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A review by emilyalf20
The Becoming of Noah Shaw by Michelle Hodkin
4.0
Series: The Shaw Confession #1
Publication Date: Nov 7, 2017
Rating: 4/5
Trigger Warning: Suicide, self-harm, adult language, mental illness (and a whole lot more. A trigger warning page can be found in the start of the book)
"I won't quit the game. I'll destroy the fucking board."
Please note that this is a spin-off series of The Mara Dyer trilogy. Therefore, you must have read those books first before picking this one up.
NOW TO THE FANGIRLING/ RANT:
I was a little sceptical of this spin-off because I was happy with how TMD ended and spin-offs are usually disappointing for me BUT OH MY GOD I NEEDED THIS IN MY LIFE! This book picks up almost a week after the events of The Retribution of Mara Dyer and explored the "Gifts" of Noah, Mara and the gang. Noah starts seeing visions of other Gifted people just before they commit suicide and this leads the gang on a journey of discovering others like them.
THINGS I ENJOYED:
1) Since this book was entirely from Noah's perspective, the sarcasm, banter and absolute savagery was on an all time high (which I loved).
2) The character developments (especially Noah's). One of my issues with the Mara Dyer trilogy was the relationship between Noah and Mara. Noah suffers from depression and his only light in life is Mara. He practically worships her. I was so relieved when Noah started questioning his relationship because he was always the one who did everything Mara wanted without hesitation and that irked me so much. Don't get me wrong, I do ship them but I also don't???? IF THAT MAKES SENSE.
3) The writing. It is beautiful and the book just flies by. A lot of questions were answered and a thousand more were created!! (I AM LOSING MY MIND!) I also enjoyed all the new characters that were introduced. A few characters from the past made appearances (some unexpected!!!!). Every single character in this book has secrets. Some were revealed, some hinted at and then there were the ones you yell about in the middle of the night BECAUSE HODKIN: HOW DARE YOU!
4) This is written as an OwnVoices book for the mental health rep and I really appreciate the way Hodkin depicts mental illness in this (and all her books tbh) without romanticising or shying away from the harsh truths.
THINGS I DIDN'T REALLY ENJOY:
1) The Plot (or a lack thereof). My only problem with this book is that NOTHING REALLY HAPPENS until the last 10% or so which I didn't really mind as it was setting up for the last two books. Also for those of you who hate cliffhangers: there's a pretty big one here that I screamed about for 2 hours straight.
I would also like to again mention that this book is very much tied to the Mara Dyer trilogy. For those of you (like me) who read them years ago, PLEASE either reread them or read the detailed summary on RECAPTAINS (they only have the first two books. So I reread the last one). Hodkin has inserted certain important paragraphs from the previous books in some areas, which helped a lot but I still think a recap is needed before going into this.
Overall I enjoyed this book and it was a great start to the series. I NEED BOOK 2 NOW!
*****Received an Advanced Reader's Copy courtesy of Pansing Malaysia in exchange for an honest review*****
A version of this review can also be found on instagram @darkreaders.
Publication Date: Nov 7, 2017
Rating: 4/5
Trigger Warning: Suicide, self-harm, adult language, mental illness (and a whole lot more. A trigger warning page can be found in the start of the book)
"I won't quit the game. I'll destroy the fucking board."
Please note that this is a spin-off series of The Mara Dyer trilogy. Therefore, you must have read those books first before picking this one up.
NOW TO THE FANGIRLING/ RANT:
I was a little sceptical of this spin-off because I was happy with how TMD ended and spin-offs are usually disappointing for me BUT OH MY GOD I NEEDED THIS IN MY LIFE! This book picks up almost a week after the events of The Retribution of Mara Dyer and explored the "Gifts" of Noah, Mara and the gang. Noah starts seeing visions of other Gifted people just before they commit suicide and this leads the gang on a journey of discovering others like them.
THINGS I ENJOYED:
1) Since this book was entirely from Noah's perspective, the sarcasm, banter and absolute savagery was on an all time high (which I loved).
2) The character developments (especially Noah's). One of my issues with the Mara Dyer trilogy was the relationship between Noah and Mara. Noah suffers from depression and his only light in life is Mara. He practically worships her. I was so relieved when Noah started questioning his relationship because he was always the one who did everything Mara wanted without hesitation and that irked me so much. Don't get me wrong, I do ship them but I also don't???? IF THAT MAKES SENSE.
3) The writing. It is beautiful and the book just flies by. A lot of questions were answered and a thousand more were created!! (I AM LOSING MY MIND!) I also enjoyed all the new characters that were introduced. A few characters from the past made appearances (some unexpected!!!!). Every single character in this book has secrets. Some were revealed, some hinted at and then there were the ones you yell about in the middle of the night BECAUSE HODKIN: HOW DARE YOU!
4) This is written as an OwnVoices book for the mental health rep and I really appreciate the way Hodkin depicts mental illness in this (and all her books tbh) without romanticising or shying away from the harsh truths.
THINGS I DIDN'T REALLY ENJOY:
1) The Plot (or a lack thereof). My only problem with this book is that NOTHING REALLY HAPPENS until the last 10% or so which I didn't really mind as it was setting up for the last two books. Also for those of you who hate cliffhangers: there's a pretty big one here that I screamed about for 2 hours straight.
I would also like to again mention that this book is very much tied to the Mara Dyer trilogy. For those of you (like me) who read them years ago, PLEASE either reread them or read the detailed summary on RECAPTAINS (they only have the first two books. So I reread the last one). Hodkin has inserted certain important paragraphs from the previous books in some areas, which helped a lot but I still think a recap is needed before going into this.
Overall I enjoyed this book and it was a great start to the series. I NEED BOOK 2 NOW!
*****Received an Advanced Reader's Copy courtesy of Pansing Malaysia in exchange for an honest review*****
A version of this review can also be found on instagram @darkreaders.