Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

"I couldn't put this book down, it was too trippy."

 

Title: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
Author: Michelle Hodkin
Genre: Paranormal
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Published: March 1st 2012
Page Number: 452

Rating: 4.25/5

 

Summary:

 

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…  

 

Review:

 

I've had The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer and The Evolution of Mara Dyer for the longest time but never got around to reading them because I weren't sure if they'd be my cup of tea, but if anything, they're my perfect match. It's dark, creepy and if you love American Horror Story then you will one hundred percent enjoy this.

 

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer starts off with a little note to us readers from Mara Dyer, herself. And right from that I was entered this crazy story and just couldn't leave. I think it'd be a freaky thing if I said that I feel Michelle Hodkin really understood me as a person, but it's totally true. Mara Dyer is not a character like any other, but she's actually one of my most liked characters because I can relate to her on so much stuff. 

 

What I loved so much about this crazy-ass book is that it's not like any of paranormal book I've read before. It's like you're not actually yourself when you're reading it because Mara Dyer isn't a sane narrator. She's crazy. Some of the scenes made me think, WHAT. THE. HELL! because it was that darn weird. It's also so intelligently written that I could picture it all in my head, it'd make a brilliant TV show or Movie.

 

One of my favourite scenes in the book would have to be the rice-turning-into-maggots scene. It was shit bat crazy, but it also made sense. Everything from Mara's POV makes sense even though it shouldn't.

 

Santeria plays a huge role in the book as well, especially as we go into book two. Santeria is a Afro-Caribbean religion based on Yoruba beliefs. And like most religions it has both good and bad sides. In fact in the late 19th century, early 20th century it was mostly known as a sacrificial religion, specifically in Brazil. People were coming down with diseases and converted to the religion in hopes of being cured. They'd sacrifice something important to them. Sometimes it was a chicken tongue, a snippet of their hair, loose teeth and in one case a woman chopped off her own thumb. They never got cured. (This was all information via myself. I love history.)

 

I just love this book so much, I'm currently reading The Evolution of Mara Dyer. My review of that should be up by next Friday. Hopefully. Despite myself loving this book there were also a few small problems. The beginning was quite slow and I couldn't really get into it until after 120 pages. I also found the writing to become a little iffy three quarters of the way through. But other than that everything was great.