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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
Color me d i s a p o i n t e d. Super sad because the Mara Dyer trilogy was one of my favorite series and this book was kinda stupid. I felt like everything was really forced and not important to the series. I like reading from Noah’s perspective but honestly with everything that happens I wish this was written from Mara’s perspective. Uggggghhhhhhhhhh
Finished it on one day and one night ;) stayed up until 3 to finish it! A little creepy at moments but so freaking amazing!!!
I didn't enjoy this book as much as I probably would have had I remembered the plot of the previous book. I was confused a lot, and fell a little out of love with Noah Shaw. Am still happy I read the book though!
” I won’t quit the game, I’ll destroy the fucking board.”
ACTUAL RATING: 2.5 STARS
When I first heard there would be a spin-off to the Mara Dyer trilogy, I was pumped. Like even more pumped when I heard it’s written in Noah’s POV.
Mara Dyer trilogy is one of my earliest series though I felt like it was not but it is. I read Retribution on 2015 (I was 14) and now I’m 18 years old, practically a college student and hell yes there must be some growing up happening. Besides, I forgot what basically happened in the original series and I was so confused as to what the fuck is this book talking about in most part. I can’t find any recap on the internet but can’t find any so I went into this book blind.
I had some love-hate relationship with the original series and I remember not liking Retribution as much as its predecessors. With that being said, I tried to give out ratings for this one as objective as I could because one, 14 year old me and the current me might have some… different thoughts. Two, I ‘m not even sure what I hate about Retribution except that I wasn’t feeling the experiments(?) (if it could be called that).
Reading the negative reviews actually got me thinking (they’re everywhere! I mean the rating for the book is about 3.7 the last time I checked and it’s not a good rating…) . But alas, I feel like it’s not as bad as anyone says.
So yes, the book is on Noah’s POV (and though I don’t love him in this book I remember how I was like preaching about this guy. Yes, I loved him that much; that I remember. We’ll get to that later). The story picked up like some time after Retribution and we open the book with Noah attending his father’s funeral. Here’s the basic: basically after Retribution where we all thought Noah and Mara would get their happy ending, everything went crazy batshit.
You see, I usually love when things went down but the ‘crazy batshit’ phrase mean it’s so crazy that it’s hard to connect it with the original series and it felt more like fan fiction than an actual book for me. The gripping, keeps-you-on-the-edge-of-your-seat mystery feeling is still there but it’s much duller than the Mara Dyer trilogy. Statistically speaking, things actually started happening in the last 3 chapters or so. Noah and co basically spent the book lounging and thinking and… lying to each other.
Ah, the lying to each other part. The casual book trope I hate so much: keeping secrets from each other and usually ends in things going wrong. Multiply that by like everyone and it sums up The Becoming of Noah Shaw completely. Everyone fucking lying and keeping secrets, are not helping me to sympathize it actually makes me so annoyed. And when things predictably went wrong at the end of the book... that kids, is why keeping secrets from your loved ones is never a good idea.
The Becoming of Noah Shaw, aside from the lying part and the slow as fuck plot also includes suicide (explained as much in like the author’s note) and too many pop culture references:
”We’ll come for the ride, though Sophie volunteers as tribute to hold your hair when you vomit,” I say to Daniel, and he’s not so wasted that he can’t glare.”
”Because I’m abstaining from this particular argument. You kids have fun though!” He whistles the Hunger Games theme as he climbs the stairs.
…And many more. There are so many of these that it starts to look like Michelle Hodkin is trying too hard. It’s not a secret that some people (especially fangirls) get excited when there are references about other books in a book but there are too many of them that it starts to feel a little cliché. I mean I use these references in my life sometimes, but nobody, not even me, uses these references regularly. It makes the conversations in this book less real and more imaginative.
I also think this book lacks character building. We get lost so much in thoughts and possibilities as to who are causing this and why is that happening that it doesn’t have room for character building. The characters are not “alive” and I don’t feel attached to them to care for them. It’s one of the qualities Mara Dyer trilogy has but the Shaw Confessions doesn’t. The characters are dull and shallow. Hell even Noah’s thoughts seem weird to me somehow. Also can we talk about Goose aka the new character? He has so so much potential with his funny retorts here and there. But he appears in so few scenes and when he does, he talks so little and it makes him more of a background character for me though his roles are quite important.
Spoiler
Also can we talk about how everyone is practically gifted? I mean not that it’s impossible or something but it makes the story so fake it feels like fan fiction.I think I might have loved this book if some parts were to be fixed. I have a lot to complain about and let me tell you this: the 2.5 stars are solely for my appreciation for the mystery and plot twist. I quite like the ending’s twist and the psychological mind-fuck going on. The mystery is unraveled so well it has the classic Mara Dyer touch but I think it would be so much more only if there are actual things going on instead of just… thinking. This book needs more action and for this fact alone, I can’t blame the readers who are giving it negative reviews as I might have found this book boring under different circumstances but alas I hope the second book would pick up and do better.
i am thoroughly disappointed. i am just going to pretend everything ended with the retribution of mara dyer.
Confusion. Betrayal. MADNESS needs to quite toying with me this way.