, struggling to catch my breath, and though that maybe hell wasn’t a place at all, but a thing. A contagious thing. A thing that could creep up the steps, seep through the crack under my door, grow horns and sprout fire – smelling faintly like sulfur. A thing that could sink its tendrils inside and take root, colouring everything gray and distorting a smile into a sneer. And while I got dressed for the play, I swatted at my back and kept running my hands over my stomach because I could feel it, I swear, I could feel it reaching for me, trying to grab hold.”
