Hysteria – Megan Miranda

Title: Hysteria by Megan Miranda
Publishing Info: February 5, 2013 by Bloomsbury Publishing
Source: Netgalley
Genres: Mystery/Thriller, Young Adult
Find it on the web: Buy from Amazon // GoodreadsDate Completed: December 24, 2012 (DNF)

    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.

I picked this up and put it down several times before I decided not to finish it (so to speak, since it was an ebook). I was over a quarter of the way through and I was still struggling to find anything enjoyable about it. I didn’t like Mallory (the main character), I didn’t like her family, I didn’t like her friends, I didn’t like any of the possible love interests or the former love interest. I was bored with the setting and the mysteries of the plot remained mysteries too long. I didn’t see it going anywhere and Megan Miranda didn’t drop any clues to really hold my interest. I kept waiting for anything to get interesting and I was just more and more annoyed with the book instead of growing more interested.

I’ve been struggling with my decisions recently with what books I decide to mark as “DNF” and what I should push myself to keep reading. Starting with HYSTERIA, I really decided that I have way too many exciting books to read that I don’t want to waste time forcing myself to read something that I’m just not interested in. I gave it until after a quarter of the way through the book and I still didn’t see any hook. Mallory insists she was innocent of the crime – Was she innocent? Was it self-defense? We barely even touch on ANY of the details to even give me a taste of what’s going on.

Overall, I just felt like I was too much in the dark and I needed a bit more to even start to like Mallory much less be interested in rooting for her. I just decided not to keep going. I have too many  books that I’m interested in reading to take so much time with one that I have no interest in. Usually I save my ARC reviews until closer to the pub date but since this one is a negative review, I think it would nicer to post further away from the pub date so as not to discourage people from reading. I’d say my review is more just “Here’s what I thought” and I don’t want to say “Read it” or “Don’t read it”. For HYSTERIA, I would say try it. It wasn’t a bad story — I just wasn’t hooked!

Mallory: I never connected with Mallory. After a quarter of the story, I wasn’t even sure if I SHOULD be on her side. We didn’t get enough details and I felt like she didn’t even seem secure enough in her decisions to side with her. Too many things were held back and I kind of didn’t like her and didn’t want to keep reading about her.

Skip it

Eh, I just couldn’t get into it. It’s not really one I would personally recommend because I wasn’t a fan of what I read.

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