Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Title: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
Author: Michelle Hodkin

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

Can I just say I loved it?  Would that be enough? Do I reeeeeeaaaallly need to explain why? Ok I'll explain a little but really I'm not going to do it justice.  

Why did I like this book?  It kept my brain on high alert.  Seriously it did.  I spent the entire time reading it with my brain on alert for clues about what really was happening, about who I could trust, about whether even Mara was a reliable narrator.  I could never let my guard down! I love it!  I pulled me completely and utterly into the story.  I was right there with Mara as she tried and tried to remember what had happened or stop herself from feeling like she was spinning out of control.  I was right there as she tried to figure out Noah and what she could believe or couldn't believe about him.  And I was right there as shocked and surprised as she was as secrets and memories started to come forth.The way details were slowly revealed was perfect.  Kept me guessing but didn't make me wait too long and lose interest!  It was awesome! And once again I was amazed by an author that could take all these strings floating and around and bring them all together into on coherent story.  Very nicely done.  With, of course, one lose string still there living an ending that left me needing to know what happens!!

I loved it so much I'm wanting to run to the bookstore NOW and buy the sequel, but I have to stop myself because I have books for Camp Read-A-Lot that I need to get going on, and if I went and bought the sequel I'd never get started on those.  I WILL read it before I go back to work in the fall though!

The basic stuff - loved the characters.  Mara was realistic.  Noah was more layered that appeared.  And her family seemed very honest and believable.  

Final thought:  Sooooooooo glad I finally sat down and read it.  Not onto book #2!
Age: 13+
For the Guys? Not really.