The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Published September 27th 2011 by Simon & Schuster Books FYR

Young-Adult, Psychological-Thriller, Romance, Supernatural

Free read on PulseIt

My rating 4 stars

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Mara Dyer believes life can’t 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.

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REVIEW I didn’t expect to enjoy this book as much as I did. I’m not big on horror, which I kind of thought this was. I was wrong. It’s not horror, it’s just creepy as f**k. Seriously, I can’t count how many times I shuddered and put my ereader away. It took me about 9 days to get through it, even though I was enjoying it. I’m eager to read the next book, but it will most likely be a few weeks before I do.

Mara Dyer wakes up in the hospital with no memory of what happened to her or her friends. She finds that she’s the only survivor and that knowledge just about does her in. So, she convinces her parents to move away to get a fresh start. And then we’re off to Miami, where things start to get weirder for Mara. She’s hallucinating. Or is she? Aside from her mind seeming to be playing tricks on her, she also has a crazy thing happen where she rescues a dog. The thing that freaked me out was the way that the dog’s owner died a most horrific death. A death that, hours earlier, Mara imagined happening to the animal abuser in her head. Yes, you read right. I thought that was going to be the most creepy thing. Nope. I was in for more. I kept guessing about what was actually happening, only to be wrong. Then I started again, and just gave up and went with what the author gave me. Which was no explanation that seemed likely to be the cause of Mara’s unbecoming.

I love love love Daniel, Mara’s brother. They have that great sibling bond that’s so rare these days. He is one of those characters that march to the beat of their own drummer. Which, I found to be absolutely cute. He reminds me of me, in a way. Noah “swoon inducing” Shaw is like the cream of the crop. I don’t think that I can juggle any more book boyfriends, but darn it if he didn’t work his way in. And he’s British. You know how I feel about guys from that part of the world. He’s charming, and has had his share of girls – and leaving broken hearts along the way. Mara is different for him, and soon he’s unable to stay away from her.

This book is equally parts creepy and romantic. I think you’ll find something in it that you love, and that will keep you reading. The ending wasn’t shock inducing for me, but it made me want the next book as soon as I was done. If you like young-adult romance, with a big dashing of supernatural and thriller aspects, then this is definitely the book for you. As much as I loved it, I’m hoping that the next book takes me to the heavens. Err, which roughly means I’ll give it five stars if it does. Definitely recommended!