Hysteria

Hysteria wasn't really what I was expecting. It was a fast paced read that wasn't as scary as I thought it was going to be. I did enjoy reading it but it is something very different from the books I generally read. If you are looking for a once upon a time love story this is not it. While it does have a love element to it (I always say I will read anything with a love story). Mallory and Reid have a relationship that very slowly develops over the course of this book. I enjoyed seeing it develop and I loved Reid. I thought that he was an amazing character. I would say give Hysteria a chance I wasn't sure I would enjoy it but found myself saying just one more chapter and not putting the book down. Happy reading!

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.

Do not start Hysteria expecting to get warm fuzzies. It's a little gory at times, but it is also super fast-paced. I couldn't put it down.



If I had to imagine what "going crazy" was like, I think this book would accurately depict it. Mallory was certainly on the edge of something.


There isn't a whole lot to mention, really other than the concept behind the book. It was different. I don't recall reading (or even knowing about) a book about a character that is on the edge of losing his/her mind from a traumatic event. So of course, that made Hysteria a one of a kind read for me. It was "fresh"-- if something so dark can be described as fresh.


Something worth mentioning that I enjoyed was the mentioning of one of my favorite books of ALL TIME: The Lord of the Flies. There was an interesting reference to the mob mentality of the boys that killed Piggy-- which totally relates to a few scenes in this book. Honestly, doesn't that relate to life in general?


Finally, I guess the characters should be mentioned. I mean, what is a book if not for the characters, right? Mallory was conflicted. Screwed-up actually. She went through a pretty traumatic event that has left her scarred and slightly unstable. Her best friend, Colleen, seemed solid enough eventhough she didn't have much face time in the book until the end. There relationship was different. Maybe a little beyond the standard bestfriend role? I dunno... they seemed connected on a different level. Then there is Reid. Love him. He was the new love interest, but also more. He was a nice solid in the middle of all the crazy. There were some villain types in the book hiding in the form of mean boarding school girls. They sucked. But the most vile of them all (in my opinion) was Dylan. When you read this you'll know why. Douche bag extreme. Everything is his fault! At least I think so.


So go ahead, check out Hysteria. It was interesting and a quick read. It will surprise you with some of the plot twists, which is always a plus in a novel.