The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, by Michelle Hodkin

  
Release date: September 27th 2011
Published by: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Format: ebook
Genre: Young Adult
Rating: 5/5 stars










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.

My thoughts:

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer had so many good reviews in the USA, that it was, probably, in everybody’s wish list. I waited months for this book to come out. Beth Revis, Cassandra Clare and Veronica Roth recommended the book? I had to check it out.

I had high expectations for The Unbecoming, and I was not disappointed.

The author introduces us to Mara Dyer, a teenager who lost her best friends in a tragic accident. She’s completely traumatized, and has hallucinations frequently.

The problem is, she doesn’t remember what happened in the accident, and ends up moving to a new town, trying to leave it all behind her.

There, Mara faces regular teenager problems: being the new girl, and bullied by others; etc. But she also sees her dead friends in the mirrors, things that are not real.

And in the middle of all that, there’s Noah, a popular boy, considered a womanizer by most of the girls, and that shows interest in Mara.

The atmosphere of the book is tense, and at the same time, light. The author can give such a clear perspective of who Mara is and what she feels with each hallucination, it’s impressing. Michelle Hodkin’s writing isn’t just meticulous; it fits perfectly to the book and Mara’s life.

Mara’s doubts, the fear of being insane, the fear of falling in love with Noah when she’s obviously so broken… all of this pulls us into the book in a way that’s impossible to stop reading.

And even with a hint of terror at certain parts, Michelle Hodkin still writes sarcastic dialogues.
The romance isn’t forced. It’s natural, it blossoms slowly through the narration. It’s not love at first sight. Noah and Mara are so different from each other, but they still need the other. They complete themselves.

And the ending? Biggest cliffhanger in the world. It left me speechless and angry with the author. How could she do this to the readers?

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer isn’t just a mystery book. It’s a book that makes us think about what’s right and wrong, if we are as sane as we think. If our mind doesn’t play games with us all the time, or even if our daily routine isn’t just a hallucination. It’s a book about love, understanding. It’s so complex I have no words to describe it.
 
The blurbs aren’t enough. This review is not enough. And say this book is a must-read is definitely not enough.

Just read it.