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A review by clarksmom
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
3.0
This book was pretty entertaining! I read it in three days while on vacation. It was the perfect antidote to Grapes of Wrath.
Basically, Mara Dyer is involved in a terrible accident then spooky things start happening to her. Fun premise! Love it. I liked Noah. I ignored that the author said he had a British accent. If they are that rich, let me ask why are they living in Miami.
I digress. I would also argue this book (published in 2011) falls into the "Twilight effect" category. Meaning that since Twilight was SO POPULAR during that time, I am going to give it a pass for behavior in a book that I would not give for books published now.
FOUR THINGS I LOVED ABOUT THE BOOK:
-Mara! She's a spitfire, snarky protagonist who, for seeing things that aren't there, is pretty frank about her situation. She agrees to therapy and medication. She allows herself to fall in love. She doesn't blame herself for the death of her friends. She wants what is best for people, especially those who have been wronged, at the end of the day.
-Daniel. I love healthy sibling relationships in books and Mara's relationships to her brothers were so lovely to read about (for the most part. I'll get to that later). Going to parties together, driving each other to school, daily activities that were a nice balance to the paranormal in the book.
-Mara/Noah end up completing each other in a way that I don't want to spoil, yen to yang so to speak, but was fun to read.
-There wasn't as much paranormal as I would have liked (see below), but the paranormal that was in there was GREAT and I wish there was MORE.
SEVEN THINGS I WOULD HAVE CHANGED
-The author does the thing where she spoils future chapters for the sake of leaving you on a cliffhanger at the end of the chapter you are on. DON'T DO THIS it just ruins the surprises!!
-There was not enough paranormal! Only got it at the very end and even then, there were not enough answers to what was going on with Mara and Noah.
-Look, the ending did surprise me but I did not believe it for one second. It was just too crazy. Will I read the next book, yes but this needed to be set up with more proof throughout the book.
-Noah is insane. He can't be rich and British and handsome and all the women want him so they hate Mara (which DOES NOT HAPPEN IN REAL LIFE THIS IS NOT A REAL THING WOMEN LIKE EACH OTHER STOP WRITING LIKE THIS). He is a little too controlling, but Mara stands her ground for the most part. But I didn't like that.
-One date should not be over 50 pages long. That's all.
-Anna was an insane, unneeded character. A mean girl for the sake of it, unfounded in any reality, especially since Noah didn't actually sleep with as many girls as he said. Ugh, okay I'm done.
-The plot felt chunky in places, where I had a hard time following it or I just didn't believe that the actions of one person would cause the consequences for the other.
Not a groundbreaking read, but I did enjoy it so I recommend!
Basically, Mara Dyer is involved in a terrible accident then spooky things start happening to her. Fun premise! Love it. I liked Noah. I ignored that the author said he had a British accent. If they are that rich, let me ask why are they living in Miami.
I digress. I would also argue this book (published in 2011) falls into the "Twilight effect" category. Meaning that since Twilight was SO POPULAR during that time, I am going to give it a pass for behavior in a book that I would not give for books published now.
FOUR THINGS I LOVED ABOUT THE BOOK:
-Mara! She's a spitfire, snarky protagonist who, for seeing things that aren't there, is pretty frank about her situation. She agrees to therapy and medication. She allows herself to fall in love. She doesn't blame herself for the death of her friends. She wants what is best for people, especially those who have been wronged, at the end of the day.
-Daniel. I love healthy sibling relationships in books and Mara's relationships to her brothers were so lovely to read about (for the most part. I'll get to that later). Going to parties together, driving each other to school, daily activities that were a nice balance to the paranormal in the book.
-Mara/Noah end up completing each other in a way that I don't want to spoil, yen to yang so to speak, but was fun to read.
-There wasn't as much paranormal as I would have liked (see below), but the paranormal that was in there was GREAT and I wish there was MORE.
SEVEN THINGS I WOULD HAVE CHANGED
-The author does the thing where she spoils future chapters for the sake of leaving you on a cliffhanger at the end of the chapter you are on. DON'T DO THIS it just ruins the surprises!!
-There was not enough paranormal! Only got it at the very end and even then, there were not enough answers to what was going on with Mara and Noah.
-Look, the ending did surprise me but I did not believe it for one second. It was just too crazy. Will I read the next book, yes but this needed to be set up with more proof throughout the book.
-Noah is insane. He can't be rich and British and handsome and all the women want him so they hate Mara (which DOES NOT HAPPEN IN REAL LIFE THIS IS NOT A REAL THING WOMEN LIKE EACH OTHER STOP WRITING LIKE THIS). He is a little too controlling, but Mara stands her ground for the most part. But I didn't like that.
-One date should not be over 50 pages long. That's all.
-Anna was an insane, unneeded character. A mean girl for the sake of it, unfounded in any reality, especially since Noah didn't actually sleep with as many girls as he said. Ugh, okay I'm done.
-The plot felt chunky in places, where I had a hard time following it or I just didn't believe that the actions of one person would cause the consequences for the other.
Not a groundbreaking read, but I did enjoy it so I recommend!