The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #1)

Michelle Hodkin

Pages:  452

Publisher: Simon & Schuster 

Format: Hardcover

Source: Library

Age Group: Young Adult

Date Published: September 27, 2011

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.

Yeah, this is my second time reading The Unbecoming, and it is my second review for it. I don't think I did it any justice in my first review, and I just love it so much, I had to fix that. (Plus Michelle Hodkin is having a contest for an ARC of The Evolution of Mara Dyer, and I didn't remember exact details from The Unbecoming) Anyways, I love this book and wanted to talk about it some more.

So, Mara's friends are dead, she ends up in the hospital with no idea how she got there, she is diagnosed with PTSD, the Dyer family moves to Florida. There Mara and her brothers start school at Croyden, a fancy private school. At Croyden, Mara meets Noah, the sexiest man on the face of the planet, who just might understand what's happening to her, if she can let him in (he has kind of a bad reputation). The majority of the story is filled with scary, confusing plot turns, and some amazing romance, and then a lot of death. It has this sad, dark feel to it the whole time, and it makes everything really interesting. I loved it. Oh, and then there's this heart-wrenching cliffhanger that hooks you into needing to read the next book. I think I nearly cried both times I read this book.

I freaking love Mara Dyer. She's snarky and funny, but she can also be sweet and loving, especially when it comes to her family. And then she and Noah made the book with their amazingly funny banter all the time. She will do whatever she has to do to get things done, but she needs to be rescued sometimes, and she allows that. She's terrified that she's actually crazy, and she will do anything to protect those she cares about from herself. I loved that the book was written in her voice, because it completely made the book a thousand times more interesting. And then there was Noah Shaw. I love Noah. He really is the most amazing YA hero I've read about in a long time (seriously, I think he might be above Jace in my book). He's gorgeous and tortured and funny and sweet and I just love him! He even has a British accent (I read all of his lines in an accent the second time around and fell in love with him even more). He wears skinny ties and listens to Death Cab for Cutie (both of which I love). He is protective of Mara, and really isn't afraid to fight for her (and the guy can fight). I just... I adore him. Lots. I loved the minor characters, too. Especially Mara's brothers, Daniel and Joseph. They were cute and protective of Mara, and Daniel was just like the amazing big brother poster child. She had an amazing family.

Don't even get me started on how gorgeous that cover is. I even love the font. I love Mara's dress and the underwater-ness and I love how dark it is. It suits the book so perfectly, I just love it. It's what made me pick it up a couple months ago when I first read it.

I can't resist adding a couple quotes from the book here:

"You're distracting," I said truthfully.

"I won't be. I promise," Noah said. "I'll get some crayons and draw quietly. Alone. In a corner."

Finally Daniel spoke. "Wow, Mara. You look like... you look like..." His face scrunched as he searched for words.

[...] "Like a model," Mom said brightly.

"Uh, I was going to say a lady of ill repute." I shot Daniel a look of pure poison. "But, sure."

"My God, you're like the plague."

"A masterfully crafted, powerfully understated, and epic parable of timeless moral resonance? Why, thank you. That's one of the nicest things anyone's ever said to me," he said.

"The disease, Noah, not the book."

"I'm ignoring that qualification."

"I find it hilarious that whenever I light up, Americans look at me like I'm going to urinate on their children..."

My mouth fell open. "Did I just see you litter?"

"I'm driving a hybrid. It cancels out."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You're evil."

In response, Noah smiled, and raised his finger to gently tap the tip of my nose.

"And you're mine," he said, then walked away.

"Grounded likely means no phone or computer," Jamie said. "But if I encounter an owl, I'll try to smuggle a message to the outside, okay?"

I should probably stop there, but I'm guessing you are starting to see the genius that is The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. Obviously, seeing as this is one of my favorite books ever, I give it five stars. It's brilliant and funny and scary and amazing and I highly suggest reading it.

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