Author: Michelle Hodkin
Edition: Paperback
Published: October 23, 2012
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Book for Young Readers
Pages: 452
Source: Bought from National Bookstore
Category: Paranormal, Romance
Trailer: Here.
Synopsis:
Mara Dyer doesn’t think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.
It can.
She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.
There is.
She doesn’t believe that after everything she’s been through, she can fall in love.
She’s wrong.
After Mara survives the traumatizing accident at the old asylum, it makes sense that she has issues. She lost her best friend, her boyfriend, and her boyfriend’s sister, and as if that weren’t enough to cope with, her family moves to a new state in order to give her a fresh start. But that fresh start is quickly filled with hallucinations—or are they premonitions?—and then corpses, and the boundary between reality and nightmare is wavering. At school, there’s Noah, a devastatingly handsome charmer who seems determined to help Mara piece together what’s real, what’s imagined—and what’s very, very dangerous.
This fast-paced psychological—or is it paranormal?—thriller will leave you breathless for its sequel, The Evolution of Mara Dyer.
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is absolutely engrossing.
Waking up from a terrible accident not remembering anything is a heavy burden for Mara Dyer. Her friends didn't survive the accident and she has been broken ever since. She simply cannot accept that her best friend Rachel died along with Claire and Jude but she couldn't remember anything at all. Her family agrees to move to a different town for her sake but the nightmares haunt her. She sees her dead friends and coincidentally, whenever she gets furious at someone and wishes for them to die, it happens, exactly how she thought it. And she couldn't fathom why Noah Shaw feels like he knows her even before meeting her.
I have heard nothing but fantastic reviews about the Unbecoming of Mara Dyer and I just couldn't wait for its reading schedule to arrive. I am so grateful that when I started reading it, it immediately took me in so deep I finished it without noticing how fast I read it. It is really that engrossing. One thing I liked about it is the fact that the accident slash post trauma happens in real life and being Mara seems to be hard core of an emotional baggage. I understood when and why parents let their children see a shrink and I understood why kids keep on denying what they truly feel. Hodkin's novel made it crystal clear. I loved how light reading it has been plus the character's humor, I can't help but laugh with every striking punch line. The premise itself is founded with such intense paranormal texture that obviously lured positive compliments. However, I find the sequence of events a bit inconsistent. From being a paranormal novel, it jumped to being a true-crime one. The attempt of making it a champion novel is there because it is really a good one, but as I go along, I saw these inconsistencies that I couldn't properly say for it will incur terrible spoilers. It slowly stops focusing on the paranormal part which made me notice I haven't any explanation for it. It just stops.
When it comes to characters, Unbecoming of Mara Dyer nailed it. Mara is a very strong protagonist for handling such catastrophic event in her life and for trying harder to overcome her emotional issues. Though most of the time as it gets its toll on her, she loses it and that's when I don't like her at all. She 's coherently blunt yet sometimes, it isn't even necessary to be rude. Good thing that her sarcasm is appreciated by Jamie and Noah. Just when I was about to like Jamie, he disappeared so fast as if Hodkin didn't know what to do with him anymore and I am wishing I would see him back in the sequel. And of course, Noah Shaw took over the scene. He's so dreamy I couldn't even help myself to giggle and be mesmerized. His accent, his height, perfectly sculpted body and money made him "the man to die for" but in fact, his charm does the magic. He's persistent and intelligent and maybe even without his two front teeth, he would still be adorable. On top of that, I loved his wit! Its like cherries on top of the cake! He's perfectly made and he's absolutely one of the major aspects to look forward to in this novel.
Clearly, the romance inputs of the novel have a fifty-fifty effect on me. I wasn't really convinced that Mara and Noah would work.
Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is a combination of horror and romance. It is a hair-raising and heart-stopping novel that a reader wouldn't be able to put down. It is seriously riveting to the extent of having to finish it in one sitting and asking for the sequel is an understatement. I almost wanted to plead for the sequel. It is that good! I mean, seriously good.
Waking up from a terrible accident not remembering anything is a heavy burden for Mara Dyer. Her friends didn't survive the accident and she has been broken ever since. She simply cannot accept that her best friend Rachel died along with Claire and Jude but she couldn't remember anything at all. Her family agrees to move to a different town for her sake but the nightmares haunt her. She sees her dead friends and coincidentally, whenever she gets furious at someone and wishes for them to die, it happens, exactly how she thought it. And she couldn't fathom why Noah Shaw feels like he knows her even before meeting her.
I have heard nothing but fantastic reviews about the Unbecoming of Mara Dyer and I just couldn't wait for its reading schedule to arrive. I am so grateful that when I started reading it, it immediately took me in so deep I finished it without noticing how fast I read it. It is really that engrossing. One thing I liked about it is the fact that the accident slash post trauma happens in real life and being Mara seems to be hard core of an emotional baggage. I understood when and why parents let their children see a shrink and I understood why kids keep on denying what they truly feel. Hodkin's novel made it crystal clear. I loved how light reading it has been plus the character's humor, I can't help but laugh with every striking punch line. The premise itself is founded with such intense paranormal texture that obviously lured positive compliments. However, I find the sequence of events a bit inconsistent. From being a paranormal novel, it jumped to being a true-crime one. The attempt of making it a champion novel is there because it is really a good one, but as I go along, I saw these inconsistencies that I couldn't properly say for it will incur terrible spoilers. It slowly stops focusing on the paranormal part which made me notice I haven't any explanation for it. It just stops.
When it comes to characters, Unbecoming of Mara Dyer nailed it. Mara is a very strong protagonist for handling such catastrophic event in her life and for trying harder to overcome her emotional issues. Though most of the time as it gets its toll on her, she loses it and that's when I don't like her at all. She 's coherently blunt yet sometimes, it isn't even necessary to be rude. Good thing that her sarcasm is appreciated by Jamie and Noah. Just when I was about to like Jamie, he disappeared so fast as if Hodkin didn't know what to do with him anymore and I am wishing I would see him back in the sequel. And of course, Noah Shaw took over the scene. He's so dreamy I couldn't even help myself to giggle and be mesmerized. His accent, his height, perfectly sculpted body and money made him "the man to die for" but in fact, his charm does the magic. He's persistent and intelligent and maybe even without his two front teeth, he would still be adorable. On top of that, I loved his wit! Its like cherries on top of the cake! He's perfectly made and he's absolutely one of the major aspects to look forward to in this novel.
Clearly, the romance inputs of the novel have a fifty-fifty effect on me. I wasn't really convinced that Mara and Noah would work.
Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is a combination of horror and romance. It is a hair-raising and heart-stopping novel that a reader wouldn't be able to put down. It is seriously riveting to the extent of having to finish it in one sitting and asking for the sequel is an understatement. I almost wanted to plead for the sequel. It is that good! I mean, seriously good.
VERDICT:
"Sometimes, the mind has a way of protecting us from the things until we're ready to deal with them."
I don't think ill ever read this series but I am a fan of the cover arts
ReplyDeletewhy? hehehe its not that bad haha
DeleteI'm glad you enjoyed this book! I just read it at the end of last year and like you I was totally engrossed. I can't wait for the third book that comes out later this year.
ReplyDeleteyay! I cant stop swooning for Noah!
Delete