Tag: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

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Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing
Release Date: January 21st, 2011
Pages: 452
Format: Paperback
Source: Bought
Series: Mara Dyer, #1
Genre(s): Mystery, Paranormal, Romance, Thriller
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.

my rambles

I knew that I was going to love The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. Everything about it screamed “Psychological thriller! Read me!” I have a weakness for sometimes dark, often twisty, books. They’re about as close to the horror genre as I get, and I love walking that line like it’s a tightrope. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer will thrill you, confuse you, and sometimes creep you out. You may have to reread passages because you’ll find yourself thinking, “Wait — what?!”

From before the book even starts, before chapter one of the story, I was already drawn in. Michelle Hodkin writes the book from two different points in time: Before and After. Although most of the time we are reading from After, the chapters that flip back to Before are chilling, and of course, make the overall mystery that much more intriguing. And the best part yet: Mara Dyer is the epitome of an unreliable narrator. We never really know what is real and what a dream, hallucination, or memory.

The general story alone would have kept me completely immersed, but add Noah Shaw and it just got somehow even more immersive. Here are three reasons why Noah Shaw made this book even better:

  1. He’s British. Yes, I’m one of those girls that is all for slapping on a British accent and falling in love immediately. 
  2. He’s sexy with a bad boy reputation.
  3. He’s really not that bad of a guy and has a flawless personality.

*faints*

Oh and the sexual tension between Mara and Noah made me want to blush sometimes…

But all in all, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer was everything I was hoping for. It was exciting, mysterious, eerie, and sexy all at once. And that ending! Well, let me just tell you I plan to read book two ASAP.

xo

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Week in Review: October 26th

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Week in Review

In Life

My life has been pretty boring this week. I stayed home all week from school due to being sick, spending the majority of my time on the couch, on the computer, watching TV and reading of course! (That’s why I was a little more active in the blogging community, leaving some comments, etc. I plan to comment around more today but I also have like 50+ comments to reply to on THIS blog…)

Also: Is anyone else as excited as I am for Taylor Swift’s, 1989, coming out tomorrow?!?!??!?! From what I’ve heard of the three songs she’s released and the bit in the Target commercial I love it! I know some people are bummed about it being pop, but listening to the lyrics of “Out of the Woods” you can really see the same old Taylor shining through with her lyrics!

In Books

I didn’t get any books this week, but there is one I’m VERY excited for that is coming out this Tuesday…

That would be Diamonds in the Rough (The Secret Diamond Sisters, #2) by Michelle Madow! I read the first book earlier this year in anticipation of meeting Michelle (who is SO NICE, by the way), and I’m a member of her Street Team for the series. But the best part? I’m going to be in the acknowledgements! She announced that she is putting every street team members name in the acknowledgements which I think is the SWEETEST, and also ups my excitement a bit! 😉

READ MY REVIEW OF BOOK 1!

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As for my reading, being home sick did have its advantages: I read TWO books this week! Now, for some people that isn’t anything, but juggling school, blogging, and reading makes this number huge for me, as I normally only get to read on the weekends. This first I read was Rush by Eve Silver [REVIEW], which was a fun and exciting alien sci-fi! And the second (just finished this morning) was The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin. That book, WOW. I have to continue to process it before I can write a coherent review. It should be up tomorrow though, if I can get my brain to work properly.

In Blogging

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Here’s what you missed at Books & Cleverness this week:

I hope you all had a wonderful week! I’d love to chat with you! 🙂

xo

 

Trick or Treat…or Read?

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why i can't wait (2)

Halloween has always been my least favorite holiday. I barely ever went trick-or-treating for fear that the houses would have scary decorations, which in my neighborhood, they do. I still don’t even answer the door until one of my parents tell me it’s only a group of little kids in non-scary costumes. So naturally, scary books haven’t been my thing. But every now and then a book will come around that I know will most definitely leave me with nightmares but I pick up anyway. Halloween is that time for me, so here are the books that I’m feeling brave enough to read for this year’s Halloween season!

   

1. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

I’ve been meaning to read this book for such a long, long time because the story sounds really creepy and mysterious and I know I won’t be able to guess the murderer. I love stories that blow my mind and IT’S AGATHA CHRISTIE! It HAS to be good!

2. Sanctum by Madeleine Roux

I read Asylum last year and I really enjoyed it for a horror book, with pictures no less. It didn’t scare me, but I considered that a good thing. No nightmares = Emily’s approval of horror book. I’m really intrigued to see how the story continues and what happens next. Dun, dun, DUN.

3. The Diviners by Libba Bray

Not the stereotypical “horror” book, but I couldn’t even get through the book trailer. I love the 1920s, and I’ve heard this book is CREEPY and WILL give me nightmares, unlike with Asylum. I’ve been meaning to read this for a while, and I think I’ve decided this is the time to just go for it!

4. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

I’ve heard amazing things about this series, and I know it has a huge fanbase. I can’t wait to dive into this twisty story that I know I’ll love!

Do you read scary books? What are some of your favorites? What are you planning on reading this Halloween?

xo

Week in Review: September 7th A.K.A the Crazy Back-to-School Edition!

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Week in Review

What I Did:

Tuesday marked the very first day back to school after a way too short summer. I will say that everything went smoothly and I am loving my classes so far! This past Friday was my first 2 hour block AP Chem class and I am really enjoying it! My teacher has pictures of Benedict Cumberbatch on her wall. I’m not in love with him like some but I think Sherlock is pretty cool so I fangirled a little, I admit! I’m also dabbling in a different kind of art than I normally do: sculpture! I was hoping to get in ceramics, but it wouldn’t fit, so I’m in sculpture but I think it will be such a fun class. And I can’t forget the class that I’ve been meaning to take for years but could never fit: Advertising and Graphic Design!! I am so lucky/happy/excited that my school offers a course for the field of work that I actually want to go into and my teacher already started talking about typography *faints* I’m so going to love this class… And one more school notable thing to mention: my AP Language teacher like sniffing books. We are going to be friends, I can tell! 😛

Also on a completely random note, I’ve been loving the song Ugly Heart by G.R.L. It’s so catchy and I am OBSESSED.

Links I Loved:

Not gonna lie I didn’t read many posts this week because who knew going back to school could be so tiring?!

Books I Added to My Shelves:

[pictures to be added when it stops raining so I can have good light!]

Bought:

Sever by Lauren DeStefano – The third and final book in The Chemical Garden trilogy. I recently bought book #2 and wanted to have the last one so I could binge read them together!

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin – I seriously can’t believe I just picked this up…

Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas – EVERYONE has been talking about this book this summer, so naturally I want to see what it’s all about!

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins – FINALLY! I’m doing this as a read-a-long with Lillie and Genesis.

For Review:

Suspicion by Alexandra Monir (Random House/NetGalley – Thank you!) – I read the synopsis and I knew that I had to read this one! I requested this a while back and never got accepted until just yesterday so this was a very pleasant surprise! 

Recently Finished and Currently Reading:

My most recent read was The Winter People by Rebekah L. Purdy which was quite disappointing. But I’m hoping to have better luck with Wildlife by Fiona Wood, my current read!

On My Blog:

I hope you all had a wonderful week! I’d love to chat with you all about it!

xo