Lisa Reviews: Michelle Hodkin's - "The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer"

I absolutely adore the cover of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, as well as the covers of the other two books in the trilogy! While I don’t own the third one just yet, I’m dying to see how the set will look sitting on my white bookshelf!

This book was released about two years ago, and I feel horrible for taking so long to finally get to it! I remember when it first hit stores and I was so pumped to pick up a copy, but just never did for some reason.

But I’ve read it, and now I’m reviewing it. And I plan to read the second book soon, so that counts for something, right?

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, follows a girl named Mara Dyer (you guessed correct!), who is dealing and overcoming a tragic event that has recently happened to her, but that she doesn’t quite remember.

Mara (we don’t actually know if this is her real name or not) is suffering from losing her two best friends as well as her boyfriend in this traumatic event. After having visions and nightmares of that night over and over again, Mara and her family are questioning her sanity. Instead of going through the process of mental illness treatment, Mara’s family decides to move and start a new life somewhere new.

But even with the new house, new school and all the other new people and things surrounding her, she’s stilling having trouble and horrific flashbacks.

The reader knows just as much as Mara does; nothing. With the flashbacks, the visions and some of her memories, we discover, right alongside Mara, about that night and what caused all of it.

After being in the dark for so long, Mara finally meets her light and his name is Noah. He’s this beautiful boy, who Mara can’t help but drool over (and neither can I!), and who doesn’t mind flashing his fancy car, and his money. But he does seem to care about Mara a lot and helps her through some of her hardest times.

The sweetest thing that stuck to me about Noah, was when he help Mara save a beaten dog from its abusive owner. He gave Mara and the dog a ride to get it medical attention. Turns out his mom was the veterinarian… so it’s not like he had to pay the massive vet bill.

Throughout the story Mara wasn’t sure why she was the sole surviver after that night, and why she’s having this visions now, but with the help of her brother, and Noah, she’s (we’re) sure to find out!

This book claimed to be paranormal, but I couldn’t really see too much of that. I know that Mara had flashbacks and visions every once in a while throughout this story, but I just didn’t get a creepy paranormal vibe from it. However, the paranormal aspect wasn’t the MAIN reason I read this book, so I wasn’t too disappointed by that or anything.

Instead The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer focused more on rediscovery and even some romance and I loved it. It wasn’t what I was expecting, but I truly enjoyed it. But I can see where others might be a little upset about that. They were informed of one thing, but received something different.

I thought Mara was down to earth, and dealt with this loss, her visions and her entire life, better than I would ever be able to. I enjoyed her relationship with Noah, and I’m pumped to see how the second book goes for me!