Book Review of "The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer" by Michelle Hodkin

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Title: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #1) 
Author: Michelle Hodkin

Classification: YA Fiction, Paranormal 

Source: Bought

Overall Grade:

C

Would I recommend it?

Only if you don't mind a formulaic plot & clichéd love interest!

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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.
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My Thoughts:

While The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer had the potential to be a very intriguing and addictive series in the paranormal genre of Young Adult literature, Hodkin's characters fell flat on the page and the story fell victim to an unbalanced and poorly organized plot.

Before the negative aspects of this paranormal debut are discussed, I would like to go over what actually worked well in the novel. Firstly, the writing itself was pretty well done. At times, Hodkin even bordered on prose of a lyrical quality, especially during times when Mara was in severe emotional distress. I also noted several very amusing lines from Mara's narration and great quotes from Noah.

I would also like to say that the areas of the novel that were focused on Mara's character specifically and her battle with mental illness were done very well! However, these moments ended up being few and far between as Hodkin decided to focus on Mara's romance with Noah rather than the paranormal aspects.

This balancing act delivered very disappointing results, as huge chunks of each story line would be devoted solely to the mystery or paranormal story line while ignoring Mara's relationship with Noah, and vice versa. As a reader, it is hard to enjoy a love story when you know that the main character should really be focusing on a far more important issue at hand! Readers aren't stupid!!

Another very irritating aspect of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is the character of Noah. Seriously, are readers really supposed to believe that a completely gorgeous guy with an English accent who is incredibly brilliant, but doesn't need to try in school, is completely and utterly LOADED with cash, is a huge animal-lover, speaks 5 languages (or is it 6?), and is very funny/sarcastic/snarky is a realistic love interest for Mara Dyer? (Who doesn't ever wear makeup, I might add. Which bothers me.)

While Noah was a very interesting character to read about, and I enjoyed certain aspects of his relationship with Mara, I just don't understand the appeal of creating such a clichéd male love interest anymore.

I guess this spawns a whole new debate of whether or not authors should be more realistic in their writing, but that can be saved for a later date.

Lastly, a note on the overall plot of the novel: It seems as if Hodkin delivered her major events in sporadic chunks throughout the book, ending with a big "reveal" and cliffhanger ending that makes the entire novel seem like one giant prologue to the next installment.

While Mara Dyer proved sometimes satisfying, Hodkin's debut was held back by poor plotting and characterization. Fervent readers that are looking for something fresh, addictive, and satisfying in the paranormal young adult genre that is not formulaic and trite may want to skip this one!

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Overall Grade:

C

Would I recommend it?

Only if you don't mind a formulaic plot & clichéd love interest!

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