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notsmalllatinotarzan 's review for:
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
by Michelle Hodkin
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I will decide whether or not this is a 5 star read upon reading the rest of the series. That being said this is the first book in a while which i think might truly qualify. I read this book in 2 days and during the time I wasn’t reading it in those two days it was the only thing i could think about. That may be largely thanks to one character and one character only.. Noah Shaw.. what an icon. Truly one of the best, literature has to offer. Really all of the characters with major page time were nothing short of iconic. Daniel? amazing. Joseph? Adorable. Jamie? Hilarious. And of course Noah Shaw-unmatched. All of the booktok girlies swooning over the Kai Azar‘s and the Aaron Warner‘s of the world have not seen magnificence the likes of my boy Noah Shaw.
But in all seriousness, i did really like how different all the characters felt from each other. The case in many YA books tends to be that side characters all feel samey and blend together, that was in fact not true of this one. They all had their unique little charm and i did really find myself caring a lot about them. Even our main character Mara was interesting. Despite not minding the wet cardboard personality of many YA heroines, seeing subtle hints of uniqueness and individuality from these main girls is always a treat. She was actually quite funny and witty as well as very down to earth. I found myself laughing quite a bit at her inner monologue especially during the beginning of the book. Her dry humor also managed to peak through even after becoming charmed by her love interest, which is once again a nice little treat, as I’ve found being in love seems to mellow out these poor girls usually. I also really appreciated her murky morality towards the end. Everyone seems to love a morally gray MMC but hardly do i ever see a morally (albeit very light) gray main character.
As for the story itself; it was incredibly captivating. The first 60ish percent of it, as she was at school was so much fun. Her grappling with her mental unstability along with trying to balance the horrors of high school and finding herself in the middle of the plot of a romcom was endlessly entertaining. And the slightly skewed and dark atmosphere of the whole story just made everything so much better. Reading this book felt like binging one of those 2000‘s series and i was having a blast the entire time. The latter half of the book is what got a little more confusing for me,I wasn’t expecting these two kids to literally have superpowers, i just assumed Mara was actually going insane and Noah was just along for whatever ride his weird girlfriend was going on. I guess I don’t really mind the superpower element as long as it’s done well in the second book, i will have to see where it goes one thing that could be considered a criticism, is how unexplained and rushed the ending felt. I don’t think the whole part with the father’s client and the weird murder mystery thing was fleshed out well. That seemed more like a background plot for most of the book only to all of a sudden become really important in the end. then again this book was never meant to be a thriller or murder mystery book so I guess it suffices for how much this relatively short book accomplishes and how many plot lines are set up and executed satisfyingly. Overall i am incredibly shocked by how much I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the rest of the series and hope to finally get more of Jamie in the next one.
But in all seriousness, i did really like how different all the characters felt from each other. The case in many YA books tends to be that side characters all feel samey and blend together, that was in fact not true of this one. They all had their unique little charm and i did really find myself caring a lot about them. Even our main character Mara was interesting. Despite not minding the wet cardboard personality of many YA heroines, seeing subtle hints of uniqueness and individuality from these main girls is always a treat. She was actually quite funny and witty as well as very down to earth. I found myself laughing quite a bit at her inner monologue especially during the beginning of the book. Her dry humor also managed to peak through even after becoming charmed by her love interest, which is once again a nice little treat, as I’ve found being in love seems to mellow out these poor girls usually. I also really appreciated her murky morality towards the end. Everyone seems to love a morally gray MMC but hardly do i ever see a morally (albeit very light) gray main character.
As for the story itself; it was incredibly captivating. The first 60ish percent of it, as she was at school was so much fun. Her grappling with her mental unstability along with trying to balance the horrors of high school and finding herself in the middle of the plot of a romcom was endlessly entertaining. And the slightly skewed and dark atmosphere of the whole story just made everything so much better. Reading this book felt like binging one of those 2000‘s series and i was having a blast the entire time. The latter half of the book is what got a little more confusing for me,