Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by: Michelle Hodkin

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by: Michelle Hodkin (2011)

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

452 pages

Genre: Young Adult

Summary: An accident that kills her friends leaves Mara Dyer alive but confused and depressed. Her family moves in hope that Mara can start to heal. While dealing with the death of her friends, her slightly overbearing mother, trying to figure out what happened during the accident, and attending a new school, Mara must find a way to keep it together. With the help of her family, especially her older brother, and the new mysterious guy in her life, Noah, she tries to fit the pieces together of that terrible night to figure out what actually happened. Is she in fact going crazy or will she find the answers she is looking for?

Review: I honestly don’t even know where to begin with this review. This book has been floating around for a while now and I have heard nothing but praise for it. I finally got it from the library, snuggled up on the couch, and started to read. Low and behold, I finished it in one day. I cannot stress how great this book is.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is filled with suspense, love, friendship, laughter, heartache, and everything in-between from the start to the very last page. As soon as I finished this book I put the sequel on hold at my local library, sadly it was not in so I couldn’t rush over to get it right away. This book is anything but ordinary.

The main and very interesting character, Mara Dyer, is a mess, to say the least, and Hodkin does an amazingly good job at making her seem real and likeable. Mara still acts like the teenager she is at times, but with the death of her friends we get to see firsthand that when faced with a tragic accident, everything changes, and Mara is anything but an annoying teenager. All the characters in this book are great. Mara’s older brother, Daniel, is the best older brother a sister could ask for and adds just the right amount of awesomeness to this novel. Noah, Mara’s love interest, is unique and their relationship is better than the usual boy girl teenage scenario. I guarantee that you will add Noah onto your list of amazing fictional boyfriends that you wish were real. There are many more wonderful characters in this novel that I could talk about all day, but I want you to discover them for yourself.

The narrative in this novel is wonderful. Hodkin is a great writer and I am glad I finally got to experience her talent first hand. One of my favorite parts of this book (okay, all parts of this book are really my favorite) is how the story of the accident that kills her friends unravels for the reader just like it does for Mara. Although this mostly takes place in the present, as Mara starts to remember things the reader gets to see the flashbacks at the same time. It is done smoothly and perfectly and makes you feel like you are right there with Mara the whole time.

If you have yet to jump on the Mara Dyer bandwagon I suggest you do it now. I still can’t believe I waited so long to read this book. This was a fascinating read that everyone should check out. I’m sure this review didn’t even do it justice. 

You should really make sure you have a good sized block of time free for reading once you get your hands on this one.

Rating: 5/5   BUY The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer