Megan Miranda's debut novel, Fracture, established her as a strong architect of psychological drama, and she comes through again with her sophomore novel, Hysteria.
Mallory has killed her boyfriend, but can't remember the details of that night. With the heroine caught between sanity, her dreams and the opinions of those around her, her parents decide to send her to a prep school where she can escape the stares and finger pointing. They feel confident that the new start will help Mallory to move on. But a new environment isn't enough: "The room throbbed with the boom, boom, boom just like at home. Same as always." The guilt and madness slowly build as Mallory has trouble discerning her dreams from real life. Mysterious bruises appear on her skin, she has interactions with students she can't remember and, finally, another boy is killed in her room.
Alternating between Mallory's memories and the present, Miranda uses a narrative style that evokes a teen on the edge of sanity. Mallory's journey to find herself and understand what happened with her dead boyfriend and the boy at her new school will leave readers feeling as anxious as the narrator. Miranda has created a true psychological drama from first page to last. --Shanyn Day, blogger at Chick Loves Lit