Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
by Michelle Hodkin
Published: September 27th 2011
by Simon & Schuster

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.

My Thoughts:

What I loved most about this story was the author's ability to weave such a captivating, hang off the edge of your seat story. I could not put this book down, and read straight through the night. I liked trying to solve the mystery and predicting what might happen next. I couldn't figure out if Mara was hallucinating, having visions that predicted the future or what.

I found Mara to be a very relatable character. She was quiet, shy, kept to herself, and tried to stay away from drama. Unfortunately, she always ended up at the wrong place, at the wrong time. She landed right smack dab in the middle of mysterious events, and even murder.

Noah was gorgeous, and the most popular guy at Mara's new school. He had a bad reputation for being a male slut. However, I loved how Hodkin shows us not to prejudge a person. People will always talk, but it's important to get to know a person before you draw any conclusions about that person. Throughout the book, Noah is driven to get to know Mara and discover everything about her. Once Mara agrees to spend time with Noah, the relationship intensifies and Mara finds herself falling for Noah against her will. As their relationship develops, Noah stands up for Mara repeatedly when the mean girl in the story, Anna, tries to embarrass, ridicule, and make Mara's life miserable. Noah is such a wonderful character, and I found myself getting excited every time he made an appearance in the story. The passion that Mara and Noah expressed for one another was intense and romantic.

I recommend this book and give it 5 out of 5 stars. It has all of the elements of a great story. There was great world building, complex characters, mystery, romance, and of course the desire to keep reading until the story was complete! I loved the huge surprise at the end, and never saw it coming. The cliffhanger at the end has me desperate to get my hands on the sequel, The Evolution of Mara Dyer!


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