Book Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Title: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
Author: Michelle Hodkin
Series: Mara Dyer #1
Publication Date: September 27th, 2011
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Mystery, Paranormal, Romance

Synopsis: 

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.

My thoughts:

This is one of those books that has been sitting on my TBR list forever.  Cassandra Clare claimed that this book was "haunting and dream-like" and I think she couldn't have been more accurate. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer was deliciously eerie and hauntingly beautiful.

I thought this book was INSANE. (The good kind of insane.) Michelle Hodkin's debut was a stellar one! Her writing style was always purposeful and emphatic, and the world she created was so realistic to the point that I had to pull myself out of it occasionally and remind myself that I am not Mara Dyer. It was hard for me to determine where the line between fiction and reality was drawn.

Mara Dyer is the sole survivor of an accident that killed her three best friends but she doesn't remember anything from that night and is then diagnosed with PTSD, so instead of being institutionalised, her family relocates to Miami where the trouble ensues.

The book held some quite dark themes, but they were beautifully dark, not the extremely dark type that turns you away from the book completely. The type of darkness that fills you with suspense.

The characters of this book were so authentic to the point I felt that I had met them myself. They were built up so realistically, and with such distinct traits that I couldn't help but fall in love with them. Even with Mara's family, I felt that the characters were so authentic and held such unique personalities. I loved that the characters were developed so well but also remained enigmatic, revealing fragments of themselves as the story progressed to keep things interesting.

CAN WE TALK ABOUT NOAH SHAW? Oh my goodness, Noah Shaw. I think I'm in love with Noah Shaw. Noah Shaw is the closest thing to perfection. Noah Shaw is a gift from God. If you think I'm being a bit obsessive then you really need to read this book, because I guarantee that you too, will fall in love with Noah Shaw.

Overall:

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is equal parts mystery, romance, and supernatural thriller, and will grab your attention from the very first chapter. This book is so beautifully dark, and written in a way that portrays this darkness so incredibly realistically, without completely over-doing it. The main character Mara is authentic, intelligent, witty and just extremely genuine.

I think this book is perfect for anyone who is trying to explore more paranormal/mystery young adult novels, (or anyone who wants to read about a really cute british boy).