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haleyydecker's review against another edition
5.0
I started this trilogy last week and I've already finished it because I wasn't able to put it down. It's so unique, and unlike anything I have ever read. And the romance, oh the romance is amazing.
livruther's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
unbecoming: 4/5
evolution: 3.5/5
retribution: 3.75/5. not enough closure
evolution: 3.5/5
retribution: 3.75/5. not enough closure
eclever's review against another edition
3.0
I am glad to say that my previous notions about this trilogy have been changed. I thought it would be just another young adult series that had the same plotline with the same ending. I was totally wrong. The characters as well as the plot were intriguing and I never wanted to stop reading! I didn’t give it a full 5 stars because although I adore this series, I feel that every book got a little bit weirder and outlandish. Some of the stuff just didn’t really fit in in my opinion. Other than that, I found all three novels to be captivating from start to finish, and it always kept me up late.
Book One
This is where the real magic happens. There is always some mystery shrouding all of the characters and I found it fun to get closer and closer to the truth until I finally figured it out. Well… I never really figured it out until like the last book but you know what I mean. I found all of the characters to be super likeable, especially Noah Shaw. This boy is probably the most perfect human I have ever met( not met exactly, but read about so much I feel like I know him). He is one of the main reasons I kept reading the book. Although Mara was a very interesting character, the combination of Mara and Noah together made the book exciting and fun to read as their relationship progressed throughout the novel. One thing I really liked in the book was the idea of this supernatural power that Mara possesses. It made every chapter interesting to read because of what evidence it might contain.
Book Two
This book kind of really annoyed me. It didn’t annoy me because it was bad writing or a bad plot, but it annoyed me because of the characters. Everyone thinks that Mara is absolutely insane, and they are always putting her into mental hospitals and such, and Mara can’t do anything about it. She can’t tell them what is really going on because then they will think she is even more crazy. It just made me go crazy when her parents made her go away to a place for the mentally ill, because she wasn’t sick at all!!! Also, Mara was kind of getting on my nerves because she kept on pushing Noah away because she was afraid to let him in and let him help her. She just makes everything worse for herself when she does that because then she had no one to talk to that understood.
Book Three
WOW. There were some major plot twists throughout the course of this book. It was pretty scary I’ll have to admit. I liked how in this book, they were in a different setting with different characters with a different mission. The new additions to the series really helped the story overall. What I didn’t like was the fact that we were under the impression that a certain person was dead the whole time, so we never got to really see them in the whole book, except for the end. I didn’t like the ending of the book because I felt that is was too abrupt, and it didn’t fit in with the rest of the story and what the characters would do. It was a happy ending, but I felt that I needed more closure than I got.
Book One
This is where the real magic happens. There is always some mystery shrouding all of the characters and I found it fun to get closer and closer to the truth until I finally figured it out. Well… I never really figured it out until like the last book but you know what I mean. I found all of the characters to be super likeable, especially Noah Shaw. This boy is probably the most perfect human I have ever met( not met exactly, but read about so much I feel like I know him). He is one of the main reasons I kept reading the book. Although Mara was a very interesting character, the combination of Mara and Noah together made the book exciting and fun to read as their relationship progressed throughout the novel. One thing I really liked in the book was the idea of this supernatural power that Mara possesses. It made every chapter interesting to read because of what evidence it might contain.
Book Two
This book kind of really annoyed me. It didn’t annoy me because it was bad writing or a bad plot, but it annoyed me because of the characters. Everyone thinks that Mara is absolutely insane, and they are always putting her into mental hospitals and such, and Mara can’t do anything about it. She can’t tell them what is really going on because then they will think she is even more crazy. It just made me go crazy when her parents made her go away to a place for the mentally ill, because she wasn’t sick at all!!! Also, Mara was kind of getting on my nerves because she kept on pushing Noah away because she was afraid to let him in and let him help her. She just makes everything worse for herself when she does that because then she had no one to talk to that understood.
Book Three
WOW. There were some major plot twists throughout the course of this book. It was pretty scary I’ll have to admit. I liked how in this book, they were in a different setting with different characters with a different mission. The new additions to the series really helped the story overall. What I didn’t like was the fact that we were under the impression that a certain person was dead the whole time, so we never got to really see them in the whole book, except for the end. I didn’t like the ending of the book because I felt that is was too abrupt, and it didn’t fit in with the rest of the story and what the characters would do. It was a happy ending, but I felt that I needed more closure than I got.
hashtag_alison's review against another edition
2.0
I started this series because the author was at Dragon Con a few years ago and I went to like every YA panel that year so I tried to look up as many of the authors as possible afterward.
The premise of the series is interesting. The main character was in a mysterious accident where her best friend and boyfriend died, and she’s dealing with the trauma and memory loss from that night. When her family moves to try to help her cope. But some of the nightmares feel more like memories and as her enemies starting dropping like flies she has to figure out if she’s crazy before she goes crazy. It promises all the comfortingly predictable catharsis of a YA novel with a darker twist than usual, and with a humanizing insight into PTSD. And for the most part, it was pretty good.
The love interest is where it first goes off the rails. He is every cliche in (excuse me) the book. Bad boy, leather jackets and 80s music, super player that is widely agreed to be the most attractive teenage boy in the county, foreign and secretly insanely rich, and the most important quality for a Brooding YA Hero - one dimensional. I’m not big on romantic subplots in the first place, but having a heroine that I respected up to this point become slavishly devoted to a hot dude she just met was extra disappointing. They even do the thing where she doesn’t like him at first because she’s sassy and independent but he keeps pestering her and she eventually falls for him. And at some point he does something she should find unforgivable but she forgives him anyway because she just…really wants to bang him? It’s set up as this huge internal struggle and then shut down in the same paragraph. I get that it’s supposed to be relatable to teen girls full of hormones and all but it’s also a TERRIBLE role model. And maybe the author didn’t want to write a role model, but I think you can write a flawed but relatable character that ultimately teaches the reader a positive lesson and that it’s especially important in media directed towards the young. So that was kind of disappointing.
Another thing in the series that got kind of weird toward the end was the main character herself. Mara spends most of the books struggling with the dark and dangerous nature of the powers she may have and how that darkness is affecting her own self-image. But at some point in the last book she just gives it all up and basically goes full serial killer. She apparently loses that struggle. It was bizarre, and not in a way that matched the overall gothic overtones of the books.
All in all it went from passable if predictable fantasy to something I was just not on board with. I’ve thought about it a lot because I really thought it was gonna work out so I was kind of angry when it got cliche and then uncomfortable. So, the way I’ve felt about a lot of guys in the end.
What I’m saying is I really wanted to like this series but in the end I didn’t.
Oh my God and I forgot the weird conspiracy theory denouement at the end, what was that? Like seriously?
The premise of the series is interesting. The main character was in a mysterious accident where her best friend and boyfriend died, and she’s dealing with the trauma and memory loss from that night. When her family moves to try to help her cope. But some of the nightmares feel more like memories and as her enemies starting dropping like flies she has to figure out if she’s crazy before she goes crazy. It promises all the comfortingly predictable catharsis of a YA novel with a darker twist than usual, and with a humanizing insight into PTSD. And for the most part, it was pretty good.
The love interest is where it first goes off the rails. He is every cliche in (excuse me) the book. Bad boy, leather jackets and 80s music, super player that is widely agreed to be the most attractive teenage boy in the county, foreign and secretly insanely rich, and the most important quality for a Brooding YA Hero - one dimensional. I’m not big on romantic subplots in the first place, but having a heroine that I respected up to this point become slavishly devoted to a hot dude she just met was extra disappointing. They even do the thing where she doesn’t like him at first because she’s sassy and independent but he keeps pestering her and she eventually falls for him. And at some point he does something she should find unforgivable but she forgives him anyway because she just…really wants to bang him? It’s set up as this huge internal struggle and then shut down in the same paragraph. I get that it’s supposed to be relatable to teen girls full of hormones and all but it’s also a TERRIBLE role model. And maybe the author didn’t want to write a role model, but I think you can write a flawed but relatable character that ultimately teaches the reader a positive lesson and that it’s especially important in media directed towards the young. So that was kind of disappointing.
Another thing in the series that got kind of weird toward the end was the main character herself. Mara spends most of the books struggling with the dark and dangerous nature of the powers she may have and how that darkness is affecting her own self-image. But at some point in the last book she just gives it all up and basically goes full serial killer. She apparently loses that struggle. It was bizarre, and not in a way that matched the overall gothic overtones of the books.
All in all it went from passable if predictable fantasy to something I was just not on board with. I’ve thought about it a lot because I really thought it was gonna work out so I was kind of angry when it got cliche and then uncomfortable. So, the way I’ve felt about a lot of guys in the end.
What I’m saying is I really wanted to like this series but in the end I didn’t.
Oh my God and I forgot the weird conspiracy theory denouement at the end, what was that? Like seriously?
elliesreviews's review against another edition
4.0
Okay everybody, take a seat. This is another case of “Why didn’t anyone force me to read these before?!” So here I am to shove these books in your face and make you read them.
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer starts off with Mara starting a new school in Florida after surviving a building collapse that kills her three best friends. Mara is understandably distraught and is diagnosed with PTSD that leaves her hallucinating at random. At her new school, Mara meets Noah Shaw, a supposedly notorious ladies’ man. There’s something about him that she can’t put her finger on, but he eventually convinces her to go on a date with him.
But Mara isn’t sure all of her hallucinations are actually figments of her imagination. Some of them are too real. She starts receiving creepy messages and photographs, and she suspects they’re coming from her deceased ex-boyfriend, Jude.
I can’t really get into any more details because it’ll be too spoiler-y.
This series is awesome because it combines so many genres flawlessly. It has YA contemporary, paranormal, fantasy, historical fiction, and more. It’s amazing, really. The audiobooks are narrated by Christy Romano… yes, that one — Christy Carlson Romano, known best for her role in Even Stevens and the voice of Kim Possible.
My review of the first book was few words — I couldn’t process it. “Wowwwww. Yes. Amazing.”
The same happened with the second book. ” Wow wow wow. Normally a second book falls flat. But that ending……..On to the next oneeeee!!!”
And the last book prompted this, “Well that ending had me SHOOK. But it definitely felt like it was dragging in the middle there. I can’t wait to read The Shaw Confessions series. NOVEMBER GET HERE NOOOOOW.”
Because *excited face* there’s a new spinoff series coming out that focuses on Noah! The first one is called The Becoming of Noah Shaw and it comes out November 7th, 2017.
So get caught up now, because there’s about to be another installment in the series! Overall, I give this series 4.5 stars.
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer starts off with Mara starting a new school in Florida after surviving a building collapse that kills her three best friends. Mara is understandably distraught and is diagnosed with PTSD that leaves her hallucinating at random. At her new school, Mara meets Noah Shaw, a supposedly notorious ladies’ man. There’s something about him that she can’t put her finger on, but he eventually convinces her to go on a date with him.
But Mara isn’t sure all of her hallucinations are actually figments of her imagination. Some of them are too real. She starts receiving creepy messages and photographs, and she suspects they’re coming from her deceased ex-boyfriend, Jude.
I can’t really get into any more details because it’ll be too spoiler-y.
This series is awesome because it combines so many genres flawlessly. It has YA contemporary, paranormal, fantasy, historical fiction, and more. It’s amazing, really. The audiobooks are narrated by Christy Romano… yes, that one — Christy Carlson Romano, known best for her role in Even Stevens and the voice of Kim Possible.
My review of the first book was few words — I couldn’t process it. “Wowwwww. Yes. Amazing.”
The same happened with the second book. ” Wow wow wow. Normally a second book falls flat. But that ending……..On to the next oneeeee!!!”
And the last book prompted this, “Well that ending had me SHOOK. But it definitely felt like it was dragging in the middle there. I can’t wait to read The Shaw Confessions series. NOVEMBER GET HERE NOOOOOW.”
Because *excited face* there’s a new spinoff series coming out that focuses on Noah! The first one is called The Becoming of Noah Shaw and it comes out November 7th, 2017.
So get caught up now, because there’s about to be another installment in the series! Overall, I give this series 4.5 stars.
drealovesbooks's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
aroosa_reads47's review against another edition
5.0
OMG! This trilogy is one heck of a rollercoaster🎢. Like at the end of every book you're shocked and confused like legit this book messes with your mind.
Next there are fictional characters...and then you have Noah Elliot Simon Shaw who is hot af! Like I need a Noah in my life. He is sarcastic and just a very unique character 😭❤️
I love Mara! Her chemistry with Noah is amazing and its one you will remember and love for a long time♥ I cannot wait for 'The Reckoning Of Noah Shaw' coming out Nov 13th 2018😘😘
I highly recommend ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Next there are fictional characters...and then you have Noah Elliot Simon Shaw who is hot af! Like I need a Noah in my life. He is sarcastic and just a very unique character 😭❤️
I love Mara! Her chemistry with Noah is amazing and its one you will remember and love for a long time♥ I cannot wait for 'The Reckoning Of Noah Shaw' coming out Nov 13th 2018😘😘
I highly recommend ❤️❤️❤️❤️
taylorjones's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
4.5
kaytlynallbooked's review against another edition
5.0
For full review check out my blog...
https://thebohemianbookworm.wordpress.com/
https://thebohemianbookworm.wordpress.com/