Scan barcode
celjla212's review against another edition
3.0
I thought this novel had a very interesting premise, even though the characterization left much to be desired. Mallory gets shipped off to boarding school with hardly any warning from her parents, and doesn't really put up much of a fight about it. Once she gets there, she doesn't go out of her way to make friends. Even when the guy she has known forever, Reid, tries to connect with her, she shuts him out. She never really comes alive until near the end of the book.
I liked watching the tense plot unfold, and though I never truly felt the amount of fear that Mallory must be feeling, I believed that she felt it. I also liked the flashbacks to the past, that were told as memories slowly came back to Mallory.
There were a couple of twists at the end that I enjoyed, but I still felt there was a lot left unsaid. I won't say what in this review, but I think other readers will agree with me. I hope Mallory went on to have a better life, because after everything she'd been through, she definitely deserved it.
I liked watching the tense plot unfold, and though I never truly felt the amount of fear that Mallory must be feeling, I believed that she felt it. I also liked the flashbacks to the past, that were told as memories slowly came back to Mallory.
There were a couple of twists at the end that I enjoyed, but I still felt there was a lot left unsaid. I won't say what in this review, but I think other readers will agree with me. I hope Mallory went on to have a better life, because after everything she'd been through, she definitely deserved it.
tatbookshelf's review against another edition
5.0
Review:
5⭐
I want to start this review by saying I loved all the drama in HYSTERIA. One word for it: wild. HYSTERIA managed to pull me out of a reading slump. It was kind of creepy in a sense of paranoia coupled with paranormal. So much happened in this book, and I was enthralled throughout its entirety: murder, new school, creepy dreams, weird bruises, a stalker + more murder. From the first page to the last page there was never a break for the Mallory, and I felt bad to learn what she went through. I know books are matter of preference, but I loved the mystery, flashbacks, and overall premise of the book.
What I Liked About It:
*creepiness
5⭐
I want to start this review by saying I loved all the drama in HYSTERIA. One word for it: wild. HYSTERIA managed to pull me out of a reading slump. It was kind of creepy in a sense of paranoia coupled with paranormal. So much happened in this book, and I was enthralled throughout its entirety: murder, new school, creepy dreams, weird bruises, a stalker + more murder. From the first page to the last page there was never a break for the Mallory, and I felt bad to learn what she went through. I know books are matter of preference, but I loved the mystery, flashbacks, and overall premise of the book.
What I Liked About It:
*creepiness
michalice's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed Fracture by Megan, so when Hysteria came up on netgalley I requested it immediately and was happy to be accepted. The first few paragraphs grab your attention immediately. A knife block being hidden, Mallory's Mum locking her bedroom door, then suitcase on bed, all of these little titbits made me very curious as to what was going on. As Hysteria progresses we learn more about the protagonist, Mallory and the reasons for the above.
Throughout Hysteria we get flashbacks to the event and get to see all the bits and pieces as they slowly fill in the blanks, not only for us the reader, but also for Mallory. The more she learns and pieces together the more she struggles with who and what to believe, right up to the last moment where she realises the truth.
One character that stands out to me is Colleen, no matter what crazy thing Mallory tells her, Colleen is always on Mallory's side helping her work out her strange nightmares, or listening to her without judgement. This is what a best friend should be like, having you back and standing up for you no matter what.
Megan has a great way with words and has a natural ability to draw you in, and from the minute I began reading Hysteria I was hooked. The flashbacks only enhanced the story, giving you just enough to tease you but not give it all away, and we learn of what happened as Mallory remembers herself. By the end of the story I was so tense and nervous about what would happen next, probably feeling exactly the same as Mallory. I am looking forward to reading future work from Megan.
Throughout Hysteria we get flashbacks to the event and get to see all the bits and pieces as they slowly fill in the blanks, not only for us the reader, but also for Mallory. The more she learns and pieces together the more she struggles with who and what to believe, right up to the last moment where she realises the truth.
One character that stands out to me is Colleen, no matter what crazy thing Mallory tells her, Colleen is always on Mallory's side helping her work out her strange nightmares, or listening to her without judgement. This is what a best friend should be like, having you back and standing up for you no matter what.
Megan has a great way with words and has a natural ability to draw you in, and from the minute I began reading Hysteria I was hooked. The flashbacks only enhanced the story, giving you just enough to tease you but not give it all away, and we learn of what happened as Mallory remembers herself. By the end of the story I was so tense and nervous about what would happen next, probably feeling exactly the same as Mallory. I am looking forward to reading future work from Megan.
patchworkbunny's review against another edition
4.0
Mallory killed her boyfriend. She doesn’t remember much of what happened, just the fear, but the authorities agree it was self-defence. However her parents decide that she would be better off finishing her education away from the town where everyone knows. Arriving at boarding school, Mallory hopes for a fresh start, but she can’t escape the feeling of fear. The other students aren’t welcoming and she starts to wake up in the night; convinced there is someone in her room with her. Is she losing her mind or is someone out to get her?
Hysteria is a fantastic pacey thriller for young adults. It treads a fine line between reality and supernatural, keeping you guessing right to the end whether or not she’s just going crazy or if there’s something else at play. So often books that take this approach will make it all too obvious is it’s one or the other. There’s lots of edge of your seat tension and I found myself staying up late to finish it.
The word hysteria might conjure up images of Victorian ladies getting a bit emotional but it is a real mental condition. The story plays with Mallory’s paranoia and anxiety and how easily our minds can play tricks on us. We are doubting Mallory as she starts to doubt herself. If she killed one person, isn’t she capable of killing more?
The events of the night she killed her boyfriend are revealed in flashbacks, little glimpses as she starts to recall things and puts the pieces together. The present day story is much more convincing; I struggled to really understand her relationships or feel her terror in the flashbacks. It kind of came across as oh well you killed someone but never mind. When she remembers, it’s not like I felt the actions of others justified what she did. I thought they were a bit harsh on Brian’s mother, her grief has obviously pushed her over the edge, but her son has been killed and justice has not been carried out in her eyes. What do they expect?
Hysteria is a fantastic pacey thriller for young adults. It treads a fine line between reality and supernatural, keeping you guessing right to the end whether or not she’s just going crazy or if there’s something else at play. So often books that take this approach will make it all too obvious is it’s one or the other. There’s lots of edge of your seat tension and I found myself staying up late to finish it.
The word hysteria might conjure up images of Victorian ladies getting a bit emotional but it is a real mental condition. The story plays with Mallory’s paranoia and anxiety and how easily our minds can play tricks on us. We are doubting Mallory as she starts to doubt herself. If she killed one person, isn’t she capable of killing more?
The events of the night she killed her boyfriend are revealed in flashbacks, little glimpses as she starts to recall things and puts the pieces together. The present day story is much more convincing; I struggled to really understand her relationships or feel her terror in the flashbacks. It kind of came across as oh well you killed someone but never mind. When she remembers, it’s not like I felt the actions of others justified what she did. I thought they were a bit harsh on Brian’s mother, her grief has obviously pushed her over the edge, but her son has been killed and justice has not been carried out in her eyes. What do they expect?
haleyelisereads's review against another edition
4.0
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.
audreychamaine's review against another edition
3.0
I was a big fan of Megan Miranda's debut novel, Fracture, so I jumped at the chance to read her latest book, Hysteria. While I didn't enjoy it as much as Fracture, Hysteria was a solid novel and had some really creepy elements to it, which is what attracted me to Miranda's writing in the first place.
From the very beginning, we get a dark, incomplete picture of the home life of main character Mallory. Her parents seem to be afraid of her, avoiding her and sending her away to a boarding school. You can't really blame them, though, because Mallory murdered her boyfriend in her kitchen. No charges were pressed because it was deemed to be self-defense, but Mallory has incomplete memories about that night and about what exactly happened. If you killed somebody defending yourself, wouldn't it be better to remember it? It makes sense to get out of Dodge, though, because the friends of the dead boyfriend are harassing her and the mother is stalking her. Tension drips from these pages, darkness pulses. I was hooked from the first sentence.
There's a possible paranormal bent to this story, but it could also be explained away as part of Mallory's compromised psyche. She hears pounding, and an injury begins physically manifesting itself on her body. Mallory's convinced her dead boyfriend's ghost is haunting her, and as the story progresses, these occurrences build to a climax. Additionally, a boy at her new boarding school turns up murdered, and all eyes look toward Mallory as the lead suspect.
Unfortunately, the final part of the book didn't result in the kind of payoff I was hoping for. I felt like the ending was strangely rushed, and there was a stereotypical big reveal from the bad guy. I don't get why they always need to explain everything, other than it's an easy way to do a massive info-dump to deliver the "eureka" moment to the main character.
Although I didn't care for Hysteria as much as Fracture, I still think many readers will enjoy the dark atmosphere and creep factor of a character who may slowly be losing her mind.
From the very beginning, we get a dark, incomplete picture of the home life of main character Mallory. Her parents seem to be afraid of her, avoiding her and sending her away to a boarding school. You can't really blame them, though, because Mallory murdered her boyfriend in her kitchen. No charges were pressed because it was deemed to be self-defense, but Mallory has incomplete memories about that night and about what exactly happened. If you killed somebody defending yourself, wouldn't it be better to remember it? It makes sense to get out of Dodge, though, because the friends of the dead boyfriend are harassing her and the mother is stalking her. Tension drips from these pages, darkness pulses. I was hooked from the first sentence.
There's a possible paranormal bent to this story, but it could also be explained away as part of Mallory's compromised psyche. She hears pounding, and an injury begins physically manifesting itself on her body. Mallory's convinced her dead boyfriend's ghost is haunting her, and as the story progresses, these occurrences build to a climax. Additionally, a boy at her new boarding school turns up murdered, and all eyes look toward Mallory as the lead suspect.
Unfortunately, the final part of the book didn't result in the kind of payoff I was hoping for. I felt like the ending was strangely rushed, and there was a stereotypical big reveal from the bad guy. I don't get why they always need to explain everything, other than it's an easy way to do a massive info-dump to deliver the "eureka" moment to the main character.
Although I didn't care for Hysteria as much as Fracture, I still think many readers will enjoy the dark atmosphere and creep factor of a character who may slowly be losing her mind.
smolek's review against another edition
2.0
I read this at the end of a string of several Megan Miranda books. They suck me in for the first part and then meander toward a ending. This one meandered a bit too much and I started skimming about 2/3 of the way in. A week later, I'm not sure how it ended.
rdyourbookcase's review against another edition
5.0
Oh boy. I just finished this book and my heart is pounding like crazy! Not anything new - my heart pounded like crazy throughout the whole book. I had no idea what was true and what wasn't and that made the story so interesting. I wanted to believe the main character, but that small seed of doubt planted in my brain scared me. This is the best horror book that I have read in a seriously long time. I couldn't read it before bed. Honestly. I started reading the book at night, and dreamt about knives. Not fun. No more of that.
Instead, I read it on my lunch hour. I couldn't read it after 5pm, approximately. Since most of the reading was done on my breaks, and the book was so suspenseful, I really wanted to just hide in the break room and finish this awesome book. I had to know what happened and I couldn't wait to find out, and just when I thought I knew what was going on, CRAZIER stuff happened. Also, there was a cute boy. Bonus!
I was very happy with the ending. I won't spoil it, but the last 30 or so pages had me very concerned. This is one of my new favorites!
Instead, I read it on my lunch hour. I couldn't read it after 5pm, approximately. Since most of the reading was done on my breaks, and the book was so suspenseful, I really wanted to just hide in the break room and finish this awesome book. I had to know what happened and I couldn't wait to find out, and just when I thought I knew what was going on, CRAZIER stuff happened. Also, there was a cute boy. Bonus!
I was very happy with the ending. I won't spoil it, but the last 30 or so pages had me very concerned. This is one of my new favorites!
melissadelongcox's review against another edition
4.0
The reviews on this one concerned me a little; it's never good to see so many that are super negative and call a book boring. That said, I still wanted to read the book and I'm so glad I did! I really enjoyed the book, and it definitely creeped me out a little. I'd highly recommend it, especially if you're looking for a quick read with a couple twists.