Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Source: Goodreads

Title: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

Author: Michelle Hodkin
Series: Mara Dyer #1
Published: 2011 by Simon and Schuster
Where I got the book from: the library

Synopsis from Goodreads

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

There are some books that just grab you, glue you to your seat and make you simply turn the pages like a whirlwind. Those are the books that I love the best – the ones that make you tremble and laugh, the ones that send thrills through you and have you hold your breath (metaphorically) in fearful anticipation. I am so glad that I re-read The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer because I felt all that already for the second time.

I’m not even sure if I can describe this novel adequately enough. There were so many aspects that I LOVED and for me everything – yes, I’m fairly confident that everything – fit together into a perfect, intricate plot. Mara’s story unfolds steadily and with a fast pace, revealing shocking things one after another and making my eyes bulge out and my mouth drop open. This book literally sent shivers down my spine. Perhaps what makes it so deliciously creepy and captivating is Mara’s uncertainty about her sanity – I asked myself, as she asked herself, what EXACTLY was real and what was going on.
 
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer was not only eerie – it was also funny. I loved the snarky dialogue between the main characters and the believable relationships. Especially Mara’s family was wonderful – Daniel and Joseph! Whee! - and I look forward to the relationships being developed even further in the next book. Of course Jamie was awesome and I need more of him – and I do have a feeling that his story isn’t over yet – and obviously I can’t leave out a mention of how much I am in love with Noah. He balances out Mara so well and they seem so equal in their banter – they can both stand up for each other and they have a connection that feels real. None of the characters in this novel felt at all shallow and I can’t wait to read more about them.
 
What more can I say? The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is a beautifully, dangerously, powerfully captivating novel that I definitely recommend to people who want their head messed with by a book. Mystery, friendship, madness, grief, romance, fear, murder, uniqueness – this book has it all. So just, you know, get hold of it. Quick.
 
 
5/5 One of my favourites – an intense, unputdownable YA psychological thriller!

 

-Eve