Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Number of Pgs.: 452

Publication date: September 27, 2011

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Genre: YA, Mystery, Paranormal, Supernatural, Thriller

How I got the copy: Bought

Rating: 5 Stars

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.

Plot: 9/10

Characters: 9/10

Setting: 9/10

Pacing: 10/10

Style: 10/10

Cover: I love underwater covers and this one is no exception. The first time I read this book it was because the cover caught my eye at the library!

47+50=97 (5 Stars)

I had reviewed this book the first time I read it, but it was when I was first starting out blogging and it was on my old blog so here it is reposted and then a paragraph about my rereading experience.

-Electrifying physical and emotional attraction between main characters

-Fast paced action scenes
-Well Written
-Suspense
-Murder Mystery

Check, check, and check! This book had all of the above and more, making it one of the most unexpectedly exciting reads of 2011. I only wish I had picked it up sooner. I immediately connected with the main character, Mara. Here sarcastic, yet hilarious, sense of humor had me laughing out loud at times. It's very rare that you see an author write dialogue that is close to how teens actually speak to each other. (I will advise that there is some cursing in there, for those of you readers who might take offense.) Mara's love interest, Noah, is British, rich, an animal lover, and hot! He is also very mysterious and sly. The way those two interacted was very entertaining and had me laughing one moment and on the edge of my seat the next.

I am proud to say I figured out who the murderer was halfway through the book! I liked that the reader is provided with enough clues. I always get frustrated during Law and Order when they introduce the murderer in the last three minutes of the episode. It's no fun when you can't guess. I also liked how even once I knew who did it there was still a bigger mystery that we won't figure out until book two. My one complaint is that Mara is a little self hating in the end and it comes off a little whiny and ridiculous, but other than that I love everything about this book.

In my rereading experience I fell in love with this book even more if that's possible. After blogging for a year and reading a lot more books than I had the first time I read this, I can honestly say this is in my top five books I love. So if that's not enough of a reason for you to go read it check out the quotes I love below or read some more reviews.