Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Synopsis (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.

Ever since Mara Dyer woke up in hospital with no recollection of how she got there, only being told about the tragic accident that she was lucky to survive that also claimed the lives of her friends, she has been having horrible nightmares and flashbacks as her memory tries to piece together what happened that night. Don't forget about the hallucinations of her dead friends that keep popping up, she struggles to keep a hold of what is reality. In an effort to start a new life, her whole family move to Miami, she meets Noah who doesn't care how broken she may be and with his help they start to piece together Mara's memories of that night and uncover the mystery behind how she came out of the accident unharmed.

I was looking forward to reading since I first heard about it, even though I didn't know that much about it, and I wasn't disappointed. The plot moved at a quick and thrilling pace with lots of twists and turns that will keep the reader guessing from beginning to end. Mara was definitely a different character who had been through a lot before the story had even started, this made her a realistic heroine that made me want to root for her, even though at times I felt as though she was making some downright stupid decisions. Noah, at first was confusing to understand what his motivations were towards Mara with his smooth-talking and hidden agenda, but he became one of my favourite characters as the story progressed.

The one thing that I felt was unnecessary was some of the padding of the scenes. At times I just wanted the story to get back to the action and I didn't understand why some of the scenes were even in the novel. I suppose these scenes might become important in book two, but it still detracted from the action of the first book.

Overall, Mara Dyer was a creepy and intense mystery with a difference and I look forward to seeing where this mystery goes next with the second book. I recommend this book to anyone who loves a good paranormal mystery.

Source: kindle

2013 TBR Pile Reading Challenge: #4 of 21