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The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer, #1)

Michelle Hodkin

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Jan 05, 2011 Liz rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 3-star, young-adult

Even before BEA, buzz about The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer was circulating. Several of my fellow book bloggers came home with ARCs and the rave reviews spread like wildfire, so I asked Shanyn of Chick Loves Lit if I could borrow her ARC. Honestly? I’m not sure if I agree with all of the hype it’s getting. While Hodkin’s debut has a lot of interesting ideas, it was somewhat lacking in execution.

Even though it’s nearly 500 pages long, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer was an incredibly fast paced read. For
Even before BEA, buzz about The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer was circulating. Several of my fellow book bloggers came home with ARCs and the rave reviews spread like wildfire, so I asked Shanyn of Chick Loves Lit if I could borrow her ARC. Honestly? I’m not sure if I agree with all of the hype it’s getting. While Hodkin’s debut has a lot of interesting ideas, it was somewhat lacking in execution.

Even though it’s nearly 500 pages long, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer was an incredibly fast paced read. For the most part, I didn’t mind the plot. A couple of plot points seemed fairly similar, and I had to wonder if some of them could have been cut. It also seemed like there were times in the novel when I was thinking, “Okay, I need to get an answer now” and Hodkin would just throw more questions my way. This is book one of a series, and I wonder if part of the reason Hodkin provided so little answers was not because she thought it was vital to the story, but because she wanted to sell not only The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer but the later books in the series.

The characters in this novel were simply meh for me. I liked Mara just fine, but I need some answers about certain aspects of her character, because otherwise I can’t connect with or understand. Without these answers in the next book I’m not sure if I’ll be able to enjoy this series. I’ve also heard a lot of bloggers rave about how awesome Noah is and honestly? I don’t get it. Sure, Noah could be a gentlemen. However, it also seemed like he became fixated on fixing Mara in so many ways that he sometimes lost sight of the good in her. Hodkin at least left room for her characters to grow, and I think this is an indicator that she has talent when it comes to character development, and that a lot of my issues are just nit picky.

The kicker in this novel for me was the writing. My pet peeve in writing is frequent (like once a chapter frequent) repetition of certain phrases, and Hodkin was guilty of this. I didn’t even think some of the phrases she used were accurate descriptors. But like I said, I read an ARC of this book, so maybe it’s changed in the final version.

I gave myself a few weeks to process after reading The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer before writing my review, and I’m glad that I did. The plot of this book is so crazy that I can’t decide if it’s over the top or brilliant. However, I think Hodkin’s craft needs a tad bit of honing. I think with a little less repetition and a few more answers, I could really love later books in this series. ...more

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Apr 05, 2013 Kate rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013, age-ya, paranormal

Mara Dyer doesn't remember what happened the night she was rescued from a collapsed abandoned asylum - but two of her friends and her boyfriend were killed that night. Her PTSD is so bad her family decides to move to Florida, where Mara starts at a private school and meets Noah, the resident bad boy. She can't escape her own crazy, however, and as she tries not to fall for Noah, people around her begin dying. And Noah seems to know something about it...

I went into this thinking it was going to b ...more

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Nov 14, 2016 Jennie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

A: What are you reading?
Me: A book.
A: What's it about?
Me: I'm not really sure.
A: Is it good?
Me: ...actually, yes. ...more

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Sep 29, 2011 Shoshanah rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I've been wanting to read this book for so long, since before it was even published, and was so excited to finally have a chance. Except once I started reading, I was a little taken aback because it wasn't at all like I expected. It actually took my a while to get into it, and I started off disappointed. But about 100 pages in everything picked up, and from there, I couldn't put it down.

If I have any major complaint about this, it's that it's a little too confusing. But I think that's somewhat t ...more

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Aug 29, 2012 Laura rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mt-bookpile-2011-2015, old-reads

I really don't understand what the cover has to do with the book itself - there's nothing about water, and Our Heroine is part-Indian (albeit with light skin) which makes it appear that the designer wanted to keep the ethnicity hidden by chopping off the head.

As for the book itself, my first impression is BLOAT. There was no excuse for 500 pages! A far more tightly written 300 would have made for a far better book, IMVHO. Also, the opening note, where "Mara Dyer" confesses that she comes with a ...more

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Jan 29, 2012 Susan rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: teen-fiction, teen-fiction-fantasy-sci-fi

I wanted to love this after a coworker raved about it, but I made it only to page 325 and couldn't force myself to read one more page. The only likeable characters were Mara's brothers, and I couldn't have cared less about what happened to Mara or her unappealing boyfriend. If I read one more time about how his jeans/pants hung on his narrow/slender hips, I was going to throw up. ...more

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Sep 15, 2013 Lidia K rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

I haven`t read a book so entertaining in a very long time.For me the Mara Dyer books ,the Lux series by Jennifer Armentrout and Sweet Trilogy were a pleasent surprise this summer.Somebody compared this book with Becca Fitzpatrick`s Hush Hush series and I beg to differ.Mara Dyer way better that Hush Hush ant the heroine is much more likeable. ...more

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Jul 14, 2011 Lalitha rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I enjoyed this book, and picked it up mainly because of the creepy inspiration behind the story (the author talked about it at a publisher reception at ALA). It did not disappoint, and I am super excited for the second book!

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Apr 24, 2011 Amanda rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Why was I not paying attention to the fact that this was a series?

Just great. Another long wait for the next book.

Yes, this is not a review. I know.

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