Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

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.

Title: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer ~ Book 1)
Author: Michelle Hodkin | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Website
Publication Date: September 27 2011
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books
ISBN: 085707363X
Length: 466 Pages
Add it to your TBR Pile: Goodreads
Buy It: Amazon US / Amazon UK

Source: Purchased (Kindle Edition)
Cover Love: Do I even need to point out how beautiful this cover is?  Easily one of my all time favorites.  I think it is simply stunning.
Point of View: 1st person, following Mara

My Rating: 5 Stars

This is going to be such a hard review to write.  I don't even know how I am going to string words together in a coherent manner.  I promise that I will try my best but if at the end you find yourself confused please just come away from this review knowing that you must read this book.  Honestly.  Read.  This.  Book.

“No one would know that somewhere out there is a B student with a body count.  And it’s important that you know, so that you’re not next.  Rachel’s birthday was the beginning.  This is what I remember.”

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer was strangely disturbing and hauntingly beautiful.  There is not a single negative comment I can make about any part of it.  I was captivated from the prologue and was immersed in the story until the very end.  I can truly say that I did not want this to end but thankfully I had the second book in the series, The Evolution of Mara Dyer, to immediately start.

“Thinking something does not make it true. Wanting something does not make it real.”

The writing simply blew me away... as in I have no words.  Honestly.  Hodkin has managed to twist reality and there was not a moment where I didn’t find myself questioning what was happening.  There are so many aspects that have been integrated into the story.  Paranormal, reality, family, suspense, psychological issues... the list is endless.  Just when I thought I had figured it all out another twist would be sprung on me.  “Did that just happen?”, “What is going on?”, “Holy crap!”  If you can get through this book without blurting out one of those then I will be highly impressed.

“Fix me," I commanded him. "This thing, what I've done - there's something wrong with me, Noah. Fix it."

Noah's expression broke my heart as he brushed my hair from my face, and skimmed the line of my neck. "I can't"

"Why not?" I asked, my voice threatening to crack.

"Because," he said, "You're not broken.”

Mara is one of the strongest female characters I have ever read.  The trauma she has faced and the brave way that she is facing it all is astonishing.  Of course she is frightened about what is happening to her and she doesn’t understand any of it but throughout it all she still has a sense of humor. 

Her family does everything they can to be there for her and they really do have her best interests at heart.  However, nobody in her family is there for her more than her brother Daniel.  Don’t we all wish we had a big brother like him?  He kept her chin up during the really hard times and always seemed to know what to say.  Her younger brother Joseph was also adorable.

“I was warned about you, you know."

And with that half-smile that wrecked me, Noah said, "But you're here anyway.”

*Warning – I will now be entering into complete fangirl mode.  However, you will not want to miss this... trust me.*  Noah Shaw.  Honestly I could just leave it at simply saying his name because for anybody that has read this book will know exactly what that name alone conjures.  And for those of you who have not yet read it (but will) it leaves just enough mystery to spark your interest.  With all of this said, I of course cannot just leave it at his name. 

“And just like that, I was completely, utterly, and entirely, His.”

I have a lot of book boyfriends.  I am a shameless book hussy that floats from one boy to the next with only a bat of my eyelashes.  But go ahead and ask me who they are.  Go ahead... ask me.  My answer?  Book boyfriends who?  Because right now there is only Noah Shaw. 

“Noah stood slowly, his body skimming mine as he rose. "Today. Tonight. Tomorrow. Forever." Noah's eyes held mind. His stare was infinite. "I was made for you, Mara."

Noah is an enigma.  He is a dishevelled mess, he smokes, he has plenty of girls saying they can be called his one night stands... but what is the truth?  Can you trust what everybody says?  Because soon you find that he is intelligent, trustworthy, charming and witty.  In other words, he has made me swoon like no other before him.  His interactions with Mara are off the chart and these two together are incredible.  There can be no world in which there is Mara without Noah or Noah without Mara in my opinion.  As we saw Noah say just above, he was made for her.  By the end I may as well have highlighted the entire book because there were just so many quotes by Noah that made me fall for him more and more.  No wonder Mara never stood a chance against his charms. 

“I narrowed my eyes at him. “You’re evil.”

In response, Noah smiled, and raised his finger to gently tap the tip of my nose.

“And you’re mine,” he said, then walked away.”

I hope by now that I have convinced you to read The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer.  If I am unsuccessful and you still do not want to read it then I will consider myself a failure.  The reason I review books is so that I can gush about my love of them so it is a bit ironic that the reviews for books that I love the most are the hardest to write.  Please do not think of this as a ploy to get you to read yet another hyped up book.  Yes there is a lot of hype around Mara Dyer but trust me when I say it is all warranted.  So go ahead and get the book, curl up under the covers and prepare to laugh, be spooked, be swooned off your feet by Noah, be surprised, be shocked and last but not least be entertained.

“You're the girl who called me an asshole the first time we spoke. The girl who tried to pay for lunch even after you learned I have more money than God. You're the girl who risked her ass to save a dying dog, who makes my chest ache whether you're wearing green silk or ripped jeans. You're the girl that I--" Noah stopped, then took a step closer to me. 
"You are my girl.”

MORE QUOTES FROM THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER