Fracture by Megan Miranda

Bloomsbury, 2012. ISBN 9781408817391.
(Age 13+) Recommended. Delaney Maxwell is pulled out of the icy waters of a frozen lake eleven minutes after she went through the ice. She should be dead. Her heart has stopped beating but after being in a coma she wakes up and all seems to be normal in medical terms. However Delaney feels a strange pull to people who are dying and then she meets Troy Varga, an enigmatic young man who seems to understand her frightening abilities. She begins to question whether she is causing death or is being drawn to people on the verge of death.
This is an absorbing book that works very well on a number of levels. Miranda manages to write convincingly of an altered brain state that could sense death, making it seem real and credible. At the same time she twists in a thrilling plot that keeps the reader wondering what is going to happen next. There are a number of deaths and it is never clear how they happen. The reader is left wondering whether Troy is good or evil and whether he will hurt Delaney, or is the only one who can understand her.
At the same time there is the conflict of Delaney's relationship with Decker, her best friend, the boy who wouldn't give up when she was drowning and who pulled her out of the water. The author manages this relationship in a realistic way, beautifully describing the uncertainty of teen feelings and the hesitancy for Delaney of moving from having a best friend to boyfriend.
Underlying the mystery and romance were some key themes that I kept thinking about. The right of the individual to make decisions about how and when they should die and the guilt of the living is explored. I particularly liked Delaney's phrase, 'If you had one day left to live what would you do?'
Readers who enjoyed Before I fall and If I stay by Gayle Forman will enjoy this story.
Pat Pledger