Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Title:The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
Author: Michelle Hodkin
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books For Young Readers
Pub. Date: September 27, 2011
Format: Hardcover
Source: Bought

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.

The Good

First things first. I know you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but let’s be honest...we all do it. When I go to the bookstore, I cruise the isles, generally looking for nothing in particular. I wait for a book to jump out at me, to catch my attention. Well, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer did that. The cover is extraordinary. It represents the book so well, in that it is dark and mysterious, and a little romantic.

In this case, you can go ahead and judge this book by its cover because the cover is great, and so is the book. I loved that the book hit a high note of suspense right from the very beginning, and never slowed to the very end. I was constantly trying to figure out exactly what was going on, trying to anticipate what was going to happen next, but never could.

The characters were simply fantastic. I really enjoyed Mara’s wit and admired her strength. The relationship that she had with her brother, Daniel, was refreshing and their interactions made me laugh. I wanted so badly to hate the male protagonist, Noah, but alas, I quickly fell for the bad boy. In the beginning, I just didn’t see how the two of them were going to work, but you gradually learn that Noah is not what you expect him to be, and by the end, I was completely entranced in their relationship.

A great word to describe this book would be eerie. There were many times throughout the book that my hair stood on end. It was difficult to comprehend if some of the things happening were really happening, or if Mara was just imagining it. And how perfect is that, considering Mara couldn’t figure it out herself.

I enjoyed all of the elements of the book. The suspense, the mystery, the romance, the supernatural…it all came together so well and made for a thrilling read.

The Bad

Despite everything going on, and all of the suspense, there were times that the pacing was very slow. A little too much detail placed on insignificant events. And there were a few unanswered questions…like what ever happened to Jaime?

Overall, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer was a hauntingly fantastic read. The somewhat stereotypical YA romance overshadows the subtle paranormal plot, but the quiet tone of the book adds a level of intrigue that takes a hold of you from the first page right through to the last. Superb imagery adds to the creep factor, and makes this book stay with you long after you have finished reading it.

Rating