Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

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. ~ Goodreads

Review:This is another very popular book I just didn't connect with. It could be because all I heard going in was how crazy and twisted it was. What's real? What isn't? Is Mara crazy? Maybe it's because I just finished a truly twisty book (Mind Games by Kiersten White) but I didn't feel like there was a big mystery. Mara just needed to regain her memories in my opinion. Then the book took a sudden turn towards the paranormal that pretty much strips away all the psychological build up and gives an easy out. I guessed almost everything from that point on.

I think the biggest problem I had is that both Mara and her love interest Noah felt flat to me. While it wasn't quite insta-love…it turned inexplicably from we're attracted to each other to I love you. And what's with Noah and the "mine" crap? Noah is the hot, brilliant, British, rich boy who's a man whore (yet maybe not) that has finally found a connection with a girl. He's ok when you get to know him but his alpha tendencies turned me off and he’s just too unbelievably perfect.

The writing and plotting felt uneven to me. There were endless descriptions of Mara's day then something big would finally happen only to have Mara or Noah just walk away like ti was nothing. The next page we’re on to a new thing. I felt like I was paying attention to everything for no reason. There seemed to dozens of things going on: an abused dog, a mean girl scenario, visions of dead people, court cases, teachers who throw chalk at their students (?), kidnappings and more yet it at over 400 pages it never really amounts to anything.

Rating: 2.5 out of 4 So….I didn't so much dislike this book as I didn't have any strong feelings either way. It was fine but not the compelling psychological thriller I was expecting although I am glad that I read it.


Update: I read book #2, The Evolution of Mara Dyer and while I did connect with the characters more this time around, I still feel like the author keeps setting up these BIG moments only to drop them in the next chapter.

After almost 1000 pages between the two books I don't feel like we've gotten very far.

Again, I still don't find this series very twisty. It's hard for me to describe this without spoilers so I'll be all cryptic…..the whole premise holding the story together is an unreliable narrator. I don't find Mara unreliable. The story seems very straightforward to me. I guess I’m a party pooper and can’t just let my mind go with it.

Almost everyone loves this series and finds it to be crazy twisty and dark so I definitely think you should all give it a try despite my opinions. Most readers enjoy the second book even more, which is why I gave it a shot. I'm just curious enough to see how she wraps this up in one book so I'll probably read book #3 too.

Author: website | twitter
Source: Gifted
Buy the book! The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer | The Evolution of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer Trilogy)
* Information and cover reveal for book #3 The Retribution of Mara Dyer. I LOVE this cover. It’s my favorite from the series.