Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

33 reviews

adriellereads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, and Murder

Minor: Self harm

sailortrivia's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Sexual assault, Blood, and Kidnapping

Minor: Animal cruelty

alexis_michelle's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I enjoyed this book so much, but the whole “I’m not like other girls” plot line really took me out of it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying and Sexual assault

Minor: Kidnapping

ansleymg's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer follows the main character who gives us the pseudonym of Mara Dyer at the beginning of the book through the tragic events of her junior year of high school. Within the first chapters of the book we see the tragedy begin to unfold as Mara wakes up in a hospital bed after a three day long coma. Mara’s family moves to Florida to help her escape her trauma, but Mara quickly discovers that the accident that she experienced was beyond escaping. This book takes you through twists and turns, depicting the struggles of a teenage girl with PTSD and a dark secret that her mind will not allow her to access. 

I truly enjoyed this story. Realistic fiction is not my usual genre, but The Unbecoming is done so well. Mara Dyer as a character is difficult to follow. She rarely knows what is real and what is not. The book is written in such a way that the reader also does not always know what is “reality.” The blurring of reality and Mara’s psychoses is very artfully done. The dialogue is quick and witty, the book moves very quickly, and the final cliffhanger was thoroughly unexpected. Beyond just the main character, I developed so much love for Mara’s older brother, Daniel, and the way that their relationship is portrayed. Often authors write siblings in a way that is too loving or too hateful when the reality of siblings is typically somewhere in the middle. Hodkin walks this line perfectly. The only reason that this book did not receive a total of five stars is because for a solid chunk in the middle it becomes a romance book. While this portion was certainly included to create a sense that everything is going well in Mara’s life in order to make the climax that much more difficult, I found that section to be the hardest to get through. The plot seemed to just pause, which left me confused and reading to find out why nothing was happening anymore. 

Overall, I could not put this book down. I read it in a total of six hours in a single day and I can’t wait to pick up the next book from my library to continue reading about Mara. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Sexual assault

Moderate: Gun violence

izypup's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Classism

lecta's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

it started really good then got bad i am really disapointed honestly also you can tell that this book was written in 2011 there are some problematic things and it has the usual ya fantasy tropes (tbh if it wasn't for the that cliffhanger in the end i wouldn't read the rest of the series and have given this book 2 stars i think) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Medical content, Kidnapping, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Bullying, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury

ivydemiee's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, and Stalking

laurenevlyn's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Best book I’ve read so far this year! The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is incredible. I felt like I was in Mara’s shoes, unable to tell what was real and what was in her head. And Noah is my new Book Boyfriend so quadruple points for setting my expectations even higher with this one! I can’t wait to read the rest of the trilogy :D

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Kidnapping

Minor: Toxic friendship

lozzo_bozo's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Sexual assault, Grief, and Murder

status_meh's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I only picked up this boon for two reasons, 1.) the cover looked cool, and 2.) my husband’s (and now my) last name is Dyer.

I went in not knowing anything about the book, and I really enjoyed it. I think it was a fun book to read and I like that Mara is a sort of unreliable narrator. I liked it and will definitely read the rest of the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Grief

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Drug use, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Animal death, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail