If you’re a fan of thrillers and YA romances you’ll definitely like today’s review. I read The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin in early January and will be reading the sequel shortly. I have mixed emotions about the first book in this series which I will explain in this review. Hope you guys enjoy!
The premise for this book was intriguing to me. Mara Dyer wakes up in a hospital room with no memory of the tragic incident that took the lives of 3 of her friends. She is diagnosed with PTSD and her family moves to Florida to escape the trauma that impacted Mara Dyer’s life. Upon settling in her new home, Mara sees things she shouldn’t and people that should be dead. Grappling with this unsettling reality, she stumbles into Noah Shaw’s path. He is notorious for being the school’s “bad boy”, but as she begins to get to know him she realizes they have much more in common than she thought.
The romance in this novel wasn’t appealing to me, but that could be because I’m not the projected age range for this novel. Mara and Noah are in high school and I’m in my early twenties, post grad. I think if I was a teenager reading this novel, I might enjoy the romance more.
I’m not sure if this was Hodkin’s intention to add Magic Realism to her plot but I felt like this first book really emphasized it. I could never tell if what was happening in the novel was Mara’s imagination or actually something paranormal. This added suspense to each chapter I read and is one of the reasons I finished it so quickly. I was eager to find out what happens at the end. Unfortunately for me there was a huge cliffhanger at the end(I won’t spoil for you don’t worry!) so I will definitely be picking up the sequel as soon as possible.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this book and despite the romantic elements, I think the story was unique! I hope you all enjoyed today’s review and I will update you with how I found the sequel as soon as I’m done reading it.
With Love & Magic,
She's Well Read 