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chickenafraido 's review for:
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
by Michelle Hodkin
WHAT. THE. EFF. The ending?!?
So I finally had the opportunity to read this book. I literally finished it a few seconds ago and I have absolutely no idea how I feel about the book itself. This story is nothing like I expected it to be, and perhaps that is the root cause of my indecisiveness.
It started out phenomenally for me. I loved Mara, and her interactions with Noah. She was a strong, sassy heroin that didn't take shit from anybody. Noah was the flirty bad boy who challenged her, while she did the same to him. They were each others' equals, and I loved that about them.
That being said, i'm still unsure about how I feel about this book. I blasted through it in about 8 hours, the first 4 flying by, and the last 4 seeming to drag a bit. I started off the book wanting to love it so much, and found myself constantly searching for a reason to do so.
For those of you reading this review, trying to decide if you should read this book or not, I can only say that despite my mixed emotions, I recommend that you do. This is one of those books that cannot be completely described to you in simple text terms. I could sit here all day, trying to find words to describe it and even then I don't think I would succeed. Read it. You will either love it or hate it. Or perhaps, like me, you will feel a bit of both. So go ahead and dive into the book. Draw your own conclusions.
For those of you just as confused as I am after reading, looking for a second opinion, continue on and perhaps you will find a symmetry in emotion between yourself and I.
So:
As I said before, Mara's characterization in the beginning was a big plus for me. She seemed like she was well on her way to shaping up to be one of my favorite literary characters (because of her attitude, not her choices). However, her character seemed to devolve as the story progressed. I understand that she was fighting believed insanity throughout the book, but that doesn't mean I have to like the way she acted. She had her kick-ass moments (The oral test in Spanish literally had me cheering and pumping my fist in the air, before Jamie went ahead and ruined it in the next chapter. Though he slightly redeemed himself with the recording,it was useless in the end, and my hopes were once again crushed.), but she was also extremely exasperating. I hated the way she handled things, but I also understood she was going through a lot and there weren't many options for handling her hidden neurosis. I felt sorry for her for having to deal with her unwanted gift. It pretty much made her life a living hell.
I loved Noah's character as well. He was so adorable and lovable but also sarcastically infuriating at the same time. He really cared about Mara, even when I couldn't see how he was able to, as I was so frustrated with her. He was the bright point in her life and kept me hanging on in the book, I think, even when he started acting crazy too.
Now, I think it needs to be pointed out how fast this book spiraled out of control. Things were going along at a relatively constant pace, and all of a sudden the book was pushed into overdrive. Noah shows up at her window, pounding away, and things immediately start to get a lot more confusing. So many more mysteries were brought up and unanswered questions ran rampant through my head. They went to some strange secluded creek because out of nowhere Mara's brother was in trouble and Noah strangely knew where to find him. Queue the part of the book where I began to get severely annoyed (even more so than throughout the previous parts). It seems as though the author decided the book was getting a little too boring and decided to throw in a little (And I do mean little as the rescue seemed to last about 30 seconds. I mean COME ON, it was ridiculous.) adventure for a change in pace. She tried to think up as many scary things as she could and the best she came up with was ALLIGATORS? I'm sorry, but that part was atrocious and I literally wanted to throw my computer (Yes, I did read this book on my computer)across the room. All of a sudden, a flock of predators appear in an attempt to kill off the heroine, and the reader gets another glimpsing hint at her killing ability. Then, about a minute later the heroine magically escapes, saves her brother, and books it back to civilization unscathed.
I have to say that after this point I grew more and more apprehensive about continuing the book. I didn't want it to get any worse, as I really, REALLY, wanted to not hate the book.
Things began to redeem themselves when Noah and Mara finally talked to each other about their abilities. I thought "Okay, so now they're going to find out a way to fix things and be back to their awesome selves." And for a while, things seemed to look up. They were planning to find a way to manage and survive with their abilities, together. Noah completely accepted her, and they were finally together without any secrets holding them back.
But then Mara killed a bunch of bugs and her life spiraled out of control all over again. She found out about Lassiter, and all of a sudden she was fine with being a murderer. I understand she was pissed and thought the sick freak deserved to die, but still. And she didn't even seem to care that Noah loved her and was there for her. She just gave it all up and consented to let herself become the thing she hated. She was fighting and fighting insanity and it's like all of a sudden she threw her hands up and said "Fuck it". She just decided to kill Lassiter, and then it comes back to bite her in the ass when she also almost kills her own father. I felt sorry for her that she had to have this unwanted ability in the beginning, but now it made me hate that she was embracing it instead of being revolted by it or using it for good somehow. Yes, I know killing the douche was a twisted form of justice but her lack of remorse ruined it for me. She didn't even care that she was doing it. If she had felt bad about it, but done it anyway out of necessity, I would have cheered her on. But no. She decided to go psycho and just kill him, uncaring about her actions.
Then she shows some remorse and decides to go confess to the cops. Stupid decision, but I understand the guilt had to be eating her alive, as it should have been. But the bipolar mood swings were killing me.
Then out of nowhere the dude she thought was a hallucination this whole time is actually REAL? He never really died and her other two friends essentially died for no reason? Ugh, I was content to let Mara be crazy and be done with her, and all of a sudden the story had me hooked again with the cliffhanger ending. I want to know what happens. NOW.
That all being said, I still don't hate the book. Perhaps I will sleep on it and feel differently in the morning, but at this point I find im still looking for a reason to love this book. I want it to be as amazing as everyone says it is. I want the characters to be as awesome as I thought they were. I want to love it. I want to give it five stars. But I can't.
I have no idea how to rate this book, and have a feeling that I'm going to change the amount of stars I give it almost daily, as I stew over my mixed emotions.
I started out this review only intending to type a few short lines. Now it has morphed into the longest review i've ever written and I really need to get my mind off this book. I have a feeling that won't be an easy task. Mara's right. Noah himself, as well as this story, really is like the plague.
So I finally had the opportunity to read this book. I literally finished it a few seconds ago and I have absolutely no idea how I feel about the book itself. This story is nothing like I expected it to be, and perhaps that is the root cause of my indecisiveness.
It started out phenomenally for me. I loved Mara, and her interactions with Noah. She was a strong, sassy heroin that didn't take shit from anybody. Noah was the flirty bad boy who challenged her, while she did the same to him. They were each others' equals, and I loved that about them.
That being said, i'm still unsure about how I feel about this book. I blasted through it in about 8 hours, the first 4 flying by, and the last 4 seeming to drag a bit. I started off the book wanting to love it so much, and found myself constantly searching for a reason to do so.
For those of you reading this review, trying to decide if you should read this book or not, I can only say that despite my mixed emotions, I recommend that you do. This is one of those books that cannot be completely described to you in simple text terms. I could sit here all day, trying to find words to describe it and even then I don't think I would succeed. Read it. You will either love it or hate it. Or perhaps, like me, you will feel a bit of both. So go ahead and dive into the book. Draw your own conclusions.
For those of you just as confused as I am after reading, looking for a second opinion, continue on and perhaps you will find a symmetry in emotion between yourself and I.
So:
Spoiler
I loved the fact that the story started out with Mara admitting that she has a fake name. It peaked my interest immediately and is what had me start reading this book at 2 in the morning the night before my last day of winter break.As I said before, Mara's characterization in the beginning was a big plus for me. She seemed like she was well on her way to shaping up to be one of my favorite literary characters (because of her attitude, not her choices). However, her character seemed to devolve as the story progressed. I understand that she was fighting believed insanity throughout the book, but that doesn't mean I have to like the way she acted. She had her kick-ass moments (The oral test in Spanish literally had me cheering and pumping my fist in the air, before Jamie went ahead and ruined it in the next chapter. Though he slightly redeemed himself with the recording,it was useless in the end, and my hopes were once again crushed.), but she was also extremely exasperating. I hated the way she handled things, but I also understood she was going through a lot and there weren't many options for handling her hidden neurosis. I felt sorry for her for having to deal with her unwanted gift. It pretty much made her life a living hell.
I loved Noah's character as well. He was so adorable and lovable but also sarcastically infuriating at the same time. He really cared about Mara, even when I couldn't see how he was able to, as I was so frustrated with her. He was the bright point in her life and kept me hanging on in the book, I think, even when he started acting crazy too.
Now, I think it needs to be pointed out how fast this book spiraled out of control. Things were going along at a relatively constant pace, and all of a sudden the book was pushed into overdrive. Noah shows up at her window, pounding away, and things immediately start to get a lot more confusing. So many more mysteries were brought up and unanswered questions ran rampant through my head. They went to some strange secluded creek because out of nowhere Mara's brother was in trouble and Noah strangely knew where to find him. Queue the part of the book where I began to get severely annoyed (even more so than throughout the previous parts). It seems as though the author decided the book was getting a little too boring and decided to throw in a little (And I do mean little as the rescue seemed to last about 30 seconds. I mean COME ON, it was ridiculous.) adventure for a change in pace. She tried to think up as many scary things as she could and the best she came up with was ALLIGATORS? I'm sorry, but that part was atrocious and I literally wanted to throw my computer (Yes, I did read this book on my computer)across the room. All of a sudden, a flock of predators appear in an attempt to kill off the heroine, and the reader gets another glimpsing hint at her killing ability. Then, about a minute later the heroine magically escapes, saves her brother, and books it back to civilization unscathed.
I have to say that after this point I grew more and more apprehensive about continuing the book. I didn't want it to get any worse, as I really, REALLY, wanted to not hate the book.
Things began to redeem themselves when Noah and Mara finally talked to each other about their abilities. I thought "Okay, so now they're going to find out a way to fix things and be back to their awesome selves." And for a while, things seemed to look up. They were planning to find a way to manage and survive with their abilities, together. Noah completely accepted her, and they were finally together without any secrets holding them back.
But then Mara killed a bunch of bugs and her life spiraled out of control all over again. She found out about Lassiter, and all of a sudden she was fine with being a murderer. I understand she was pissed and thought the sick freak deserved to die, but still. And she didn't even seem to care that Noah loved her and was there for her. She just gave it all up and consented to let herself become the thing she hated. She was fighting and fighting insanity and it's like all of a sudden she threw her hands up and said "Fuck it". She just decided to kill Lassiter, and then it comes back to bite her in the ass when she also almost kills her own father. I felt sorry for her that she had to have this unwanted ability in the beginning, but now it made me hate that she was embracing it instead of being revolted by it or using it for good somehow. Yes, I know killing the douche was a twisted form of justice but her lack of remorse ruined it for me. She didn't even care that she was doing it. If she had felt bad about it, but done it anyway out of necessity, I would have cheered her on. But no. She decided to go psycho and just kill him, uncaring about her actions.
Then she shows some remorse and decides to go confess to the cops. Stupid decision, but I understand the guilt had to be eating her alive, as it should have been. But the bipolar mood swings were killing me.
Then out of nowhere the dude she thought was a hallucination this whole time is actually REAL? He never really died and her other two friends essentially died for no reason? Ugh, I was content to let Mara be crazy and be done with her, and all of a sudden the story had me hooked again with the cliffhanger ending. I want to know what happens. NOW.
That all being said, I still don't hate the book. Perhaps I will sleep on it and feel differently in the morning, but at this point I find im still looking for a reason to love this book. I want it to be as amazing as everyone says it is. I want the characters to be as awesome as I thought they were. I want to love it. I want to give it five stars. But I can't.
I have no idea how to rate this book, and have a feeling that I'm going to change the amount of stars I give it almost daily, as I stew over my mixed emotions.
I started out this review only intending to type a few short lines. Now it has morphed into the longest review i've ever written and I really need to get my mind off this book. I have a feeling that won't be an easy task. Mara's right. Noah himself, as well as this story, really is like the plague.