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A review by bigdreamsandwildthings
The Becoming of Noah Shaw by Michelle Hodkin
4.0
I've seen a lot of hate for this book, and I came in expecting to dislike it. Maybe because of that expectation, I was pleasantly surprised when I actually enjoyed this story.
So, let's start with the good: this book is very easy to read and engaging. Even though I didn't know what was going on a lot of the time, this added to the mystery surrounding everything, and that's exactly what I loved about the original trilogy. Reading from Noah's perspective was very different from Mara's, more human, maybe, but I really liked being in his head. The number of times "Jesus fuck" was said or thought gives me life (I really thought I was the only fucked up person who said that multiple times a day) and his cocky yet broken persona is my kryptonite. So, long story short, I still love Noah Shaw.
The bad now: although I liked not knowing what was happening, on the whole it was a bit much. I need to be able to follow events and connect things that are happening enough to actually be into the story, and for a while (maybe about the first third of the book) I struggled with this. Jumping back into this world without a reread probably affected this as well, and I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt, since I do plan on a full Mara Dyer reread at some point in the future and when that happens, I'll tackle this one again too.
Also, side note, everyone's talking about the sex in this book and ??? There was maybe one scene? I don't understand at all. I came in expecting this to be raunchy as shit and then it wasn't. I would have been happy either way, but I literally expected to be reading a sex scene every ten pages.
So, yes, overall I enjoyed this book. It was a very easy read, and being back with these brutal, take-no-shit characters still makes my black heart happy. Because of that, I'm rounding my 3.5 star rating up to 4, and I know I'll continue reading Noah's story. Is it the best book I've ever read? No. But that's okay, because dark murderesses and broken boys are still things I will always come back for.
So, let's start with the good: this book is very easy to read and engaging. Even though I didn't know what was going on a lot of the time, this added to the mystery surrounding everything, and that's exactly what I loved about the original trilogy. Reading from Noah's perspective was very different from Mara's, more human, maybe, but I really liked being in his head. The number of times "Jesus fuck" was said or thought gives me life (I really thought I was the only fucked up person who said that multiple times a day) and his cocky yet broken persona is my kryptonite. So, long story short, I still love Noah Shaw.
The bad now: although I liked not knowing what was happening, on the whole it was a bit much. I need to be able to follow events and connect things that are happening enough to actually be into the story, and for a while (maybe about the first third of the book) I struggled with this. Jumping back into this world without a reread probably affected this as well, and I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt, since I do plan on a full Mara Dyer reread at some point in the future and when that happens, I'll tackle this one again too.
Also, side note, everyone's talking about the sex in this book and ??? There was maybe one scene? I don't understand at all. I came in expecting this to be raunchy as shit and then it wasn't. I would have been happy either way, but I literally expected to be reading a sex scene every ten pages.
So, yes, overall I enjoyed this book. It was a very easy read, and being back with these brutal, take-no-shit characters still makes my black heart happy. Because of that, I'm rounding my 3.5 star rating up to 4, and I know I'll continue reading Noah's story. Is it the best book I've ever read? No. But that's okay, because dark murderesses and broken boys are still things I will always come back for.