Review: ‘The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer’ by Michelle Hodkin

Mara Dyer doesn't believe 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 strangely unharmed. There is.                                                                                                       

She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love. She's wrong.

(Amazon description)

 

Oh. My. God.  I loved this book!!!! 

Mara Dyer is a wonderful character who is damaged and broken.  She had vivid hallucinations that she must hide from her psychologist mother for fear of getting committed to a mental institution.  The doctors have diagnosed her with post traumatic stress disorder, resulting from being the only survivor in a terrible accident which killed three of her friends.  But the whole time I was reading it, I couldn’t help but think there was more to her visions.  There was. 

After the accident, Mara’s family relocates to Florida to help her start her life over.  The students in the snooty private school aren’t exactly welcoming.  Her only friend is Jamie, a really friendly and cool boy from her algebra class.  Oh, and then there is Noah.  He’s a hot guy with a bad reputation who seems intent on getting close to her.  Of course, she think he is an ass and doesn’t hesitate to tell him so.  But Noah isn’t discouraged by her resistance and continues his quest of winning her over. 

The relationship of Mara and Noah develops slowly, but the wait is totally worth it!  I think I might be in love with Noah at this point, and that hasn’t happened in a long time.  But even though there is a beautiful love story in the book, it is definitely a sub-plot.  The real plot revolves around Mara’s mental state and her difficulty in distinguishing reality from hallucination.  It doesn’t help that people around her seem to drop dead around her. 

The book is suspenseful and romantic and disturbing and beautifully written.  My only complaint is that I have to wait until the fall of 2012 for the next book. 

Overall, I give The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer...

Plot - 5 bookmarks (I had the hardest time putting this book down. When I was at work, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.)

Character Development - 5 bookmarks (Watching these characters unfold was wonderful!)

World Building - 5 bookmarks (Mara’s world is terrifying.)

Love Story - 5 bookmarks (One of my favorites that I’ve real in a long time. It blossoms slowly.  No “insta-love” that is so common in YA novels.)

Dream Cast (Otherwise known as who I pictured while reading) - Lily Collins (Mara), a slightly younger Robert Pattinson (Noah), Chris Colfer (Jamie), Lucas Till (Daniel)

Book Trailer