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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
WHAT EVEN IS THIS BOOK?? I DID NOT SIGN TO BE IN SO MUCH PAIN
I expected a lot of things from this book but I never imagined it would've gone that way! I've always loved Noah, I love his twisted mind and broken soul and his constant need to find peace with himself, given by death or not.
I loved reading his thoughts and his actions however, I just didn't feel like I was fully in his mind. Whenever I read the part 3 books I always felt like I was living what Mara was going through and I found myself in her a lot, this time something was off.
The plot is just so full of new stuff and discovery and I think Michelle Hodkin should've spent more pages to explain some things and take her time to fully let us adjust to the new story.
THE ENDING THOUGH.
Man, I did not see that coming. At this point I'm either thinking a) I need the second book asap! Or b) I should've let this series go and ended everything with The Retribution of Mara Dyer.
But overall, I really loved the book and as always, Michelle Hodkins once again revealed to be the true genius she is whenever she gets her mind into her characters'. I can't wait to see what will come next for Noah and Mara!
I expected a lot of things from this book but I never imagined it would've gone that way! I've always loved Noah, I love his twisted mind and broken soul and his constant need to find peace with himself, given by death or not.
I loved reading his thoughts and his actions however, I just didn't feel like I was fully in his mind. Whenever I read the part 3 books I always felt like I was living what Mara was going through and I found myself in her a lot, this time something was off.
The plot is just so full of new stuff and discovery and I think Michelle Hodkin should've spent more pages to explain some things and take her time to fully let us adjust to the new story.
THE ENDING THOUGH.
Man, I did not see that coming. At this point I'm either thinking a) I need the second book asap! Or b) I should've let this series go and ended everything with The Retribution of Mara Dyer.
But overall, I really loved the book and as always, Michelle Hodkins once again revealed to be the true genius she is whenever she gets her mind into her characters'. I can't wait to see what will come next for Noah and Mara!
I wasn't exactly blown away by [b:The Retribution of Mara Dyer|15768409|The Retribution of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer, #3)|Michelle Hodkin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1417969205s/15768409.jpg|21474467] - in fact, most of it frustrated me like hell, but I've always been curious about how Noah's head worked. So, yeah, I'll check this one out because, creepiness+plus Noah's POV? Sounds - and I repeat, sounds - great.
Please, Michelle, Please. Don't mess it up!
Afterfinally reading: it's back. THE MAGIC'S BACK.
Please, Michelle, Please. Don't mess it up!
After
I want the next book in my life ASAP 😍😍😍
If you love the Mara Dyer trilogy you'll love this as well!
If you love the Mara Dyer trilogy you'll love this as well!
I JUST FINISHED AND IM SUCH A MESS?? WHAT WAS THAT ENDING ALSO I NEED THE SECOND BOOK SO BAD
I'm not sure if this is a solid 4 stars or a 3.75ish because the beginning was way too slow for me, and we already had the whole world/problems/characters already set up to make it a little bit faster.
However, the ending was incredible. As dark as it was I think it captured really well the problems the characters were facing through the whole book and left a great opening for the next one.
There are a few things that bothered me while I read the book:
1) A character that appeared only to make the plot move forward. While this is what characters do, the character didn't have a great set up or a real connection that explained why they were there. Yeah, there was some sort of explanation but for me, it felt like it was "ah, this is good enough, here now you got a new character" (I did like the character btw, but it felt a little forced to me)
2) There were a few out-of-character actions from certain characters that didn't make any sense to me, but I guess they help the plot move and they weren't that awful so I decided to ignore them.
I would have like to see more of Mara and Noah, I feel like they didn't have the connection they had before even before the break between happened I felt like there was something missing about them. The way things ended in the 3rd book of TUOMD didn't set up their relationship in the way that it was portrayed here
Overall it is a good book, it is dark and it's dense but it makes sense because of what the plot of the whole series is about, and I'm really excited about what's to come from the story.
However, the ending was incredible. As dark as it was I think it captured really well the problems the characters were facing through the whole book and left a great opening for the next one.
There are a few things that bothered me while I read the book:
1) A character that appeared only to make the plot move forward. While this is what characters do, the character didn't have a great set up or a real connection that explained why they were there. Yeah, there was some sort of explanation but for me, it felt like it was "ah, this is good enough, here now you got a new character" (I did like the character btw, but it felt a little forced to me)
2) There were a few out-of-character actions from certain characters that didn't make any sense to me, but I guess they help the plot move and they weren't that awful so I decided to ignore them.
I would have like to see more of Mara and Noah, I feel like they didn't have the connection they had before
Overall it is a good book, it is dark and it's dense but it makes sense because of what the plot of the whole series is about, and I'm really excited about what's to come from the story.
First off, for anyone about to read this book: don't go into it lightly. There are trigger warnings in the beginning for a reason. This book is dark. And I mean dark. So keep in mind that almost the entire book is triggering. Also, I apologize if this review is a bit all over the place, it's my first and I'm still figuring stuff out!
Now on to the actual review. I have to say that I loved the Mara Dyer trilogy. Like really, really loved it. So I was SO EXCITED and went into this book thinking that I would love it just the same. But...this is not what happened. I'm not saying that this book was bad because it wasn't. And I'm not saying I'm disappointed, I liked it to some extent. It just...lacked something.
Plot: See now here's the thing...there was no plot. With the exception of maybe the last 20 pages and that cliffhanger, the plot was non-existent. I kept waiting for something to happen but that something never happened. The entire book was basically focused on Noah and how he felt and what he thought and how he coped with everything. Which isn't necessarily bad but it is a bit off-putting when the plot is static and there is no development whatsoever.
Characters:So then I thought that ok since the plot isn't developing maybe the characters will and this will end up being a character driven book. I mean, the character development wasn't as drastic as it was in the previous books but there was a lil something:
- Since this book is from Noah's POV and we were given insight into that mind of his, as dark and twisted as his thoughts are, it was interesting to see that. If you didn't already know he has suicidal and self-harm tendencies now you do. And then some.
- Daniel? I love him. He's turning into a badass.
- Stella? WTF. I didn't expect to see her so soon and I also didn't expect the shit that went down.
- Sophie? Also WTF. Where did she even come from? There wasn't a single hint in the original trilogy to indicate her motives or what she is. I can't decide if that's good or bad.
- Goose was alright, I liked him. I related to him because he was as clueless as I was.
- Jamie didn't live up to his full potential in my opinion, he was much more memorable in the previous books. He could be considered as the comic relief, but that comic relief was missing from this book.
- And what can I say about Mara? She's not the same character, she did a 180 and turned full homicidal with no regrets and I do love that she's kind of the villain now. If she even is that.
To wrap it up, I'll give this book 3 stars, I'm kind of in between as to my feelings about it at the moment. I liked it but that's because I love the characters and I'm invested, alright. And I really love Michelle Hodkin's writing. And that it's not your typical love story of "boy meets girl and they live happily ever after." Plus, that ending? Boy oh boy. It set up the next book perfectly, I just wish it lives up to my expectations.
Trigger warning for discussion of suicidal ideation, self-harm, and mental illness. Oh, and there's a warning at the beginning of the book, too, so definitely pay attention to that if you have triggers.
Confession time: it's been a while since I read the original Mara Dyer trilogy, and I can't remember it very well, so definitely chalk up some of my confusion to that, though I don't think it has much impact on a lot of the problems I had with this book. Noah Shaw was my favourite character, I think, along with Jamie, so knowing that both of them were coming back - and that Noah was headlining this series - was really exciting to me.
Things I really loved: Noah's voice. He's bitter and dark and sarcastic, and unapologetically so, and I could relate to him a lot (which is probably a bad thing, as Noah is ... really quite unhealthy. But Michelle Hodkin described suicidal ideation really well. Unfortunately, a lot of other things were handled ... not quite as well. fairly badly, in fact.Honestly, I just read the book for Noah and Jamie, because they were the two most well-written characters in the book. Jamie is a good break from the Noah and Mara Show and all the turmoil and angst surrounding them. He's definitely the most fun character, but he also has depth to him. Mara was all right - I do love good antiheroes - but I just did not feel any connection between her and Noah at all, even though the book was supposedly about them. Seeing Mara through Noah's eyes was really interesting because he definitely idolizes and romanticises her, but I was really frustrated by it sometimes.
I really was expecting more to happen in this book, plot-wise, but it was ... very slow and boring, for the most part, and I wanted to find out more about Noah that I wasn't getting in this book (but I suppose this is a trilogy). Again, a lot of focus was on Mara and Noah's relationship, but I felt like the book got started ... right at the end. So much of it could have been cut out. Obviously, I don't know what Hodkin has planned for the next books but I feel like it could easily be a duology.
The big problem I had with The Becoming of Noah Shaw, though, was the romanticisation of mental illness throughout a lot of the story - and, well, through the series too. A lot of it was awful and skewed, such as when Noah tells Mara, "You're my favourite form of self-harm." After a scene where Marathreatens to leave Noah because he cut himself as a demonstration of healing abilities . And that left me absolutely dismayed, because one of the things I know about self-harm intervention is that you're not supposed to make relapses a big deal. People around you are not supposed to make relapses a big deal. How Mara dealt with it was infuriating. And Noah's response was too. That's the big one, but really, this problem is prevalent throughout the entire book.
Confession time: it's been a while since I read the original Mara Dyer trilogy, and I can't remember it very well, so definitely chalk up some of my confusion to that, though I don't think it has much impact on a lot of the problems I had with this book. Noah Shaw was my favourite character, I think, along with Jamie, so knowing that both of them were coming back - and that Noah was headlining this series - was really exciting to me.
Things I really loved: Noah's voice. He's bitter and dark and sarcastic, and unapologetically so, and I could relate to him a lot (which is probably a bad thing, as Noah is ... really quite unhealthy. But Michelle Hodkin described suicidal ideation really well. Unfortunately, a lot of other things were handled ... not quite as well. fairly badly, in fact.Honestly, I just read the book for Noah and Jamie, because they were the two most well-written characters in the book. Jamie is a good break from the Noah and Mara Show and all the turmoil and angst surrounding them. He's definitely the most fun character, but he also has depth to him. Mara was all right - I do love good antiheroes - but I just did not feel any connection between her and Noah at all, even though the book was supposedly about them. Seeing Mara through Noah's eyes was really interesting because he definitely idolizes and romanticises her, but I was really frustrated by it sometimes.
I really was expecting more to happen in this book, plot-wise, but it was ... very slow and boring, for the most part, and I wanted to find out more about Noah that I wasn't getting in this book (but I suppose this is a trilogy). Again, a lot of focus was on Mara and Noah's relationship, but I felt like the book got started ... right at the end. So much of it could have been cut out. Obviously, I don't know what Hodkin has planned for the next books but I feel like it could easily be a duology.
The big problem I had with The Becoming of Noah Shaw, though, was the romanticisation of mental illness throughout a lot of the story - and, well, through the series too. A lot of it was awful and skewed, such as when Noah tells Mara, "You're my favourite form of self-harm." After a scene where Mara
more like a 3.5- 3.8 ? so ye i liked it can't wait for the second book bc that ending ??? wowoowowo