Imagine surviving a horrible accident that left your boyfriend, his sister, and your best friend dead? Now what if you woke up with no memory of what happened? The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin isn't just a beautifully haunting cover, it is a beautifully haunting book as well.
Mara wakes up in the hospital and can't remember what happened to her. After she recovers from the accident that crushed the asylum they were in, killing her boyfriend and two friends, she can't seem to move on from what happened. In fact, she can't stop seeing them even though they are dead. Even seeing a therapist hasn't helped, but when her family talks of committing her, she begs to relocate the family and start fresh. They move to Florida for a new start, but what Mara finds is those that haunt her have no problem relocating too.
In the new school, Mara manages to make one friend, Jamie, who warns her to stay away from the one guy in school who can break a girl with just a withering look- Noah. He is notorious for using and discarding girls with no conscience about what happens to those girls later. The problem? Mara feels drawn to Noah. When strange things start happening, like an abusive dog owner dies the exact same way Mara imagined him dying, and her Spanish teacher dies choking at the very moment Mara loses her temper and wishes she would choke to death, Mara becomes scared not only of her past, but also of what she seems to have the power to do. Noah is persistent, and when it becomes clear he has a secret he is hiding too, they find they are somehow linked by the special abilities they never understood until now. but can they figure these abilities out before Mara kills someone else?
I always try to write reviews without giving too much of the story away. I want you to be intrigued, but I don't want to ruin the experience of reading the story for you. In writing this review, I realized, with a little chuckle, that I honestly couldn't give you any spoilers because I am still not terribly sure what the book was about! I can tell you what happened, how it happened, but I still have no idea what is going on with mara and Noah, what these mysterious abilities are, and how on earth this story is going to play out in the next book.
This book was designed very similarly to both Fallen and Hush, Hush. You had a lot of background, some strange scenes you couldn't make heads or tails of, and then in the last 50 pages, the author tried to wrap it up. The only difference is that at the end of those books you actually learned the whole secret, but at the end of this book, you really don't understand the whole dynamic between the characters still. I assume the next book will delve more into the secrets and the abilities, but who knows?! Still, I can't say I disliked this book. It was really interesting, haunting, and really quote beautifully written. I am incredibly confused, but I am not sure I am bothered by it. I know that doesn't make sense, but I think the author's writing was so funny and haunting at the same time it kept my rapt attention. So I would say this is a good book for anyone who has enjoyed Becca Fitzpatrick or Lauren Kate, but that the abundance of loose ends at the end of the book would drive any struggling reader (and many strong readers) bonkers. Therefore, save this book for yourself or someone you know can get through a story with many loose ends and lots of confusing twists and turns. Honestly, it will make you laugh as much as it creeps you out!
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