Review: Vengeance by Megan Miranda

Title: Vengeance
Author: Megan Miranda
Genre: young adult, contemporary, thriller, mystery
Series: Fracture #2
Pages: 352
Published: expected February 13 2014
Source: publishers via NetGalley
Rating: 3.5/5

Nobody really believes in a curse. Until you know the people who disappear. Too much coincidence, you look for reason. Too much death, you grasp for something to blame. Carson pulled Delaney out and he died on the side of the road with her mouth pressed to his. Her air in his body. Troy. She told the cops it was suicide. Didn't matter. The lake released her and grabbed another. But when Decker's father dies in a pool of spilled water on their kitchen floor, all Decker can feel is a slow burning rage. Because he knows that Delaney knew that his dad was going to die. She knew and backed out of his house and never said a word. Falcon Lake still has a hold on them both, and Decker can't forgive Delaney until he knows why.

I was a big, big fan of Megan Miranda's debut novel Fracture back in 2011. Decker, the main character's best friend was the highlight of the novel for me. So upon hearing that Fracture was getting a sequel told from his perspective, I was all over it. And happily for me, Miranda does not disappoint. While some elements of the novel came off as somewhat silly (the lake is haunted!), the characters at the heart of the story more than carry the novel.

The book jumps between the complicated plotline of Delaney and Decker's relationship and a flurry of violence that seems to be targeting the group of kids who were at Falcon Lake when Delaney fell. Of the two plotlines, the one between Delaney and Decker is by far the stronger and more interesting. Their love is complicated by a big event and watching these two struggle to understand one another and to move on is heartbreaking, but it feels real. The characters feel real, and so do their interactions.

I wasn't as big of a fan of the second plotline in the story. I liked the idea that what happened to Delaney would continue to have effects on all involved, but I really couldn't buy into the whole the-lake-is-haunted-and-wants-to-kill-us. That isn't to say that Miranda can't pull it off for the most part or sell some genuinely creepy moments en route to the final reveal, but it just felt a tad silly compared to the other contents of the story.

I enjoyed Decker's POV. It's a fresh addition to the series and entirely different from Delaney's before it. He's a great character because he is shown to be so real. He makes mistakes, he does dumb things, but at the heart of it, he's a good person struggling with a heavy weight. I have to say I liked Decker best when he was happy with Delaney because oh boy do I ship it. I ship those two A LOT. They are a great example of a realistic portrayal of a teenage relationship.

Though I think Decker and Delaney have seen their last novel, I finished Vengeance a little unsatisfied. I liked what I had read, but I didn't love it. It was a sold, good book, it just didn't get to me the way that Fracture had before it. that said, I think Megan Miranda is a vastly under appreciated YA author and her work always leaves me thinking and feeling a great deal.