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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
I just finished this book and I cannot believe how much I enjoyed reading it.
I found Mara to be a believable and interesting character. Because of her diagnosis of PTSD she initially brushes off the weird feelings and things she is seeing. While some seem to be obvious hallucinations, others seem to be real and give her that dreaded feeling of being watched.
I stand by my original assessment that this is a Stephen King-esque novel. The creepy feeling that you get on the back of your neck when you're reading a really good King novel is present throughout this novel. There is the major overarching mystery, what happened the night that Mara lost her memory and her best friend died, and smaller mysteries strewn throughout the novel. Is what Mara seeing a hallucination or is it real? At what point is Mara sane or crazy? Who seems to be threatening her family? Many of these mysteries do not seemed to be solved at the end of the novel and hopefully will be answered in an upcoming sequel.
While the love story between Mara and Noah seems like the classic, boy is too good for the girl, girl resists but eventually they get together and live happily ever after is not present in this story. Mara never stops thinking that Noah is playing her or has an ulterior motive.
The characters are fully formed and seem to be as real as possible. I was left wanting more background into Mara and her family, especially her Indian relatives.
Though I enjoyed this book, I was disappointed to find out it is the first in a series. While I am excited to read the second novel, I fell that this novel could have stood alone without a sequel and I can only hope that the second novel is as strong as the first.
I found Mara to be a believable and interesting character. Because of her diagnosis of PTSD she initially brushes off the weird feelings and things she is seeing. While some seem to be obvious hallucinations, others seem to be real and give her that dreaded feeling of being watched.
I stand by my original assessment that this is a Stephen King-esque novel. The creepy feeling that you get on the back of your neck when you're reading a really good King novel is present throughout this novel. There is the major overarching mystery, what happened the night that Mara lost her memory and her best friend died, and smaller mysteries strewn throughout the novel. Is what Mara seeing a hallucination or is it real? At what point is Mara sane or crazy? Who seems to be threatening her family? Many of these mysteries do not seemed to be solved at the end of the novel and hopefully will be answered in an upcoming sequel.
While the love story between Mara and Noah seems like the classic, boy is too good for the girl, girl resists but eventually they get together and live happily ever after is not present in this story. Mara never stops thinking that Noah is playing her or has an ulterior motive.
The characters are fully formed and seem to be as real as possible. I was left wanting more background into Mara and her family, especially her Indian relatives.
Though I enjoyed this book, I was disappointed to find out it is the first in a series. While I am excited to read the second novel, I fell that this novel could have stood alone without a sequel and I can only hope that the second novel is as strong as the first.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank the gods i had the sense to order the next book the other day, what an ending!!
Full review to come, as soon as my heart rate returns to normal...could take a while.
Full review to come, as soon as my heart rate returns to normal...could take a while.
This book had some things that really worked for me and some things that really didn't. The things that did would have gotten it 4 stars, the things that didn't a 1, so this is a generous 3 star rating for me.
Likes: Something that bothered other readers that I actually really enjoyed was not ever knowing exactly what was going on. I like unreliable narrators. I liked that the author didn't tip her hand, although I didn't appreciate the massive cliff-hanger at the end that negated any possible emotional pay off for sticking with a book that had put you through a maze of plot and dialogue. Though the obvious YA supernatural romance elements so clearly inspired by Twilight and it's ilk (by this I mean the plain and awkward heroine and the brooding, rich, mysterious and very often horrible boyfriend) weren't my favorite, I knew what it was when I picked it up. I can't pick up a book like this and then be mad it's exactly what you'd expect it to be. That being said, I enjoyed the parts where Mara stood up for herself. And I loved the fact that Mara had a relationship with her family, and especially her relationship with her older brother. I thought it was sweet.
Dislikes: Well, it was incredibly melodramatic at parts. There were a couple of times I snorted. I wanted the book to make up its mind whether it was a fantasy book or a psychological thriller. It can be both, but it seemed like the fantastic elements were inserted at really awkward times, like the shop disappearing, like, what, in Harry Potter? It didn't fit well. And obviously if you know me at all, I was disgusted when Noah was reading the children's books to Mara. Are we really going to do that??? That's disgusting. And disturbing. Innocence and sanctity of childhood anyone? No? It's just me then?
As I mentioned above I despised the cliff-hanger ending. It felt like a slap in the face after not giving up after receiving so little information about what was really happening. Be aware there's tons of the F-bomb in this book as well, but, you know, kids these days? I guess? I also thought it was really annoying how Jamie was so awful to Anna. I'm not sure exactly what she did to him, since there's nothing in the book, but he's HORRIBLE to her, even though I would expect him to feel sorry for her after they both have negative feelings about Noah. It makes no sense.
Over all, I could not put this book down and it had some nice moments. Contemplating the sequels but might need to wait until they're cheaper on kindle.
Likes: Something that bothered other readers that I actually really enjoyed was not ever knowing exactly what was going on. I like unreliable narrators. I liked that the author didn't tip her hand, although I didn't appreciate the massive cliff-hanger at the end that negated any possible emotional pay off for sticking with a book that had put you through a maze of plot and dialogue. Though the obvious YA supernatural romance elements so clearly inspired by Twilight and it's ilk (by this I mean the plain and awkward heroine and the brooding, rich, mysterious and very often horrible boyfriend) weren't my favorite, I knew what it was when I picked it up. I can't pick up a book like this and then be mad it's exactly what you'd expect it to be. That being said, I enjoyed the parts where Mara stood up for herself. And I loved the fact that Mara had a relationship with her family, and especially her relationship with her older brother. I thought it was sweet.
Dislikes: Well, it was incredibly melodramatic at parts. There were a couple of times I snorted. I wanted the book to make up its mind whether it was a fantasy book or a psychological thriller. It can be both, but it seemed like the fantastic elements were inserted at really awkward times, like the shop disappearing, like, what, in Harry Potter? It didn't fit well. And obviously if you know me at all, I was disgusted when Noah was reading the children's books to Mara. Are we really going to do that??? That's disgusting. And disturbing. Innocence and sanctity of childhood anyone? No? It's just me then?
As I mentioned above I despised the cliff-hanger ending. It felt like a slap in the face after not giving up after receiving so little information about what was really happening. Be aware there's tons of the F-bomb in this book as well, but, you know, kids these days? I guess? I also thought it was really annoying how Jamie was so awful to Anna. I'm not sure exactly what she did to him, since there's nothing in the book, but he's HORRIBLE to her, even though I would expect him to feel sorry for her after they both have negative feelings about Noah. It makes no sense.
Over all, I could not put this book down and it had some nice moments. Contemplating the sequels but might need to wait until they're cheaper on kindle.
Though I was initially intrigued by the concept of this book, the plot is hard to follow and the big mysteries don't actually make sense. Plus it dips dangerously into standard YA cliches.
That twist at the end!! Did not see that one coming AT ALL
Wow is really all I can say. Loved this book!!
2014: 5/5
2022: a solid 2/5, terrible ending, first time around I didn’t realise it was a twilight rip off lmao
2022: a solid 2/5, terrible ending, first time around I didn’t realise it was a twilight rip off lmao
More reviews at Rondo of a Possible World: YA Book Reviews
Mara Dyer is one heck of a roller coaster novel, I can tell you this much from experience. Now this is a book that most people are going to love or most people are going to hate. I definitely enjoyed The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer for three things: The hot, intellectual Noah Shaw that could be as yummy as soft-serve vanilla ice cream. Comedic genius dialogue that had me raving and rolling off my bed a few times. And Jamie Roth, Mr. "sipping-grade-intellect-parseltongue-learning-bisexual" friend who is not only cunning but lovable to where you wanna fistbump after everything he says. Oh, and the cover. Can't forget about that gorgeous cover!
Now there was only one thing that kinda put me off. All through the book you know there's going to be paranormal, and your waiting for it, and you just keep waiting, until FINALLY you figure it out. Except for Mara. Then you're thrown into her thoughts of "it was obviously a dream.... ..... .....RIGHT?" which put me through six or seven loops. And then during the final chapters you get this massive load of information which just added ten more hoops. So you get the paranormal buzzer going off and I'm just sitting there with my eye twitched from that massive information and sensory overload. And then you have a cliffhanger which caused an epileptic seizure.
So all in all. Awesome characters. Mara "Don't-Step-On-Me-Because-I-Bite-Back" Dyer who's mind and narration you can't assume is the real deal all the time. Mr. Noah "I'm-Sexy-And-I-Know-It" Shaw who you wish was your legitimate boyfriend. Jamie "I'm-A-Cliché" Roth. And then you got your asshole characters such as Anna and Aiden who just make you wanna punch a wall and scream at someone to show them no mercy. Trust me, I did that all.
Take the roller coaster ride. If that doesn't wanna make you read the book, then do it for the cover because it's just beautiful.
Mara Dyer is one heck of a roller coaster novel, I can tell you this much from experience. Now this is a book that most people are going to love or most people are going to hate. I definitely enjoyed The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer for three things: The hot, intellectual Noah Shaw that could be as yummy as soft-serve vanilla ice cream. Comedic genius dialogue that had me raving and rolling off my bed a few times. And Jamie Roth, Mr. "sipping-grade-intellect-parseltongue-learning-bisexual" friend who is not only cunning but lovable to where you wanna fistbump after everything he says. Oh, and the cover. Can't forget about that gorgeous cover!
Now there was only one thing that kinda put me off. All through the book you know there's going to be paranormal, and your waiting for it, and you just keep waiting, until FINALLY you figure it out. Except for Mara. Then you're thrown into her thoughts of "it was obviously a dream.... ..... .....RIGHT?" which put me through six or seven loops. And then during the final chapters you get this massive load of information which just added ten more hoops. So you get the paranormal buzzer going off and I'm just sitting there with my eye twitched from that massive information and sensory overload. And then you have a cliffhanger which caused an epileptic seizure.
So all in all. Awesome characters. Mara "Don't-Step-On-Me-Because-I-Bite-Back" Dyer who's mind and narration you can't assume is the real deal all the time. Mr. Noah "I'm-Sexy-And-I-Know-It" Shaw who you wish was your legitimate boyfriend. Jamie "I'm-A-Cliché" Roth. And then you got your asshole characters such as Anna and Aiden who just make you wanna punch a wall and scream at someone to show them no mercy. Trust me, I did that all.
Take the roller coaster ride. If that doesn't wanna make you read the book, then do it for the cover because it's just beautiful.
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes