The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #1)

Holy smokes!!

There are literally no words for my reaction to how this book ended this book was … it messed up with my head!

I was all like “whatttt is going on here?” , "Did this just happennn?” , “ Am I seeing this? Am I going crazy along with Mara?”

Alrighty here is the break down. It starts super eerie. Mara is with her friends Racheal (her bff) and Claire (Racheal’s friend not really hers) are celebrating Racheal’s birthday. Racheal wants to play the Ouija board and so they do.
They decide to ask, “How am I going to die?”

I’ll leave at that. Later on in the book, Mara ends up in an accident and has no recollection what’s so ever of the incident.

She convinces her family to move away from the painful memories. She has no idea what is going on with her. She’s so confused and it doesn’t help that she’s been diagnosed with PTSD. She’s enrolled into a private school and meets Noah Shaw (... dayuuumm...)
I honestly didn’t know what was unfolding here! I was lost along with Mara! I was getting paranoid! I think I may have started to see things! I need to get my hands on book two !!

I thought this book was very different than any other book out there. It really kept you guessing until the very end and even the last page was shocking. It was very creepy and a fresh take on the girl losing her memory story.
I found the characters to be ok, I didn't love any of them but they were all very interesting to read about. I surprisingly grew less and less fond of Noah as the book progressed. He just seemed to get very controlling. I liked Mara, she had a lot of struggles and did a lot of bad things but you could tell that she never meant for anything bad to happen. At times though it kind of felt like she depended on Noah for everything, which I didn't like.
The whole idea of the story was clever and well written. Although at times there were long stretches were not a lot happened, I was still very into the book and the style of writing. It did have some creepy parts but the book itself was not totally scary.
It was really interesting seeing how Mara deals with her struggles and for a lot of the book she thinks that she is crazy. There were parts that I started to believe she was crazy. You really don't know her whole story until the end of the book and even then you're still left with questions.
I recommend this book to anyone who wants a chilling but fun read. Good book when you want a refreshing new story.

Everything about this book is just jaw dropping-ly amazing.

This book is amazing. I love the plot twists, which are well thought out and explained.
The whole concept is brilliant.
One of my favourite books, and I bought this for my friends birthday and she loves it, and has even bought the next book.
Great read, keep up the good work Michelle.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is a book where you have to unravel all of the pieces to completely understand the plot. Mara Dyer is a very eccentric book. I truly enjoyed this book .

I think the plot is very well written and put together. I personally haven't read any YA books like this and to be able to is very refreshing. It is relevant to the whole paranormal thing but still unique by separating itself into a world where the main protagonist could possibly be psychotic. but its still very recognizable with the whole new girl at school, girl meets bad boy who couldn't possibly have a care in the world.

The parts that angered me was when the "bullies" of the school had framed Mara's only friend Jaime and he had gotten expelled. Mara Dyer is witty, cynical, humorous, and just so real. The way that the author had written a teenage girl in the 21st Century diagnosed with PTSD is very believable.

Noah Shaw and Mara Dyer are probably one of my favorite characters of all time. Noah Shaw is your typical narcissistic, sarcastic, manwhorish bad boy who gets whatever and whoever he wants because of his charming good looks, not to mention his parents are filthy rich and sponsor the school. When Mara and Noah first met I had to put the book down and just laugh. I like how straightforward Noah is.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer was very entertaining and I definitely want to buy this book and the next two in the series. Michelle Hodkin did a very good job with this being her first book. I have already read the Evolution of Mara Dyer and it was by far my favorite from the series. I need to know what happens next. But unfortunately the third and final book comes out early 2014.

The Unbecoming Of Mara Dyer is one of those books that you either love or hate it. A bunch of reviewers I trust have given this book 1 star, while other reviewers I trust have given this book 5 stars. Mara Dyer is definitely an odd book and I definitely can see why there such a divide in opinions. I'm definitely the odd man out because I definitely enjoyed reading Mara Dyer but at the same time it annoyed me so much.

Mara Dyer is marketed as a paranormal novel but that's not entirely true. Most of the book reads like a contemporary romance, there are only little sprinkles of paranormal aspects spread out through this 450 page book. The bulk of Mara Dyer's paranormal components are part of the book's conclusion and came way too late in my opinion.

Since Mara Dyer is the new girl at school, she suffers from not knowing anyone. She immediately gets on the bad side of the stereotypical mean, popular girl. There was really nothing special about her and she was so memorable that I forgot her name. I expected there to be some sort of paranormal fight between Mara Dyer and "Mean Girl". I wanted Mara to show "Mean Girl" that isn't okay to pick on other people just because they're different, that being different is okay or something cliche like that. I guess I kind of hoped that "Mean Girl" had some sort of ulterior purpose other than making Mara's school feel kind of generic.

The other supporting characters are kind of weak and felt a bit pointless. I kind of liked Jamie but he started to annoy me towards the middle of this book. I felt like Jamie didn't have much of a purpose, other than to warn Mara about Noah. You know about that friend who doesn't like the paranormal love interest and has to warn her friend that he is bad news. I'm way too familiar with this characters and I have seen it in so many paranormal books including Twilight. The other supporting characters didn't really stand out to me and they weren't anything special.

The best thing about Mara Dyer is definitely Mara and Noah's relationship. Mara and Noah's relationship was slowly and realistically developed. Thank you Michelle Hodkin for not including insta-love or a love triangle! I loved reading the banter between Noah and Mara, it made me laugh a few times. Their relationship slightly veered to the cheesy side but I guess that's a typical thing for a romance subplot.

Noah Shaw, thou are truly awesome! Noah definitely was my favorite character throughout this novel and he made The Unbecoming an entertaining book. He had a great sense of humor and Noah's dialogue is by far the best in the entire book. Noah definitely reminded me of Jace Wayland from The Mortal Instruments and that's definitely a compliment in my book. Even when Shaw was acting like a jerk, Hodkin still managed to make him an appealing character which is a very hard thing to accomplish. One thing that really bothered me about Noah was how much of a wastrel he was when it came to money, he didn't think at all before spending boatloads of cash. Maybe it's because I was raised frugal but Noah's irrational use of money kind of bothered me. Other than that, I loved the way Hodkin developed Noah Shaw and brought him to life.

Mara Dyer was definitely an entertaining book but I definitely feel like it could have been condensed a bit. I would have liked to see more paranormal aspects throughout the novel instead of having them most clumped up in the end. The ending of this book was definitely written well and it had this compelling effect on me. I didn't want to know what was going to happen next, I desperately needed to find out how everything was going to end. The ending was kind of a cliffhanger and it made me want to read book #2 immediately. I'll hold off on reading book #2 for a little bit, I really do hope it's more paranormal than Mara Dyer was. The Unbecoming Of Mara Dyer, in my opinion, was kind of disappointing and I hope The Evolution Of Mara Dyer is a stronger novel.

The first part of this book and the second part of this book read like almost two separate stories to me. The first part is mainly about Mara dealing with her PTSD, which is pretty understandable and quite interesting. It’s well-written, intriguing, and emotional. The second half, when the paranormal part of this book starts to play in, is fast-paced, adventurous and even though it sets a really great creepy mood at times, is much less emotionally compelling. I think I liked the first half of the book more, even though I knew the paranormal was going to creep out at any moment.

I have to say, the characters in the story get two thumbs up for being interesting. At times, I really felt for Mara(mostly at the beginning of the book, though). As the story went on, Mara became a little more unlikable, but the supporting cast of characters are all really great. The thing that really gets me about this book is that I don’t find any of the characters particularly likable or nice, but I’m still interested by the story. It takes good writing to pull that off, so I give total props there.

Normally, I don’t like the bad-boy romance and get frustrated with the main character, but since I don’t particularly like Mara, I buy the romance of Noah and her together. It’s not exactly a healthy relationship, but it’s more believable than many romances I’ve read lately. My feelings on the romance could be summed up as, “It’s OK. A little overbearing at times, but tolerable.”

The main thing that makes this just a 3 star book for me is the plot, and further, the pacing. The plot itself is great. I mean, it’s a really great and intriguing idea. However, the book’s pacing is so sporadic that it really takes away from the plot often. The middle of this book dragged much longer than it should have. Ultimately, I think the Unbecoming of Mara Dryer would have been a much better book if it had been more tightly edited.

Final Impression: At times, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer was a really great read, but at others, it lagged quite a bit. Ultimately, I think the story wasn’t sure what it wanted to be, and ended up feeling like two different stories being told, in which I much preferred the first half. 3/5 stars.

I went into book knowing not a whole lot except Mara was a good character and this book was highly recommended and well reviewed.
I came away from this book knowing being in Mara's head is an adventure I will not soon forget.
Michelle writing was great and I was constantly guessing what was going on. I didn't know if Mara was crazy if there was some paranormal aspect that I didn't know about or some other explanation. (Again, didn't look at genre and that just made it even more of an adventure.) I was confused at times, shocked at others, creeped out at spots and wondering about Mara but one thing I knew is: I didn't want to put down the book. I had to get to the bottom of what happened and what was going on.
I also couldn't get enough of the enigma that was Noah. Every time I thought I had figured him out, he would do something else that had me questioning again. But like Mara, I had to have more. Even knowing his bad boy personality and reputation, I couldn't look away. There were some breathtaking and hot scenes and I loved watching their banter and the chemistry.
I guess that I didn't rate this book higher since I was glued to the pages is because I am still confused. I will continue with the series at some point I am sure, but I still don't really understand exactly what was what, and what happened in this one.

Bottom Line: Fast paced and couldn't look way even though I was confused. A lot.

I wasn't sure about this book for the longest time. I would always look at it but something would end up preventing me from buying it. I eventually gave in and I absolutely loved it. This is one of those novels that just got into my head and seriously messed with me. Even at the time of writing this review (2 days after I finished the book) I can't stop thinking about it. The twists were intense, the subject was dark at times and it was creepy.

I don't know about anything else but I love books where the main character can't remember what happens and they believe that they're crazy. There's just something about seeing things through their twisted perspective that just makes the story creepier than if it was being told through someone else.

I loved Mara. Slipping into her head during her descent into madness was absolutely thrilling. Just like Mara, I had trouble telling what was real or a delusion until she figured it out herself and that just made the story because I was constantly left wondering if an event really happened or not. Then thee is Noah Shaw. That boy is just completely swoon worthy. He seems like the typical arrogant bad boy but there is so much more to him. He's actually a pretty deep and caring character. I absolutely did not see the twist with him coming in the story either.

If you haven't read this book yet all I have to say is go get a copy. This is one book that even after you turned the last page it will keep you up at night wondering just what exactly is going on. I will be reading the next book in this series as soon as I have a chance and I am absolutely looking forward to it.

Mara Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger. She wakes from a coma in hospital with no memory of how she got there or of the bizarre accident that caused the deaths of her best friends and her boyfriend, yet left her mysteriously unharmed. The doctors suggest that starting over in a new city, a new school, would be good for her and just to let the memories gradually come back on their own. But Mara's new start is anything but comforting. She sees the faces of her dead friends everywhere, and when she suddenly begins to see other people's deaths right before they happen, Mara wonders whether she's going crazy! And if dealing with all this wasn't enough, Noah Shaw, the most beautiful boy she has ever seen can't seem to leave her alone… but as her life unravels around her, Mara can't help but wonder if Noah has another agenda altogether…

What I expected: A very haunting book with lots of accidental deaths, and purposeful death as well. A book that related to the title, as Mara becomes a different person via Noah.

What I got: A book with characters that are kinda soft, and the plot not entirely chilling. The hallucinating with Mara was very well done, but was really obvious what was happening. The beginning was really great, but she didn't really lose much memories, not as much as I would of like, it would of made the mystery deeper. The ending kinda dropped off, making the book lose its great plot. There were some confusing parts, like drinking the blood, and waking up afterwards.

I thought that it was great to have Mara hallucinating. It brings a whole new level onto her character, as well as the plot. I thought that it was great to have a damaged character playing the lead, as it lets the character and the reader fight through. Even though Mara is damaged, she still comes out with great lines, especially that one about the hierarchy of asses.

I didn't really like Noah. It's not just because of his reputation, but that does play a part, but it's mainly because I see nothing that really deserves Mara's love. He just sees she's different than everyone else, then wham, he's stalking her, and she's just falls in love. He also doesn't seem that nice of a person, as he acts like an 'asscrown'.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer has a great start, middle, but a not so great ending, as the plot slowly drops off. There are some great lines, and great scenes, some creepy, some funny, some adventurous. This book is not my type, but if you look at the other reviews, you can see it might appeal to you.