The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer, #1) in And So It Begins Reading Challenge

Jan 13, 2011 Ezmirelda rated it really liked it

Shelves: can-t-wait, must-read

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer Hodkin manages to weave a story that’ll leave you pondering it long after you’ve read the last word.

Mara wakes up disoriented in a hospital with no recollection how she got there. She survived the accident, but her friends hadn’t been so lucky. Since that day she’s been having flashbacks and nightmares. In an attempt to stop her from reliving the past Mara and her family move to Miami Florida.

I really loved the fast pace and fluidity of Michelle’s writing. She knew h ...more

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Aug 01, 2011 Nicole rated it really liked it

Shelves: favorites, signed-by-the-author

You can check out this review and many others on my blog, The Reader's Antidote

Just amazing! This totally met with my expectations, which have become increasingly high for whatever reason. An absolute must-read!

This book is so mysterious, and Mara Dyer is the main source of it. The uncertainty surrounding her friend's death in an old abandoned insane asylum (of which she survived) is enough to have you running in circles. You're constantly second-guessing the main character and the motives of th You can check out this review and many others on my blog, The Reader's Antidote

Just amazing! This totally met with my expectations, which have become increasingly high for whatever reason. An absolute must-read!

This book is so mysterious, and Mara Dyer is the main source of it. The uncertainty surrounding her friend's death in an old abandoned insane asylum (of which she survived) is enough to have you running in circles. You're constantly second-guessing the main character and the motives of the boy who she's caught the attention of. Right away, we're told that Noah Shaw isn't exactly the guy you date and take home to mother. Ironically, he does come over and meet Mara's mother and is pretty good friends with her brother (much to her dismay).

Noah is one of those love interests you're predisposed to love. Like Etienne from Anna and the French Kiss and Zach from the Shade series. I'm talking about accents people. I am a major sucker for accents and the fact that Noah Shaw is from London makes me already love him. The fact that he was so understanding about what Mara realizes she can do and annoyingly mysterious doesn't play as much of a part as you would think. Because he's from the UK, he's already a sweetheart.

On top of that, Noah and Mara are more alike than they think. As Mara tries to uncover the mystery of a few fatal events that involve Mara imagining something that comes true, she realizes she's falling for Noah. On top of that, she's still dealing with the death of her best friend, her boyfriend, and her abrupt move to Florida. Add this together, and you're gunning for a hot mess of intrigue and romance. And yes, it truly is a hot mess.

Cliffhanger as defined by Merriam-Webster:
1. an adventure serial or melodrama; especially: one presented in installments each ending in suspense
2. a contest whose outcome is in doubt up to the very end; broadly : a suspenseful situation

Translation: The death of me a million times over that makes me hate the author with a burning but satiable passion. Michelle Hodkin, you fit into this category. It's a love hate kind of thing. I can't wait to see how it all ties together! The next book is way too far away!! ...more

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Dec 27, 2012 Paula Phillips rated it it was amazing

When you read as much as I do , its always a bit touch and go with books as most of them have the same sort of storyline and it really all comes down to how the author executes the storyline and how they can write it , to whether or not the book will be great or not. This storyline is one that has been done a couple of times in different ways but I have to say I adored this book and loved it and cannot wait to read the next one :)
In "The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer" we meet Mara whom we discover was ...more

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Jan 14, 2012 Carrie Ardoin rated it really liked it

Shelves: i-own-this, favorites, posted-on-blog, other-supes

Mara Dyer has just moved to Miami following an accident that killed 3 of her closest friends and left her with a wicked case of PTSD. She is the only daughter of fittingly, a psychiatrist mom and a lawyer dad. She has an overachieving but lovable older brother, and a hilariously cute younger brother.

When Mara starts at her new fancy private school, she has enough trouble adjusting without seeing flashbacks of her dead friends. But she keeps seeing them. And eventually, lots of bad things start h Mara Dyer has just moved to Miami following an accident that killed 3 of her closest friends and left her with a wicked case of PTSD. She is the only daughter of fittingly, a psychiatrist mom and a lawyer dad. She has an overachieving but lovable older brother, and a hilariously cute younger brother.

When Mara starts at her new fancy private school, she has enough trouble adjusting without seeing flashbacks of her dead friends. But she keeps seeing them. And eventually, lots of bad things start happening to people around her.

Unexpectedly, Mara finds herself in the clutches of the school's notorious Lothario, Noah Shaw. Mara and Noah can't seem to stay away from each other, even though they really should. As it turns out, they need one another to find out the truth about themselves and what they can do.

It is hard to write a review of this book without giving away too much of the plot, but here goes.

I loved almost everything about this book. Mara is more than a little unhinged, and while some might not like that, she's my kind of crazy. I felt the gamut of emotions she was going through was believable, given what had happened to her.

The plot had plenty of important events to keep it moving nicely forward, and I never felt like any of the text was filler to get from point A to point B. The author revealed just enough mystery throughout the book to keep me turning the pages and enthralled.

The final chapters were spectacular, and it's not often that the ending of a book leaves me literally dropping my jaw. But this one did. Another reason I know I loved this book: I dreamed about it. I actually dreamed about the characters and an alternate ending. But that's a tale for another time.

The only things I did not like about this book was that the banter between characters seemed a little too grown up sometimes. And I don't mean that in a dirty way, I know teenagers will make sex jokes or whatever. I mean the actual words they used were large vocabulary words. I don't know any teens that speak like that. The other thing I noticed is that at times, I had the feeling that the author was trying more to write a screenplay for a movie, than a book. But luckily, as the book progressed, that feeling passed and I really enjoyed the rest of it.

This book left me thinking about it for a while after I finished it, and that hardly ever happens. But I am hooked, and I can;t wait to see what happens to Mara next. ...more

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Jul 24, 2012 Kirstyn rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, beautiful-cover, already-own-it, swoon-worthy, omg, ya-awesome, mystery-and-suspense

I loved this book! It was unpredictable as far as twists and turns; I kept thinking the plot was going to go one way..and then bam! Switched to something else. I haven't found many books in awhile that could keep me up until 3am reading, but I couldn't put this book down. Mara and Noah are fantastic; I like how they cancel each other out (so to speak). Each character in this book is fleshed out; their thoughts, feelings, and emotions are something we can relate to, if not their actual struggle. ...more

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Oct 17, 2011 Anasheh Satoorian rated it liked it

Done for the second time... Liked it better than the 1st time around. On to the sequel

I did not really enjoy this book until the last 100 pages for two main reasons. First, even though the plot and story were great. The actual writing was horrendous. Second, there was just one unanswered question after another piling up and nothing being resolved. But I have to admit that I did end up enjoying the story and will anxiously wait for the second one. I have not been able to find a release date anywh ...more

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