Feb
2013
Reflection – The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
Series: Mara Dyer book #1
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal Romance, Mystery
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Hit the shelves on: September 27, 2011
Pages: 464
Find on Barnes & Noble
ISBN: 9781442421769
Summary (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 Rating:
How’d it get on my shelf?
Truthfully I don’t typically read mysteries a lot… just not my usual taste. I saw the cover and title of this book and for whatever reason had to read it (plus it has the word paranormal attached to mystery!) So I decided I’d get it from the library as soon as I could.
My thoughts…
After reading the last sentence I am still at a loss for words. WTF?!… that’s about the only vocabulary that my brain can come up with at this point. The other coherent thought in my brain is that I must pull out my Nook and get the second book right now! Thank you Michelle Hodkin for writing such a captivating book, and then making it a series! Ok… I will now attempt to collect my scattered thoughts and write a coherent review using my big girl words…. I just need one more WTF!?!?! *alright I’m composed now*
Hodkin’s jumped straight into the action and built up a hefty amount of intrigue right from page one. I’ll admit that it did slow down a bit through the middle (I think at that point this was only a 4 star review for me)… but the closer I got to the end the more drawn in I was. The slower build up in the middle was completely worth it. It’s a damn good thing that book two is out already, because I wouldn’t have been able to handle the cliff hanger at the end if I had to wait for book two! “Speechless” is not a normal concept for me (seriously ask my friends, they can never get me to shut up), but the ending to this book…. **still mentally searching for a word to describe it** yup, speechless. I’ve been having a rough time really getting into reading mode lately.. you know that “dear world shut the hell up, can’t you see I’m clearly busing with this book?” Well, thank you Michelle Hodkin for fixing that for me, I got to the half way point of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer and could not put it down.
Mara was one of those characters that I was immediately attached to. Witty, artistic, and thoroughly damaged. She sucked me into feeling for her, and it didn’t matter what she did or said.. I loved her in her moments of sanity and even more in the moments of absolute insanity. And then there’s Noah Shaw… just plain sexy, devious and snarky laced with a whole lot of mysterious. Did I mention he has a British accent? *swoon* I’ve always been a sucker for the love-hate banter, and these two definitely did not disappoint.
Conclusion…
I really did love this book and could not wait to start the second (I downloaded it about 30 whole seconds after finishing the last page). Although, I do wish the middle didn’t slow down as much as it did I got past my irritation very quickly. There were a lot of things I didn’t see coming, which is a huge bonus (I hate predictability, and unfortunately I’m pretty good at guessing things… my husband gets really angry when we watch movies together). I would recommend this book to anyone. My only small issue was how long it took for the paranormal aspect to develop. If you like mystery or paranormal romance you should read The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer.
Kim @ Bookmark To Blog
02/25/2013 at 8:56 pm (82 days ago)My reaction at the end of this was exactly the same. I’m pretty sure I screamed it out loud in my car- WTF?!! Lol. Have you finished the second book yet? It helps clear a lot up. I really liked these.
Alaina ("The Barista")
02/27/2013 at 6:42 pm (80 days ago)I did read the second one and I think I screamed WTF!?!! at the end of that one too. My only problem with these books is how long until the next one comes out! I know it’s early in the year I think this may be my favorite series I’ll read in 2013.
Alaina (“The Barista”) recently posted…Reflection – The Madman’s Daughter by Megan Shepherd