Tehreem: Hysteria by Megan Miranda

Mallory killed her boyfriend, Brian. She can't remember the details of that night but everyone knows it was self-defense, so she isn't charged. But Mallory still feels Brian's presence in her life. Is it all in her head? Or is it something more? In desperate need of a fresh start, Mallory is sent to Monroe, a fancy prep school where no one knows her . . . or anything about her past.But the feeling follows her, as do her secrets. Then, one of her new classmates turns up dead. As suspicion falls on Mallory, she must find a way to remember the details of both deadly nights so she can prove her innocence-to herself and others.

In another riveting tale of life and death, Megan Miranda's masterful storytelling brings readers along for a ride to the edge of sanity and back again.

I remember when I first saw the summary for this book. It was sometime in December and for some odd reason when ever the weather is cold, I want nothing more than a chilling horror novel. The synopsis made this book seem perfect, so I immediately ordered it from my library. Fast forward a few months and the book is ready for me. When I finally got a hold of this book, I was positively giddy. No joke. My excitement couldn't be contained. I opened the book, read the first few pages, and....

It sucked.

I wish there were more a elegant way to put that. However, adding any pizazz to that sentence might give you the wrong idea and make you decide to read this dreadful book.

Mallory is your average teenager. In other words, her intelligence level is below zero. One day, Mallory kills her boyfriend. Plot twist! (Yay!) She can't remember a single thing from that night. Instead of being traumatized like a normal human being, she goes on with her mundane life, all the while being a ditz as expected. She doesn't care at all that she killed a dude in her kitchen. All that matters is the fact that her parents are now hiding all the knives that were laying around the house. She constantly complains about how terrible her life is and how nobody trusts her. The irony in that is whenever someone confronts her about anything, she runs away.

Every. Single. Time.

I need both hands to count the number of times she took off when something went wrong. Now, it would be understandable if she ran away from some sort of killer panda or something, but she doesn't run away from danger. She runs away from a guy.

Why, you ask?

Because when she asked him out a few years ago, he turned her down.

Yes, do run away! That will definitely not make things all the more awkward the next time you meet! And you two are bound to meet again since, you know, you guys go to the SAME FREAKING SCHOOL!

Have I mentioned the love triangle? Basically, there are these two guys (as usual) who are fighting over a dumb chick. One is a creeper who threatens her, and the other is a guy she knew from the past. Does this seem familiar? I'll give you a hint; the title of this book rhymes with Nightlight. The creeper's name rhymes with Schmedward.

Anyway, the love triangle really isn't a love triangle. Normally, I would like this. However, if you are going to randomly infer that they are romantically attached to each other, at least give the relationship a strong base. Giving someone a longing stare doesn't exactly scream out, "I love you". Longing stares are so middle school. Maybe even elementary.

Personally, I would prefer it if this novel had no romance at all. The book would still be revolting, but maybe not "kill it with fire" worthy. The romance was completely unneeded. In fact, it was virtually non-existent. Why was this book categorized as a romance in the first place? I guess I'll never know. And I've long decided that I really don't care.

Please, if you are reading this review, do yourself a favor and do what Mallory did;

RUN

AWAY!!!

My rating:

One out of Five Stars -_-