Jordon's Review of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer Trilogy, #1)

by Michelle Hodkin

A dark, supernatural romance, perfect for fans of Holly Black, Cassandra Clare and Stephenie Meyer.

Mara Dyer wakes from a coma in hospital with no memory of how she got there or of the bizarre accident that caused the deaths of her best friends and her boyfriend, yet left her mysteriously unharmed.

The doctors suggest that starting over in a new city, a new school, would be good for her and just to let the memories gradually come back on their own. But Mara's new start is anything but comforting. She sees the faces of her dead friends everywhere, and when she suddenly begins to see other people's deaths right before they happen, Mara wonders whether she's going crazy!

And if dealing with all this wasn't enough, Noah Shaw, the most beautiful boy she has ever seen can't seem to leave her alone . . . but as her life unravels around her, Mara can't help but wonder if Noah has another agenda altogether.

Praise for The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer:
'Haunting and dreamlike... the intrigue and romance will inescapably draw you in' - Cassandra Clare, bestselling author of The Mortal Instruments series.

'The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer strikes a rare balance of darkly funny, deliciously creepy and genuinely thoughtful. One minute I was laughing out loud, and the next, I was so scared I wanted to turn on all the lights and hide under the covers. Michelle Hodkin's talent and range are obvious, from her chilling descriptions to romantic scenes that almost crackled on the page. I've never read anything quite like it.' Veronica Roth, New York Times bestselling author of Divergent

Also by Michelle Hodkin:
The Evolution of Mara Dyer
The Retribution of Mara Dyer
The Becoming of Noah Shaw
The Reckoning of Noah Shaw

Review originally posted at Simply Adrift.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer was a book I only picked up because recently I had been seeing people say how much they loved this series. The synopsis also sounded interesting to me. So I went into this book with low expectations because I've also heard not so great things about it.

This book wasn't what I thought it would be, and I guess that is actually in a bad way. Mara was an incredibly annoying character. I didn't really like her much to be honest, she was moody all the time, she has no self confidence and she didn't want to let anyone in. I know what happened was traumatic for her, but reading a character that purposefully pushes people away was really frustrating.

The whole concept of this book was unclear to me. I was confused about the 'powers' and what the story was trying to be. I couldn't figure out if this story wanted to be a drama about a teenage girl getting over the death of her friends, a paranormal romance about mysterious powers, or a thriller. It was confusing and the story wasn't clear enough for me to enjoy it.

The romance was childish in my opinion. Noah was adamant to get Mara's attention, but Mara was adamant he was a douche and didn't want any part of him. So Noah just kept trying to get her attention, and it really didn't take long for Mara to change her mind.

I wanted to like this but I just didn't. It was too messy and didn't draw me in to the story or the characters. I felt like there was real potential though, especially because Mara had no recollection of the night her friends died and she was there.

Unfortunately, I will not be continuing this series.

Always,
Jordon

This review was originally posted on Simply Adrift

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

by Michelle Hodkin

Reviewed by Jordon on Sep 19, 2016

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