The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer: Volume 1 (Mara Dyer Trilogy, #1)

by Michelle Hodkin

Seventeen-year-old Mara cannot remember the accident that took the lives of three of her friends but, after moving from Rhode Island to Florida, finding love with Noah, and more deaths, she realizes uncovering something buried in her memory might save her family and her future.

• ISBN10: 1442421762
• ISBN13: 9781442421769
• Publish Date: 27 September 2011
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 464
• Language: English

Reviews

[cornerfolds]

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer has been on my to-read list since it was released. I've looked at it and thought about it and almost started it and put it back several times. But about a week ago I decided to take a break from The Wheel of Time series after finishing Fires of Heaven (those books take a lot of work) and went to find a new audiobook to listen to. This is what I landed on. Now I'm pissed I didn't read it sooner.

When Mara wakes up in the hospital to find her best friend and boyfriend have died, she's devastated. To ease her back into society, her family agrees to move to Florida, where she starts fresh at a new school. Her new BFF, Jamie, warns her against Noah almost immediately, which I guess makes sense amidst high school gossip (admittedly, it's been awhile since I've been there). Somewhat predictably, Noah pursues her, she tries to resist and can't, etc.

There are quite a few obvious cliches within Mara's new private school - the bisexual best friend, the slutty mean girl, and the irritatingly muscular asshole. But I guess that's to be expected. I found the dynamics within the school to be a little unbelievable at times, but hey, it's fiction. Something that seemed a little ridiculous was the way Mara made such a huge deal about how rich the other students were. Um... so her mom is a psychologist and her dad is a lawyer. Yeah, she must be poor.

I've seen a lot of people complain that this book is a romance masquerading as paranormal and I'd tend to disagree. I thought the paranormal aspects of the book were well explored and the romance was convincing enough. It didn't feel forced at all, in my opinion, and it made sense within the circumstances presented.

I've also seen reviews that complain about Noah being a jerk, but I didn't get "jerk" from him. I've read a lot of books with borderline-abusive love interests (Fifty Shades, Beautiful Disaster, etc.) and Noah didn't fit the bill. That being said, he did have some curious similarities to Christian Grey: pants "hanging loose" on his hips, his love of classical music, his "bare, unlived in" bedroom, extensive library, musical talents, and ordering Mara's food for her, to name a few. But I guess these are "in" behaviors for love interests at the moment. In any case, they really didn't subtract from his character - for me, at least. The main thing that bugged me about Noah was really about Mara. She calls him "perfect" about 7,003 times in this book. The only time I've called a man perfect was -before- I really knew him. Noah isn't perfect.

Now, Mara... I didn't dislike her, but I didn't love her either. At times she seemed like kind of an idiot. For example, thinking everything Noah did was a trick and almost being purposely dense about his feelings for her. Or when he took her to his house and she was unable to put two and two together. But I did like her and I felt for her as she struggled through discovering herself. I was overjoyed that she wasn't super dramatic like some other heroines, purposely separating themselves from true love to protect their love interest. I hate that. One thing that seemed a little ridiculous - does Mara not have a smart phone? She dials 411 twice...

The paranormal aspects of this book were original and I like original. It seems like anyone can write a vampire or werewolf romance, but this was different. I loved how things slowly unraveled instead of being presented all at once. I wasn't totally sure what was going on until close to the end, but maybe I'm just slow. The ending was totally unexpected and made me think back to several other scenes.

I'll definitely be getting The Evolution of Mara Dyer immediately! Seriously, if you're like me and have been waiting for three years to read this book, hurry it up. You won't regret it!


Notes On the Audiobook

Audiobook narrators are really hit or miss. Christy Romano was by no means a -bad- narrator, but she wasn't perfect either. The accent she used for Noah was... weird. He was supposed to be from London and, while I'm no expert on accents, I watch a lot of TV and it was just off for me. There were also multiple places where she says something in a totally normal voice and follows it with, "he whispered," or, "I shouted." Um, no, you didn't. Despite the issues I had with her narration, the voice of Mara was convincing.

[Nessa Luna]

Read this review, and many more on my blog October Tune!

I remember buying this book because I was really intrigued by the summary. I told myself I would read it as soon as possible, over a year ago, oops. But a couple of days ago, I finally decided to read The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, mainly because a friend of mine absolutely loved the book. And boy did I like it!

The book starts off with a very thrilling scene, one where Mara and her friends - Rachel and Claire - decide to use the Ouija board Rachel got for her birthday. Not only did I find that a really bad idea already, the question that Rachel asks made me facepalm even more. Because you do. not. ask. a spirit how you're going to die or when you're going to die, because the answer will most likely freak you out. A lot. This is also one of the reasons I never ever want to touch an Ouija board.

When that was over, I started to really enjoy the story. It was very thrilling and I found myself wanting to read on and on and on way past my bedtime. There were some fandom related mentions, one of which I quoted at the top of this review, which made me really happy. They talked about Parseltongue (the ability to talk to snakes) and Elvish, there was a pug which just made me squeal when I read it and there were some funny parts that actually made me laugh out loud, which doesn't happen a lot when I am reading.

However, there were some flashbacks that I didn't really enjoy in the beginning. They were executed well, with a little 'before' right underneath the chapter number, and it was very obvious that they were flashbacks. In the end, I started to like them more, mainly because they were telling us what actually happened to Mara and her friends at the beginning of the story, and I found them very exciting.

The characters were awesome, and I found myself liking Mara's brothers right from the start, just like Jamie. I disliked Noah a lot in the beginning of the story, found him very annoying and kind of had the idea he had an insta-love thing for Mara. In the end, I started to like him a bit more, when he started to reveal the 'real' him. I absolutely hated Anna and Aiden and I wanted them to be punished for what they'd done, and hopefully they will in the second book.

Personally, I found the romance a bit overpowering in this story, it kind of pushed the real paranormal part of the book back at some points, and I can't really say I ship it yet, but I did like them more at the end of the book than I did when it first started. And can I just say that cover looks amazing! I love underwater photography and this picture just looks so amazing. Not really sure if it fits the story, but it's just an amazing picture and when I first got this book in the mail, I spend a good couple of hours just staring at the cover.

The writing was very nice, and like I said before, it made me want to read way past my bedtime, which I did on several occasions. Lately, I haven't really been wanting to read a lot of books, but I think The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer pulled me right out of the land of reading slumps and put me back onto my feet. I will certainly be purchasing a copy of the second book, but I will wait with reading it for a bit, so I won't have to wait that long for the third book, which comes out in November this year. (I do think The Evolution of Mara Dyer kind of sounds like she's a Pokémon. "What? Mara is evolving!").

I definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves paranormal books with a bit (well, I should say a lot) of romance in it.

My reaction of this book in one gif: 

[girlinthepages]

This review was originally published at Girl in the Pages


Warning: This review may contain mild spoilers.

This book has given me my biggest book hang over of 2014. I finished it about three days ago and I don't know what to do with myself. I can't read, I can't sleep, I can hardly manage to hold a conversation with someone regarding anything other than this book. This magnitude of a book hangover is annoying yet fantastic, because it means the book really got under my skin and made me think.

I'll admit, I spent a great deal of this book being confused. Most of my Goodreads status updates while reading this had many incoherent capital letters and question marks, because just when I thought I was beginning to understand what was going on, I got thrown for a loop. I'm still not sure whether this book is "paranormal fiction" or a "psychological thriller," because Mara is a truly unreliable narrator, and she's very candid about this fact. I thought it was really intriguing to see her struggle with PTSD and the lengths she goes to to avoid being medicated, and having a mother as a psychologist and a father as a criminal defense lawyer add multiple layers to the family dynamic as well, and how that may or may not be influencing her hallucinations and visions. I also really liked that Mara is a biracial child, and how hints of both of her cultural backgrounds (European-Caucasian and Indian) are subtly integrated into the story.

While reading this book I appreciated Hodkin's ability to make me care so much about multiple aspects of Mara's life. I was dying to receive more clarity about her traumatic accident that could help to explain her PTSD and hallucinations, but at the same time I was just as interested in her school and domestic life, finding empathy or hatred for her schoolmates who (as of now, anyways) seem to be unrelated to her potential paranormal powers and strange "episodes." (I was SO MAD when I found out what happened to poor, poor Jamie!) Yes, there is a romance, and yes, the way it is introduced is not the most original (bad boy in the school seems to singe out the main protagonist for no reason other than she's the only one not interested, pursues her even though she refuses at first, turns out to have some sort of tortured past and is really just a misunderstood soul, etc). Yet I found I liked the verbal sparring between Noah and Mara and their raw teenage humor and interactions were uncensored and therefore rather realistic. Despite telling myself that Noah is a cliché, I can't help but like his character, and Hodkin keeps me interested in him because I never quite know what his angle is, because I never quite know if the interactions Mara has with him are real or not.

And the plot twists! While I was reading there were multiple instances when I was thrown by where the story was headed, and the twist and the end was more than I could bear, when the reader finds out something Mara thought was real then realized was a hallucination was actually real feeding off her belief that she was having hallucinations (are you confused yet?) It was so eerie and I literally gasped out loud and cried "WHAT!" much to the dismay of my startled cats. This book keeps readers on their toes, and the final reveal at the end made me want to go back and reread the book immediately just so I could try to dissect fact from fiction, real from paranormal from psychotic episode.

I admit there were some issues with this book. The "paranormal" revelations (aka certain abilities the main character's may or may not have) seem a little disjointed with all of the PTSD induced symptoms Mara is having, and I'm still not sure what to believe. There were a lot of plot devices introduced that were not explained (like the link between the missing Florida girl and Mara) and sometimes the dialogue made me wince a little, and it almost seemed like Hodkin was breaking the fourth wall and having Mara think something for the benefit of trying to make the audience aware of her teenage-self. But reviews are subjective, and this book stayed with me, had so many layers and twists that I never got bored, and I just cannot wait to read the next book (I immediately ordered the sequel from Amazon upon finishing and was informed it would take 1-3 weeks to ship. Why, Amazon, WHY?) The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer seems to be a book readers either hate to love or love to hate, but I found myself drawn in to Mara's eerie, unreliable world, and I loved it!

[Katie King]

**3 stars**

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is one of those books that, for me anyways, I can't remember the plot a week later. It's strange because it's not like nothing happens in this book, it's that a lot of what happens is resolved and forgotten as quickly as it comes up. So separate events don't have a lot of overall bearing on the characters.

Anyways, I made a short list-style review for today. I won't be switching completely to these reviews, but I think they're a good option when I don't have a lot to say or when I'm busy. Without further ado:

GOOD
- the main plot with her hallucinations and powers
- writing when Mara is falling apart is great
- legitimately frightening sometimes
- a little bit diverse (Indian family)
- although we're not sure how & what she's capable of, Mara isn't constantly referred to as "special"
- the very last few pages

BAD
- the mystery suffered, and it sometimes felt like a contemporary romance
- plot stuff: her powers don't explain the hallucinations/passing out, the trial & kidnapping felt like filler
- all the female characters were bitches or beneath her (except Rachel, who's dead)
- a lot of token characters (sometimes more than one token per character)
- sexist, sleazy pig of a boyfriend

COMMENTS
- Jude was a bad kid but I'm not sure he "deserved to die"
- I wish I knew more about what exactly happened in the asylum

Summary
Classic problems: token characters, girl hate, falling in love with the school's mysterious/sexy/bad boy. Rising out of the ashes of disappointment is a cool idea for a plot that got little airtime. I loved being inside Mara's head and I loved being in the asylum. Hopefully the next one focuses on those.

[littleread1]

the "surprise" ending that had everyone shocked ... really? I thought it was kind of silly. And the note that was written at the beginning didn't connect at all with the rest of the story. but overall I didn't hate it. I am just still confused. I don't know what is going on. might or might not read the second book.

[boghunden]

I liked the premise of this story, but it took about 150 pages for the story to really pick up - until then it was mostly just a book about teenagegirl dramas. There are a lot of side stories going on at the same time as the main storyline. And be warned: This book has a huge cliffhanger! Also, I thought this book started with a huge plothole, but it didn't. It wsa just me jumping to conclusions! :)

As far as the characters go, I have one thing to say: Noah. Oh Noah. Noah, Noah, Noah!
*okay, focus*
The characters are really great written, and they're developing throughout the book and it fits the story so well. Also, Mara's brothers are absolutely amazing, especially Daniel, he's an amazing big brother.
The relations between the characters are good, but I got a feeling that they were walking on thin ice from time to time - something I'll look forward to read about in the next books.

Great start to a series!

[kimbacaffeinate]

3.5

Mara reminds me of Bella. There I said it, so shoot me. She spoke and moved like her. Maybe it was the narrator but yep, all I could see was Bella. She has a really tough time of it, and she is the perfect unreliable narrator. Even she doesn’t believe or trust herself. Mara is loyal, smart and surprisingly level headed. I found her to be incredibly brave, witty, desperate and friggin fascinating. Noah Shaw. What are you up too? Why the interest in the weird girl? Noah’s is a player, rich boy and at times feels entitled. He has a temper but he can be sweet, protective, and unsure. Noah has secrets and all the time he is wooing Mara I am wondering his end game but I liked him and oh crap did I just swoon? The Dyer family is present and involved which I appreciated and hallelujah professional help is involved. I adored Daniel her big brother, knight and protector. Joseph her younger brother made me laugh aloud. Jamie her first friend at school was an interesting character and helped add substance to what Mara stated as he provided information. Students at the school fell into cliches and added additional stress and drama to Mara’s fragile existence.

I am not sure if The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer was more mystery, suspense thriller or romance with paranormal elements. The tale goes back and forth between the two having me on edge one moment and swooning the next. Whom could I trust? What the heck is happening? Is Mara crazy? Mara begins to regain memories of the night her friends die and slowly we begin to understand, or at least I thought did. Noah is a curiosity and I enjoyed getting to know him. Between moments of uncertainty and disbelief we have a somewhat normal romance, and while I enjoyed the romance it also made me crazy because hello, WTH is happening? Hodkin kept me on the edge the entire time. When I thought I had things figured out she managed to keep me second guessing. Her writing style is descriptive, and she gave me a panoramic view of events as they unfolded. I could smell the swamp, feel the dampness in the abandoned building, taste Mara’s fear and visualize the dirt floor of the shed. The tale unwinds unevenly, giving us moments of frenzy and then dragging in parts. One minute it is a thriller and the next it was like I walked into the middle of a contemporary romance. In retrospect, I think the romance kept us grounded, it was the constant in the storm. The tale ends with a cliffy. It threw me so hard I actually went back and listened to the last two chapters again fearing I missed something.

Christy Romano did a great job as the narrator. She gave Mara and Noah their own unique voice. The only time I heard her break from character was in Mara’s bedroom when Noah revealed his secret. Mara’s monotone narrative added to my sense of uncertainty.

Copy received from publisher in exchange for unbiased review that originally published @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer

[nitzan_schwarz]

To read this review and more, check out my blog Drugs Called Books!

This book was a total surprise to me, for many reasons. But bottom line, before I get into all the details, I simply loved it. It was a good surprise.
You'll forgive the rather shallow review, I hope, as I can't organize most of my thoughts about the book.

I’ll begin with this – when I started this book, I was sure for some reason it was completely contemporary, so I was completely taken by surprise when I realized it was supernatural. Hodkin describes her book as a: “Psychological thriller with a supernatural twist.” As a fantasy lover, I didn’t mind that at all.

My name is not Mara Dyer, but my lawyer told me I had to chose something. A pseudonym. A nom de plume, for all of us studying for the SATs. I know that having a fake name is strange, but trust me—it’s the most normal thing about my life right now. Even telling you this much probably isn’t smart. But without my big mouth, no one would know a seventeen-years-old who likes Death Cab for Cutie was responsible for the murders. No one would know that somewhere out there is a B student with a body count. And it’s important that you know, so you’re not next.
Rachel’s birthday was the beginning. This is what I remember.
--The opening of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

I simply loved this beginning, because it left so much room to speculate. You were wondering so much before the story even started – what murders? Why does she have a lawyer? And “a kid who loves death cab…” each time a person who loves Death Cab came by, I started wondering “is it him?”. Wonderful opening! You can't help but feel completely intriguing right?

This book deals with mixing reality and fiction; what’s real? What’s not?
A topic, I, personally...

To read the rest of this review, click here!

[Kelly]

3.5 Stars.
Enjoyed the concept of Mara Dyer, but wished there had been more a focus on the paranormal aspect and less of the romance, although that seemed more of a friendship with lots of intense... Handholding. Hoping the second installment has far more paranormal activity.

[clementine]

So, I wrote up a pretty thorough review which didn't post, and since I don't feel like writing this entire thing again I'm just going to go over my main points.

Cons first: I felt like Noah was such a tired trope - hot intelligent attractive rich British guy. His relationship with Mara - loner girl meets unattainably and unrealistically perfect boy, hates him, then falls for him - has been done to death. I just couldn't get over how completely laughable Noah was. Nobody is like that! I also found a lot of the dialogue far too witty and articulate to be believable. A lot of what was happening to Mara seemed painfully obvious to me, and she didn't figure it out for ages, which was irritating.

Pros: I liked the general story and plot (though the pacing was a bit odd - slow for a very long time before speeding up). Structurally and technically it held up; the author actually knows how to write. The multiple subplots were handled well, and the book ended in a good place: with enough of the loose ends tied up to satisfy me, and enough left hanging to hint at a promising second book. (Although, shit, I've read so many first books in a series this year that I don't know how I'll keep up!)

I would be interested in reading the second despite the VERY irritating flaws.