Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer - Michelle Hodkin

"Your're supposed to say, 'All I want is your happiness.  I'll do whatever it takes, even if it means being without you.'"

"Sorry," Noah said.  "I'm just not that big of a person."

Title: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

Author: Michelle Hodkin
ISBN: 9781442421776
Publication Date: October 23,2012
Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Source: Purchased

Synopsis - from BN.com

After Mara survives a traumatizing accident at the old asylum, it makes sense that she has issues.  She lost her best friend, her boyfriend, and her boyfriend's sister.  Convincing her loving family to move to a new state to give her a fresh start seemed like the perfect solution.  But this fresh start is quickly filled with hallucinations - or are they premonitions? - and then corpses; the boundary between reality and nightmare wavering.  On top of that, at school, there's Noah, a devastatingly handsome charmer who seems determined Mara is meant to be with him, even if it means helping her piece together what's real, what's imagined, and what's very, very dangerous.


~*~

I'm not wholly sure how I feel about this book.  Yes, I enjoyed it.  It was a well paced story, with enough suspense and humor to keep me turning the pages.  However, there were a number of times when the relationship between Mara and obligatory 'bad reputation' Noah reminded me quite a bit of the Bella and Edward relationship, and that irked me.  

I did, definitely, enjoy the unreliability of Mara's narration, and how it blurred the lines between the real world and the paranormal.  It's written with a purposeful, often suspenseful tone; which left me wanting to gobble up the next chapter every time I told myself I'd go to bed after 'one more chapter'. 

The majority of the characters were developed just enough to leave you wondering what further secrets they held, and when they'd reveal them.  Unfortunately, Anna and Aiden came across more as the generic bitch girl and her requisite muscle bound shadow.  Noah also had a few scenes where his characterization fell flat.  Honestly, my favorite character in the book was Jamie, and he isn't even a frequent secondary character beyond the first half of the book.

As for the twist, surprise ending to book one, I found it a bit predictable.

~*~

Readers should be aware that there is occasional language and mentioned sexual assault.

That being said, I will definitely pick up book two, should I find it at a used book store, to see if I can manage to formulate a coherent response to what I've read. XD