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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
I love Noah, but I honestly learned that I didn’t know him very well until I got into his head. Still worth the read. ❤️
#143 - 2020
Genre: YA Fantasy
Lanjutan dari seri Mara Dyer, kalau yang ini dari POV Noah. Seperti kuduga sebelumnya, semya pertanyaan di buku terakhir Mara Dyer akan dijawab di seri lanjutan. Jadi gak berharap akhir yang happy ending di sana.
Banyaknya rahasia baik dari keluarga Noah ataupun dari Mara sendiri, membuat semuanya menjadi lebih kompleks. Dengan pengakuan Stella ke Noah untuk mempertanyakan apa yang telah diperbuat Mara, membuat Noah bertanya-tanya apa ng disembunyikan oleh Mara. Rahasia yang bisa membuat mereka berpisah.
Seri Mara Dyer dan Noah ini boleh dibilang seperti seri TV Heroes. Mereka remaja-remaja yang memiliki kekuatan super yang bisa digunakan untuk kebaikan mereka disebut Gifted. Tapi ada orang-orang yang menangkap mereka dan melakukan penelitian ke mereka, dan membunuh mereka atau mereka bunuh diri? Di seri ini selain tokoh-tokoh lama ada tokoh baru yang muncul. Action yang kurang banyakan percakapan dari satu tempat ke tempat lain.
Akhir cerita yang menggantung, membuatku bertanya apa yang akan terjadi selanjutnya.
Genre: YA Fantasy
Lanjutan dari seri Mara Dyer, kalau yang ini dari POV Noah. Seperti kuduga sebelumnya, semya pertanyaan di buku terakhir Mara Dyer akan dijawab di seri lanjutan. Jadi gak berharap akhir yang happy ending di sana.
Banyaknya rahasia baik dari keluarga Noah ataupun dari Mara sendiri, membuat semuanya menjadi lebih kompleks. Dengan pengakuan Stella ke Noah untuk mempertanyakan apa yang telah diperbuat Mara, membuat Noah bertanya-tanya apa ng disembunyikan oleh Mara. Rahasia yang bisa membuat mereka berpisah.
Seri Mara Dyer dan Noah ini boleh dibilang seperti seri TV Heroes. Mereka remaja-remaja yang memiliki kekuatan super yang bisa digunakan untuk kebaikan mereka disebut Gifted. Tapi ada orang-orang yang menangkap mereka dan melakukan penelitian ke mereka, dan membunuh mereka atau mereka bunuh diri? Di seri ini selain tokoh-tokoh lama ada tokoh baru yang muncul. Action yang kurang banyakan percakapan dari satu tempat ke tempat lain.
Akhir cerita yang menggantung, membuatku bertanya apa yang akan terjadi selanjutnya.
2.5 "You're my preferred method of self-harm" stars.
I know that after this rating a lot of you will want my head on a pike. First of all, I read the Mara Dyer's trilogy in 2014 and it was the reason I even signed up on GR. I loved it that much, so of course my expectations for The Becoming of Noah Shaw were sky high.
Secondly, still connected to the first statement, I read the trilogy 3 years ago. Many things happened in three years, and reading-wise my tastes have changed. YA aren't my usual go-to read anymore, but still, genre notwithstanding, I had expected to like this one way more than I did.
You can't keep a secret from the person you love and expect it not to change him, too. She doesn't trust me with something, which makes me distrust her, and that makes our hands miss each other when we pass something over the table. It makes my mouth just miss hers when I lean to kiss her lips and end up with cheek instead.
When I first heard about this book being in the making, I was beyond thrilled. Noah's character had stayed in the back of my mind as a special kind of hero. Complex, self-destructive, desperate, ambiguous, and epicly in love with Mara, the girl who was going to love him to ruin. Together, they were the best kind of union: the one that everyone is betting against, but that the characters believe in so strongly they will face every judgement and every ounce of common sense to keep alive.
Being inside Noah's head was supposed to be a treat. And it was... for about 10%. The other 90% it felt like being inside any other random character's mind. Nothing too special. Nothing that blew my mind, beside his insight when it came to suicidal behavior and all comes with it. Hodkin has a tendency for darkness that goes beyond what would be traditionally portrayed in a YA. This I appreciated.
This is what people who have never wanted to die don't understand: the worst thing for those of us who do is feeling like we have to live when we don't want to. We have to do things we don't want to. We have to be where we don't want to be. What we want is nothingness, numbness, because that seems better than living a life of quiet desperation. Quiet desperation is torture.
The second issue I had was the pacing. 80% in I realized I still hadn't felt any sort of rush or scared palpitations. If the trilogy had been full of twist and turns, surprises, ah-ah moments and plot earthquakes, this plot was as eventful as a 5 o'clock tea party.
The main idea for the mystery was intriguing and unconventional, but it didn't make me feel hopeless, or like I was going mad, or didn't know what was happening. My lack of investment in the unfortunate characters was probably one cause.
"I'm rather sentimental about the ruins -- as a child, I halfheartedly attempted suicide there now and again, always returning from post-tourist-hours expeditions with knees winking with cuts, and the occasional fracture or two"
Another thing that made me scrunch my nose was definitely the romance. In the past I had described Noah and Mara's love as epic. After everything they went through... and yet here Mara's character was used mostly as dark comical relief and Noah seemed more in love with Daniel than her, giving how much time he spent waxing poetics on that guy. BTW, I got that they bonded during The Retribution, but we didn't get to see that, so all the bromance going on here was absolutely out of context for me.
I've seen her in the middle of the night and the middle of the day, with makeup and without, with her hair done up and when it's been unwashed for days. I've seen her in jeans and in silk and in nothing- I would gladly spend the rest of my life just looking at her.
There were a couple new additions in the gang, and while I liked Goose, his development as a character stopped after a while. Then there was Leo. While at first I liked his ambiguity, he soon became the most boring character out of all, not really adding much.
"I'll dress myself, thank you," I say, trying to edge in ever so casually. Which bad did I put the documents in? I can't even remember.
She shrugs. "Okay. IF you wear the blue stripey shirt, I'll have sexx with you later. But it's up to you."
"Will you hand me my bollocks when you get a moment? They're in one of your bags, I think."
In favor of this book I will definitely call forth the style, which was beyond amazing, the setting (a few blocks from were I live), which had that bohemiene/steam-punk touch that's always nice in original narrations and the ending.
I suppose I'm not sure what I was expecting. The man looks rather... like a pedophile, really. He has this soft, moony, harmless look about him, and yet. His button-down shirt is tight around the middle, and he has the sort of work-out, drawn, put-upon appearance, as if he's been a prisoner of war but doesn't quite remember the experience an would be embarrassed if anyone mentioned it.
Upon reading the ending, which I would have never, never, never seen coming, I almost considered giving 4 stars. But in the end I decided that I needed to rate the book on my enjoyment and I was yawning my was through it most of the time. The ending was probably the best part. Unexpected, and horrifying, but somehow salvaging the romantic-ness of it all.
Will I keep reading this series? Beside the fact that the kindle cost more than the paperback, I will probably keep reading it because I'm invested in the series and I hold the hope that this book was kind of an introduction to something better, faster paced, more romantic and intrigued, twisted and complicated.
All in all, it didn't blow me away. It wasn't awful, but it was so not what I was expecting that is not even funny
This is the essential truth about me: Mara makes me happy. The problem of Mara makes me happy. I shouldn't say it, but it's true. I shouldn't think it, but I do. She's this endlessly complex, chaotic person, but there's a method to her madness, and I want to know it.
I know that after this rating a lot of you will want my head on a pike. First of all, I read the Mara Dyer's trilogy in 2014 and it was the reason I even signed up on GR. I loved it that much, so of course my expectations for The Becoming of Noah Shaw were sky high.
Secondly, still connected to the first statement, I read the trilogy 3 years ago. Many things happened in three years, and reading-wise my tastes have changed. YA aren't my usual go-to read anymore, but still, genre notwithstanding, I had expected to like this one way more than I did.
You can't keep a secret from the person you love and expect it not to change him, too. She doesn't trust me with something, which makes me distrust her, and that makes our hands miss each other when we pass something over the table. It makes my mouth just miss hers when I lean to kiss her lips and end up with cheek instead.
When I first heard about this book being in the making, I was beyond thrilled. Noah's character had stayed in the back of my mind as a special kind of hero. Complex, self-destructive, desperate, ambiguous, and epicly in love with Mara, the girl who was going to love him to ruin. Together, they were the best kind of union: the one that everyone is betting against, but that the characters believe in so strongly they will face every judgement and every ounce of common sense to keep alive.
Being inside Noah's head was supposed to be a treat. And it was... for about 10%. The other 90% it felt like being inside any other random character's mind. Nothing too special. Nothing that blew my mind, beside his insight when it came to suicidal behavior and all comes with it. Hodkin has a tendency for darkness that goes beyond what would be traditionally portrayed in a YA. This I appreciated.
This is what people who have never wanted to die don't understand: the worst thing for those of us who do is feeling like we have to live when we don't want to. We have to do things we don't want to. We have to be where we don't want to be. What we want is nothingness, numbness, because that seems better than living a life of quiet desperation. Quiet desperation is torture.
The second issue I had was the pacing. 80% in I realized I still hadn't felt any sort of rush or scared palpitations. If the trilogy had been full of twist and turns, surprises, ah-ah moments and plot earthquakes, this plot was as eventful as a 5 o'clock tea party.
The main idea for the mystery was intriguing and unconventional, but it didn't make me feel hopeless, or like I was going mad, or didn't know what was happening. My lack of investment in the unfortunate characters was probably one cause.
"I'm rather sentimental about the ruins -- as a child, I halfheartedly attempted suicide there now and again, always returning from post-tourist-hours expeditions with knees winking with cuts, and the occasional fracture or two"
Another thing that made me scrunch my nose was definitely the romance. In the past I had described Noah and Mara's love as epic. After everything they went through... and yet here Mara's character was used mostly as dark comical relief and Noah seemed more in love with Daniel than her, giving how much time he spent waxing poetics on that guy. BTW, I got that they bonded during The Retribution, but we didn't get to see that, so all the bromance going on here was absolutely out of context for me.
I've seen her in the middle of the night and the middle of the day, with makeup and without, with her hair done up and when it's been unwashed for days. I've seen her in jeans and in silk and in nothing- I would gladly spend the rest of my life just looking at her.
There were a couple new additions in the gang, and while I liked Goose, his development as a character stopped after a while. Then there was Leo. While at first I liked his ambiguity, he soon became the most boring character out of all, not really adding much.
"I'll dress myself, thank you," I say, trying to edge in ever so casually. Which bad did I put the documents in? I can't even remember.
She shrugs. "Okay. IF you wear the blue stripey shirt, I'll have sexx with you later. But it's up to you."
"Will you hand me my bollocks when you get a moment? They're in one of your bags, I think."
In favor of this book I will definitely call forth the style, which was beyond amazing, the setting (a few blocks from were I live), which had that bohemiene/steam-punk touch that's always nice in original narrations and the ending.
I suppose I'm not sure what I was expecting. The man looks rather... like a pedophile, really. He has this soft, moony, harmless look about him, and yet. His button-down shirt is tight around the middle, and he has the sort of work-out, drawn, put-upon appearance, as if he's been a prisoner of war but doesn't quite remember the experience an would be embarrassed if anyone mentioned it.
Upon reading the ending, which I would have never, never, never seen coming, I almost considered giving 4 stars. But in the end I decided that I needed to rate the book on my enjoyment and I was yawning my was through it most of the time. The ending was probably the best part. Unexpected, and horrifying, but somehow salvaging the romantic-ness of it all.
Will I keep reading this series? Beside the fact that the kindle cost more than the paperback, I will probably keep reading it because I'm invested in the series and I hold the hope that this book was kind of an introduction to something better, faster paced, more romantic and intrigued, twisted and complicated.
All in all, it didn't blow me away. It wasn't awful, but it was so not what I was expecting that is not even funny
This is the essential truth about me: Mara makes me happy. The problem of Mara makes me happy. I shouldn't say it, but it's true. I shouldn't think it, but I do. She's this endlessly complex, chaotic person, but there's a method to her madness, and I want to know it.
Grade: B+
I don’t know who that was, but that was not Noah Elliot Simon Shaw.
I don’t know who that was, but that was not Noah Elliot Simon Shaw.
this felt like a bad fanfic with no moving plot and made me kind of hate noah whoops
3.5 stars. I'm so conflicted about this book right now. This rating may change after I sit with this book for a while. The beginning was so rough, but the ending was fantastic. And there was some stuff done with the characters that I am unsure of so we shall see where this book ends up rating wise.
3.5
I probably wouldn't have enjoyed this book as much as I did if I hadn't re-read the Mara Dyer trilogy first. A lot of loose ends were wrapped up/touched on but there wasn't a lot of plot. This was definitely mostly build up for the next book but I'm interested in seeing where this story goes!
I probably wouldn't have enjoyed this book as much as I did if I hadn't re-read the Mara Dyer trilogy first. A lot of loose ends were wrapped up/touched on but there wasn't a lot of plot. This was definitely mostly build up for the next book but I'm interested in seeing where this story goes!
I would give this a 3.5. I loved the Mara Dyer Trilogy and was so excited to jump back into Mara and Noah's world. The book wasn't what I thought it would be, I think I was expecting to jump right back into action. However I can't say I was completely disappointed, we get to see things from Noah's point of view, learn more about the Shaw's, and see the true side of Mara herself. This book wasn't as fast paced as Mara Dyer, but it certainly hooks you. A slower read, but only because this is setting up the rest of the series. I'm excited to read the rest of the series.
DOES THIS SOUND LIKE A HAPPY BOOK TO YOU? BECAUSE IT'S NOT! IT'S AWFUL AND DEPRESSING. BUT YOU CAN'T HELP IT, BUT HOPE FOR THE BEST.
So if you've been following the Mara Dyer trilogy, you know these books are not all sunshine and rainbow, they're awful, awful as in why are you are putting yourself through this? But you can't help it anyways. And believe it or not,
The Becoming of Noah Shaw is much more darker and intense than the Mara Dyer trilogy. Prepare your dark and souless heart.
***Reader beware of many trigger warnings, especially suicidal ideation and self harm and I really, really mean it. Do not read this if you're struggling with your own mental health at the moment.***
Okay, so if you have read the Mara Dyer Trilogy before, which you should have before even picking up this book, there have been mentions of Noah hurting himself, and yes, this book gets more into it. Noah talks more about his self harm, they're not pretty, and sorry to burst your bubble, but Mara and Noah relationship was never always sunshine in the beginning, so don't even expect this to be the book full of rainbows and hearts of their relationship, I mean there's just MADNESS to everything.
An example of Noah's thoughts:
"That's what they call suicides. Cowardly. Selfish. But looking around at the little clumps of people on the train, part of me truly doesn't understand - how do they do it? How do they fill the minutes and hours and days and years of their lives? What's missing in me that I don't know how to fill mine? That I don't want to?"
So the main plot of this book is that there's something going on with a lot of the teenagers that have the "gifts" or whatever you want to call it are killing themselves. We don't know why they're doing, we don't know who's causing it, but we do know is that Noah experiences whoever is hurting themselves at that moment the same experience they are, Noah can feel that these people do not actually want to hurt themselves, but as in someone is forcing them to do it. *Play a scary song* So who is forcing them to do it? Is it that creep Abraham or whatever his real name is? Is it someone Noah knows? There's so many trust issues going on, for example, it could be someone we all know, but how could it be? We don't want to believe that it may be whoever that is forcing them to hurt themselves is actually someone we know, for example Mara's power is wishing for someone to die or Jamie who has the power to force someone to do as he said. They make the most sense for being possible suspects, but I refuse to believe it. And you know what the thing is? Noah also refuse to suspect them as well, because how could it be after everything they experienced? He wants to believe in the best of others, especially those who cares about. Honestly, it could be anyone though. I mean with the whole mess that happened in the last book, who knows. They're all traumatize, they all have changed to completely different people, they have experienced things that one can't even imagine, your life being at risks, having to hurt others just to survive, I mean we saw that Mara could be a little scary. This book is messy.
We do get to meet some new characters who are gifted as well and get to see many old characters as well. I mean some of them are suspicious also. I feel like with what happened in the Mara Dyer trilogy, Mara is still traumatize over everything that happened. With this book being based on Noah's point of view, it's hard to know what is really going on with Mara, and honestly, I am scare for her. We know that Mara have a lot of struggles in the past and with us not being in her head, I am worry.
Being in Noah's head is completely different from being in Mara's. This book kills me because honestly, we don't know what is going on with everyone right now and everyone is suspicious except for Noah. I mean Jamie and Mara... I don't know what the hell is going on in their head and I don't know if I should trust them or not. You only get to see the interaction between Noah and Mara, and with everything going on... I honestly don't know what the hell to do. Mara and Noah's relationship honestly felt very distance in this book, they're there physically with each other, but mentally? They're not talking.
"You can’t keep a secret from the person you love and expect it not to change him, too. She doesn’t trust me with something, which makes me distrust her, and that makes our hands miss each other when we pass something over the table. It makes my mouth just miss hers when I lean to kiss her lips and end up with cheek instead."
Okay, enough rambling before I spoil everything for you. But let's just said the ending will kill you... maybe literally or not. Because there's so many things that's going on that can be possible, but we love our characters and rather not believe in it, but hope for the best out of these characters. Honestly, you will just be left with a big "WTF!" at the end of this book, because wtf is really going on. There's so many trust issues, we as the reader doesn't know who to trust.
So if you've been following the Mara Dyer trilogy, you know these books are not all sunshine and rainbow, they're awful, awful as in why are you are putting yourself through this? But you can't help it anyways. And believe it or not,
The Becoming of Noah Shaw is much more darker and intense than the Mara Dyer trilogy. Prepare your dark and souless heart.
***Reader beware of many trigger warnings, especially suicidal ideation and self harm and I really, really mean it. Do not read this if you're struggling with your own mental health at the moment.***
Okay, so if you have read the Mara Dyer Trilogy before, which you should have before even picking up this book, there have been mentions of Noah hurting himself, and yes, this book gets more into it. Noah talks more about his self harm, they're not pretty, and sorry to burst your bubble, but Mara and Noah relationship was never always sunshine in the beginning, so don't even expect this to be the book full of rainbows and hearts of their relationship, I mean there's just MADNESS to everything.
An example of Noah's thoughts:
"That's what they call suicides. Cowardly. Selfish. But looking around at the little clumps of people on the train, part of me truly doesn't understand - how do they do it? How do they fill the minutes and hours and days and years of their lives? What's missing in me that I don't know how to fill mine? That I don't want to?"
So the main plot of this book is that there's something going on with a lot of the teenagers that have the "gifts" or whatever you want to call it are killing themselves. We don't know why they're doing, we don't know who's causing it, but we do know is that Noah experiences whoever is hurting themselves at that moment the same experience they are, Noah can feel that these people do not actually want to hurt themselves, but as in someone is forcing them to do it. *Play a scary song* So who is forcing them to do it? Is it that creep Abraham or whatever his real name is? Is it someone Noah knows? There's so many trust issues going on, for example, it could be someone we all know, but how could it be? We don't want to believe that it may be whoever that is forcing them to hurt themselves is actually someone we know, for example Mara's power is wishing for someone to die or Jamie who has the power to force someone to do as he said. They make the most sense for being possible suspects, but I refuse to believe it. And you know what the thing is? Noah also refuse to suspect them as well, because how could it be after everything they experienced? He wants to believe in the best of others, especially those who cares about. Honestly, it could be anyone though. I mean with the whole mess that happened in the last book, who knows. They're all traumatize, they all have changed to completely different people, they have experienced things that one can't even imagine, your life being at risks, having to hurt others just to survive, I mean we saw that Mara could be a little scary. This book is messy.
We do get to meet some new characters who are gifted as well and get to see many old characters as well. I mean some of them are suspicious also. I feel like with what happened in the Mara Dyer trilogy, Mara is still traumatize over everything that happened. With this book being based on Noah's point of view, it's hard to know what is really going on with Mara, and honestly, I am scare for her. We know that Mara have a lot of struggles in the past and with us not being in her head, I am worry.
Being in Noah's head is completely different from being in Mara's. This book kills me because honestly, we don't know what is going on with everyone right now and everyone is suspicious except for Noah. I mean Jamie and Mara... I don't know what the hell is going on in their head and I don't know if I should trust them or not. You only get to see the interaction between Noah and Mara, and with everything going on... I honestly don't know what the hell to do. Mara and Noah's relationship honestly felt very distance in this book, they're there physically with each other, but mentally? They're not talking.
"You can’t keep a secret from the person you love and expect it not to change him, too. She doesn’t trust me with something, which makes me distrust her, and that makes our hands miss each other when we pass something over the table. It makes my mouth just miss hers when I lean to kiss her lips and end up with cheek instead."
Okay, enough rambling before I spoil everything for you. But let's just said the ending will kill you... maybe literally or not. Because there's so many things that's going on that can be possible, but we love our characters and rather not believe in it, but hope for the best out of these characters. Honestly, you will just be left with a big "WTF!" at the end of this book, because wtf is really going on. There's so many trust issues, we as the reader doesn't know who to trust.
"I wagered my heart on her and lost, again and again, but still I would do it. I could never bet on anyone else. I know how you love endings, Mara. But this isn't ours."
I don't even know what to say after that ending. I really loved this book. After the ending of Mara's trilogy, there was no way that she and Noah would actually be getting a happy ending, and this book certainly proved it. Noah's POV was so different from Mara's. Dark and witty and heartbreaking. I just want him to be surrounded by support and love. These characters are so real and flawed and complicated. The banter, especially between Jamie and Mara, was amazing. I love their friendship so much. The Noah and Mara scenes were all so good and I love their messed up love. I appreciate that they’re relationship isn’t perfect and they fight and also love and THEY WILL BE OKAY AGAIN. IT WILL HAPPEN. And then there’s Goose!!! He was a great new character. As soon as it was mentioned that he's been with guys and girls I immediately was shipping him with Jamie, and I love the way they interacted. Daniel was amazing as always and I felt so bad for his heartbreak over Sophie. And I'm forever loving Mara and her terrifying powers and her nerdy references. I love her so much. I guessed that the whole thing about David Shaw and the police officers were because of her saving Noah, but I never believed that she would be killing everyone else. This book certainly had its confusing moments, but I'd say that's just part of the reading experience since the characters were just as confused.
I'm so looking forward to seeing where the rest of this series goes. The freaking ending!!!!!! Mara!!!!! I have so many questions about that!!!!!
I don't even know what to say after that ending. I really loved this book. After the ending of Mara's trilogy, there was no way that she and Noah would actually be getting a happy ending, and this book certainly proved it. Noah's POV was so different from Mara's. Dark and witty and heartbreaking. I just want him to be surrounded by support and love. These characters are so real and flawed and complicated. The banter, especially between Jamie and Mara, was amazing. I love their friendship so much. The Noah and Mara scenes were all so good and I love their messed up love. I appreciate that they’re relationship isn’t perfect and they fight and also love and THEY WILL BE OKAY AGAIN. IT WILL HAPPEN. And then there’s Goose!!! He was a great new character. As soon as it was mentioned that he's been with guys and girls I immediately was shipping him with Jamie, and I love the way they interacted. Daniel was amazing as always and I felt so bad for his heartbreak over Sophie. And I'm forever loving Mara and her terrifying powers and her nerdy references. I love her so much. I guessed that the whole thing about David Shaw and the police officers were because of her saving Noah, but I never believed that she would be killing everyone else. This book certainly had its confusing moments, but I'd say that's just part of the reading experience since the characters were just as confused.
I'm so looking forward to seeing where the rest of this series goes. The freaking ending!!!!!! Mara!!!!! I have so many questions about that!!!!!