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dearsayuri 's review for:
The Retribution of Mara Dyer
by Michelle Hodkin
This review was originally posted on my blog.
This was....sad. Not because of the ending or the deaths, it was sad because I expected so much more of the final book in the trilogy. In fact, I felt like we needed another book to be added in the series since the last chapters were too fast paced. So, I cannot give it more than 3 stars even though I was absolutely in love with Mara and Noah since last year.
So, here is my story - I have read the first two books last year while I was in China but I could not get the third book. I was so in love with it, like crazy in love. Now, I finally got my hands on The Retribution and decided to re-read the series. It was my favorite series ever but damn, why Hodkin, why? Why did you have to mess everything up? I can't say that the third installment was boring or dull, not at all! However, something was off. I might have outgrown Mara and Noah but just the thought of it makes my heart ache. So, let's try to see, what happened? I hate to say it but I think Noah was a major downfall.
Sad to admit but Noah did not make me as excited anymore. As I re-read the first two books, I was not as ecstatic to see him anymore. He seemed to be an arrogant coward from time to time because of the secrets he held from Mara. This was not fair at all. I am not trying to say that their relationship was healthy at any point in the series but by the end it got even worse. Now, excuse me, what happened to our beloved confident and bad-ass guy? As much as everyone tried to pull off that Hero card, Mara ended up saving his sorry ass. He turned into a mopey brokenhearted boy despite the fact that in comparison with Mara, he did not know shit. He turned out to be so dependent on Mara and his love to be selfish. I guess after all he is just a spoiled boy. He did not manage to turn into a man or anything distantly related to that, which is extremely upsetting.
Mara was not as disappointing as Noah, however I was unhappy by her decision to stay after she realized Noah was not really the tough guy he claimed to be. I guess that is the part of their love - to accept each other no matter what but Mara was clearly the strong one in the relationship and, I am sorry to say that, but Noah was dragging her down.
So, you see. After everything Mara went through, Noah was a mess. She demonstrated herself as a very strong and capable person who was willing to go to different extremes for her interests and I could finally see Mara as what Hodkin claimed her to be at the beginning. I could see how she grew up as a character but Noah...ah, he just degraded.
In addition to that, I could sympathize our amazing Jamal a lot more than Noah. Jamie was wonderful and can't thank him more for what he has done for Mara! He proved himself to be a true friend. He never failed to make me laugh with his jokes and I bet he was the one keeping that entire Mara-Stella-Jamie ship afloat when everything was going to hell. Jamie turned out to be my favorite precious boy and my heart was breaking for him when he was working himself up to use his gift. He changed so much during the series.
Stella annoyed the heck out of me but I can't blame her for hearing voices and really going nuts. She was good but not as impressive and I was more irritated than upset at her final decision. Daniel was an all-knowing and loving brother so 10 points for Ravenlclaw (because we all know it he is sooooooo Ravenclaw) . I was actually surprised how quickly he got himself involved but also low-key expected it, which made me very happy.
So, overall, 3 out of 5 because the book and character development did not meet my expectations. It is still a great and one-of-a-kind trilogy but I felt like Michelle Hodkin failed to add complexity to the story. So the the final installment ended up on the same level with the first, which is...tragic.
This was....sad. Not because of the ending or the deaths, it was sad because I expected so much more of the final book in the trilogy. In fact, I felt like we needed another book to be added in the series since the last chapters were too fast paced. So, I cannot give it more than 3 stars even though I was absolutely in love with Mara and Noah since last year.
So, here is my story - I have read the first two books last year while I was in China but I could not get the third book. I was so in love with it, like crazy in love. Now, I finally got my hands on The Retribution and decided to re-read the series. It was my favorite series ever but damn, why Hodkin, why? Why did you have to mess everything up? I can't say that the third installment was boring or dull, not at all! However, something was off. I might have outgrown Mara and Noah but just the thought of it makes my heart ache. So, let's try to see, what happened? I hate to say it but I think Noah was a major downfall.
Sad to admit but Noah did not make me as excited anymore. As I re-read the first two books, I was not as ecstatic to see him anymore. He seemed to be an arrogant coward from time to time because of the secrets he held from Mara. This was not fair at all. I am not trying to say that their relationship was healthy at any point in the series but by the end it got even worse. Now, excuse me, what happened to our beloved confident and bad-ass guy? As much as everyone tried to pull off that Hero card, Mara ended up saving his sorry ass. He turned into a mopey brokenhearted boy despite the fact that in comparison with Mara, he did not know shit. He turned out to be so dependent on Mara and his love to be selfish. I guess after all he is just a spoiled boy. He did not manage to turn into a man or anything distantly related to that, which is extremely upsetting.
Mara was not as disappointing as Noah, however I was unhappy by her decision to stay after she realized Noah was not really the tough guy he claimed to be. I guess that is the part of their love - to accept each other no matter what but Mara was clearly the strong one in the relationship and, I am sorry to say that, but Noah was dragging her down.
"I didn't need Noah to see the truth about myself - I found it on my own. But he needed me to see the truth about him."
So, you see. After everything Mara went through, Noah was a mess. She demonstrated herself as a very strong and capable person who was willing to go to different extremes for her interests and I could finally see Mara as what Hodkin claimed her to be at the beginning. I could see how she grew up as a character but Noah...ah, he just degraded.
In addition to that, I could sympathize our amazing Jamal a lot more than Noah. Jamie was wonderful and can't thank him more for what he has done for Mara! He proved himself to be a true friend. He never failed to make me laugh with his jokes and I bet he was the one keeping that entire Mara-Stella-Jamie ship afloat when everything was going to hell. Jamie turned out to be my favorite precious boy and my heart was breaking for him when he was working himself up to use his gift. He changed so much during the series.
Stella annoyed the heck out of me but I can't blame her for hearing voices and really going nuts. She was good but not as impressive and I was more irritated than upset at her final decision. Daniel was an all-knowing and loving brother so 10 points for Ravenlclaw (because we all know it he is sooooooo Ravenclaw) . I was actually surprised how quickly he got himself involved but also low-key expected it, which made me very happy.
So, overall, 3 out of 5 because the book and character development did not meet my expectations. It is still a great and one-of-a-kind trilogy but I felt like Michelle Hodkin failed to add complexity to the story. So the the final installment ended up on the same level with the first, which is...tragic.