Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

 

  Author: Michelle Hodkin

 Pages: Hardcover, 452

 Published: September 27th 2011 by Simon & Schuester

 Mara Dyer # 1

 Book rating: ★★★★☆

 Cover Rating: A MILLION STARS

Mara Dyer doesn’t think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.
It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.
There is.
She doesn’t believe that after everything she’s been through, she can fall in love.
She’s wrong.

Mara Dyer turned a riveting 180 degree twist from her former life. From living in the chilly state of Rhode Island, to a city of overtanned blondes & palm trees in Florida. From studying in a public school, to attending Croyden High- a private school of plaid skirts, neckties, crested vests, evil teachers and even more evil bullies.  From having a bestfriend, a boyfriend, and a not-so-friend, to being the sole survivor of an accident that killed the three. From a completely sane person, to a possible lunatic.


The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer came out as an utter surprise for me. Just, wow. Nothing that I've read in the synopsis could have prepared me for what was waiting to unfold the minute I picked it up. Mara, and the painfully confusing world that she lived in, (fogged by the hazy reality, dreams, memories, and ghostly encounters) sucked me inside of it, and I enjoyed it.

The book is creepy, witty and mind-blowing. How I could be struggling to hold my giggles (to not look like a  lunatic myself while riding the bus) in one minute, then suffering from severe goosebumps and shivers in another. I loved the scenarios, and how unpredictable they were- although I had a bit of trouble with the main characters.

Personally, I didn't like Mara as much as I thought I would. In the beginning, she offered me a small hope of defiance and strong personality, especially with how well she was trying to cope up with everything- but midway through, she got very whiny, wimpier and more self-pitying than she already was- that it got very painful to listen to her voice. Instead, I found her psychotic episodes SO MUCH MORE INTERESTING, that there are small tugs of disappointment inside of me every time that I realize that I have to deal with Normal Mara & her shenanigans again. PS: Mara, I would exchange four of my sisters for a single day as Daniel's little sister. Just saying.

And NOAH SHAW FANS CLUB: Sorry not sorry, but your knight-in-shining-asscrown failed to make my heart go a-flutter. Noah spelled C-L-I-C-H-E, and my type of cliche, mind you- british accent, messy hair, room full of books (The boy even quoted Lolita, for goodness sake!), and a good humor- yet he just failed miserably to be a good one. After all, a perfect set of traits a swoon-worthy man doth not solely maketh, but his relationship with the girl also counts critically. And man, I didn't enjoy Mara & Noah that much. I didn't feel that much depth between Mara & Noah's relationship, because I felt that they lusted over each other a little too much. I felt that it was too early for Noah to drop the bad boy facade, and Mara- her solitary walls, and I felt that everything was too rushed. I liked them better when they're just talking and throwing smart-assery at each other, and less when whose what is touching what- JUST TOO MUCH TOUCHING IN GENERAL. (Alas, I am not a fan of steamy scenes.)

The last quarter of the page. I knew that the book was a time bomb, ticking seconds after seconds, pages after pages, until the whole thing blows up. And I remember thinking, "I DO NOT WANT TO BE HERE WHEN THAT HAPPENS. " But, darn you, Michelle Hodkin. And your claw-like words that pulled me in deeper and deeper down to that twisted, sick explosion that everybody had warned me about. I WASN'T READY FOR IT. BUT I LOVED IT.

Overall, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is dark, crazy, spooky, twisted, and hilarious. I had a bit problems with the characters, but the interesting plot made up for it. I literally could not put down the book, and when I did have to, and it was over- I blinked at my sad life, and struggled to comprehend what in the world just happened. My jaw hung for a minute or two.