Book Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
Author: Michelle Hodkin
Pages: 464 pgs
Reading Level: YA
Release Date: September 27th 2011
Review SOurce: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Available: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Borders

Summary: (from goodreads) 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.

I was going to wait on reading The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer until it was closer to September. You might be asking, well why didn't you. I will tell you. All this took place a few weeks ago while I was in New York for BEA. The Monday before BEA, there was a event called Teen Author Carnival. At this event the lovely Michelle Hodkin attended. She was one of the authors participating that night. So Michelle read from the book and also talked about her book. Well I shouldn't say talk, she was very secretive. Which the sealed the deal for me, I knew when I got back home that in the next week or so I would read the book. Then on Twitter a few days ago, I realized just before I finally picked up the book to read that the book is based in Miami, FL or to be more exact Little Havana. So that night getting of twitter with Michelle I started to read Mara. This book is a complete Mind Bang. Since this is a PG blog, I honestly could not write the real word I wanted to use with Mind. You can just imagine it though.

So again I repeat this is the book of the year so far that just completely gets in your brain and messes it all up. This I say in a very GOOD way. Those suspense movies on TV have nothing on this book. I felt like every page I was pulled in deeper. Just when you thought , OK now Im going to figure it out in the next pages or so. You were thrown even deeper in the plot. Michelle Hodkin does not write like this is her debut novel, this novel feels like it was written by a experienced author that has been around the industry for quite some time. Michelle writes that you are at all times paying attention to every single letter she writes in every single sentence.

So lets talk a bit about the book itself now. Who is Mara Dyer? That is the million dollar question. I've read the book and still do ot know who Mara is. Again I say this in a very good way. Mara might look like your typical teenage girl that attends high school, but she is not anymore. Mara was involved a a horrible accident that left her as the only survivor and her friends all died. Mara with her family relocate to Miami, FL. She has to begin school in the middle of the term while dealing with her post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Just when you think Mara will be the typical new girl in school that whines and hates it there, Michelle throws this first person narrative in over-drive. Now throw in a perfect example of a male character in the story-line. You ask how can I say perfect, well because Noah has a a little bit of every male YA character we have read. This review might not be making any sense, but please believe me that this is such a riveting told bizarre story. Im beyond excited to know what will happen in the next chapter to Mara.

This is my 2011 Top YA Psychological Thriller, so mark your calender and on September 27th Grab your copy and mariquitas to eat while you read.