Best of The Month: October 2014: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Shady
Nov 1, 2014
2 min read

Mara Dyer has it all - a loving family, a great best friend, a good boyfriend. Until, of course, she wakes up in the hospital and learns that she, somehow, survived a terrible event that killed her friends. And the worst part? She can't remember what happened. Not one thing.

In an effort to escape the case, Mara and her family move to Florida. There, Mara is launched into a new school and a group of peers who she's never met. She then meets Noah Shaw - arrogant, elusive, and knowing more about Mara than she does.

Mara begins hallucinating - but she is unsure that she isn't seeing things for real. Chilling things begin to happen to the people she comes into contact with, and as Mara begins to piece together what happened the night her friends died, she must face a truth about herself that terrifies her.

Mara is very realistic and relatable. Noah is a entertaining not-quite bad boy. Mara's family is a very supportive of her, but her mother is watching her very closely after the terrible accident. throughoutt he book, Mara's flashback dreams tell us about the past events and eventualy let us learn what really happened. I have to say, the truth is pretty scary.

This was a first for me. It was very exciting and chilling, with just the right amount of romance. Mara is a wonderful, deepheroine and Noah's personality helps balance her more pessimistic one. The plot was very good and the author was good at providing backstory without ruining the flow of events. It was interesting to see that Mara's name is a pesudonym for the girl telling the story, which makes you wonder who she really is. 4.5/5 stars. Can't wait for the second book!