The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin - Review

                       

 

Title: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

Author: Michelle Hodkin

Series or Stand Alone: Series

Next Book: The Evolution of Mara Dyer

Pages: 452

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

Date Published: September 27th 2011 

Genres: Young Adult, Mystery, Suspense, Paranormal, Romance, Contemporary





 

 

 

 

Mara Dyer survives the collapse of a building that kills her bestfriend, her boyfriend, and her boyfriend's sister. Since the accident, Mara was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and starts to experience visual hallucinations and nightmares. To help get past the whole ordeal, Mara suggests to her parents to move. Thinking that it'll help, her parents agree and move from Laurelton, Rhode Island to Miami, Florida. There, Mara starts school at Croyden, a private school, where she meets Noah Shaw. Strange things start to happen around Mara and death seems to have followed her to Miami. Since the accident, Mara no longer trusts her mind and questions her sanity.

 

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer has a very unique storyline and plot that makes it stand out among the other young adult paranormal books. It's is a hard book to describe and review without spoiling to much.

 

The book has paranormal elements to it without the use of vampires, zombies, werewolves, fairies, or anything like that. Without giving too much away, I will say that Mara acquires a mysterious ability and she tries to figure out the extent of it with Noah's help.

 

This book was a real page turner and I found myself staying up late to finish it because, I really wanted to know how things tied together. Though I wouldn't say this book is action packed, many striking events happen throughout the course of the book that make you want to read on. As well, small pieces of information about the night of the collapse and what's happening to Mara are slowly revealed as you read. As I was reading, I was trying to connect the dots and formulate theories on what the hell was going on and how the book was going to end.

 

The book is told from Mara's perspective and what's interesting is, Mara is an unreliable narrator and you can't always trust whether what she just experienced actually happened, or if it was a hallucination. Being diagnosed with PTSD, Mara expects to have hallucinations and often questions her own experiences and what she thinks she sees. Reading the story through Mara's point of view will have you thinking, “Did that really happen?”, “Did she just imagine it?” and “Was it just a dream?” throughout the book.

 

Though a bit mentally unstable, Mara is witty and sarcastic and I instantly liked her for her sense of humour. Mara is a very relatable protagonist who's just trying to put her life back together after a tragedy. Though she's not entirely sure how to take control of her life, she's no Mary-Sue and can stand her ground when need be.

 

Bad Boy. British. Accent. Tall. Protective. Witty. Handsome. Sexy. Who am I talking about? None other than, Noah Shaw. His physical description is nothing I haven't seen before in YA literature, but Noah stands out among all the cookie cutter clones. If you're like me, when you first read about Noah, you'll probably roll your eyes a few times. I HATE comparing things to Twilight and all things related to it, but that's what I mentally did – and I mentally slapped myself for it. After his initial introduction, we gradually learn that Noah was adopted, he plays the guitar and composes, and he's rich. A certain character from Twilight came to mind, but that quickly went away as the story progressed.

 

Like Mara, he is also witty and has a sense of humor and I loved the romance between them. Between them, Noah and Mara have perfected the art of banter. Many scenes between Mara and Noah were very sweet and he was there for her when she had few or no one she could turn to.

 

I was a tad let down when I found out what was going on with Mara. Not that I was disappointed, but I think I mentally built myself up for a bigger (more complex?) answer/reason to everything that was going on. No biggie though, the story was still enjoyable after the revelation.

Mara Dyer is an interesting and enjoyable read that will appeal to many people as it has a little bit of everything – mystery, suspense, humor, and a great romance. Mara Dyer ends with a cliffhanger and you'll probably want to pick up the next book right away.

 

My Rating: 4/5

 

 

“Did I just see you litter?'

'I'm driving a hybrid. It cancels out.”

 

 



“Is there any point asking what you're going to make me do on Sunday?"
"Not really."
Okay. "Is there any point asking what you're going to do to me?"
He grinned wickedly. "Not really."
Fabulous. "Does it involve the use of a safe word?"
"That will depend entirely on you." Noah moved impossibly closer, just inches away.