Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer - Michelle Hodkin

Where I got it: My collection
Rating: 4 stars  
Cover Rating: 5 stars (Beautiful.)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: September 27, 2011
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Page Count: 452 p.
Buy it: Book Depository / Amazon
Add it: Goodreads

When Mara Dyer wakes up in the hospital she has trouble remembering how she got there. Slowly details are filled in though. She was with her friends and boyfriend in an abandoned asylum when it collapsed. She's the only one who survived. Mara has a hard time dealing with this and is suffering from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) so her family decide it's time for a fresh start and they move to Florida. Things in Florida are okay. Mara makes a friend, Jaime so school isn't so terrible...then there is that cute boy, Noah. English accent, disheveled clothes and tousled hair make him hard to resist. The only problem Mara has, are her hallucinations. She's trying to play it cool so her family doesn't have to worry, but Mara is having a hard time telling between what's real and what's not. When a few people start dropping dead, Mara knows that something has to be going on. She can't figure everything out on her own though.

So while I was not like OH MY GOD THIS BOOK! I do see what people reacted that way. This was a pretty awesome start to a trilogy. Mara is a very fascinating narrator, since her brain isn't completely 100%. She has hallucinations and delusions and it makes it interesting trying to figure out what is really going on.

I wish there was more Jaime in this book. I think it just adds in Mara's  dysfunctionality though that she doesn't have a good solid friend. Jaime seemed interesting though and I really wish him and Mara hung out more.

Then there is Noah. He is a dream. I sort of picture him as Nicholas Hoult, especially as Tony in Skins. The cocky air to him as well as being English and cute. Regardless though, he was a very interesting character and he counteracted Mara perfectly.

I am deadly excited to see what happens next with Mara. This story is very ensnaring and the whole concept is just...wow. The only flaw in this novel are more of a preference flaw; the whole girl in new town dates mysterious and attractive boy who only wants her like he's never wanted anyone before. Some people find this unrealistic, I find it perfect for a novel. That's how love in a novel should often be. It's a much nicer reality than the truth. ;)

Michelle Hodkin's writing is amazing. She creates sentences that lure you in and chapters that keep you turning pages. You think you can put the book down, only to realize that you have to read one more chapter to be satisfied.

If you haven't read this novel yet, it's probably time you do. I really enjoyed it and will be biting my nails until all the secrets have been uncovered.

First Line:
"The ornate script on the board twisted in the candlelight, making the letters and numbers dance in my head."

Favorite Lines:
"'I mean asscrown. The crown on the top of the asshat that covers the asshole of assclown. The very zenith in the hierarchy of asses,' I said, as though reading from a dictionary of modern profanity."

"Lightning flashed in distant purple clouds that spread over the sky like a dark quilt."

"'Because I am European, therefore more cultured than you,'..."