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A review by mary_jane99
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
4.0
My rating:
- First time reading: 5/5 stars
- Second time reading: 3.5/5 stars
"Thinking something does not make it true. Wanting something does not make it real.”
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is a fascinatingly interesting, yet simple book. The plot and the characters are so intriguing, yet the book also appears as most other YA novels do (romance, angsty teens, sarcasm, "mean girls" of high school, and troubling/overbearing family situations). I personally like the main characters. I love books that deal with unreliable narrators, like Mara Dyer, and how it can be confusing for the reader to completely understand what the true situation is.
I have heard both really good reviews and really bad reviews, however I think that The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer deals with mental illness and paranormal in a really refreshing and intriguing way. Since it is written as though it were Mara Dyer's memoir, I like how it is written as the thoughts that Mara has during certain events. Obviously, after reading the book things become slightly more clear, but I love the complexity of separating mental illness and paranormal events that Mara and Noah deal with throughout the novel, which continues in the next two books. There is never really a clear answer for whether Mara really is mentally unstable or if she truly does have weird and slightly terrifying supernatural powers that can cause death by just a thought.
I also love the thought of whether or not Mara is really a villain or a hero. Is everything really as black and white as people make it seem or is there more of a grey area? I like to think that within the Mara Dyer trilogy, we explore this grey toned concept of bad and good. Where can we really draw the line at murder? Yes, Jude was a terrible person who tried to sexually assault Mara, but does that automatically qualify him for death? Or Ms. Morales, the (devil) Spanish teacher, who had it out for Mara for no real reason? Noah makes a point to tell Mara that she didn't know what she was doing, but she still did it. And once she does realize what power she has, she doesn't seem to necessarily regret most of the murders nor does she try to stop her power. With great power comes great responsibility, but where exactly do you learn that responsibility. I feel like it sounds like I think Mara did terrible things, but I do like Mara and she definitely did not know exactly what was happening to her.
Going further into the characters themselves, I do like Mara a lot. I like her personality and I love the banter between her and Noah. She means well, but she also has some very dark thoughts. I love that Hodkins wrote her that way. I feel like often times in YA novels, authors will try to make the main characters, especially the girls, seemingly "perfect" or docile, but Mara has the potential to be a badass character.
As for Noah Shaw, I actually love him so much. While there are definite aspects that I feel like are unrealistic (such as the YA trope where all of the girls at their high school are crazy/possessive over him and hating any female who talks to him or even sneezes near him) but I do like his sarcastic nature. He comes across as cold sometimes, but he is also extremely vulnerable when it comes to Mara, and I personally love that about him. I think that they have the potential to either ruin each other or make the other infinitely stronger. "And just like that, I was completely, utterly, and entirely, His."
- First time reading: 5/5 stars
- Second time reading: 3.5/5 stars
"Thinking something does not make it true. Wanting something does not make it real.”
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is a fascinatingly interesting, yet simple book. The plot and the characters are so intriguing, yet the book also appears as most other YA novels do (romance, angsty teens, sarcasm, "mean girls" of high school, and troubling/overbearing family situations). I personally like the main characters. I love books that deal with unreliable narrators, like Mara Dyer, and how it can be confusing for the reader to completely understand what the true situation is.
I have heard both really good reviews and really bad reviews, however I think that The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer deals with mental illness and paranormal in a really refreshing and intriguing way. Since it is written as though it were Mara Dyer's memoir, I like how it is written as the thoughts that Mara has during certain events. Obviously, after reading the book things become slightly more clear, but I love the complexity of separating mental illness and paranormal events that Mara and Noah deal with throughout the novel, which continues in the next two books. There is never really a clear answer for whether Mara really is mentally unstable or if she truly does have weird and slightly terrifying supernatural powers that can cause death by just a thought.
I also love the thought of whether or not Mara is really a villain or a hero. Is everything really as black and white as people make it seem or is there more of a grey area? I like to think that within the Mara Dyer trilogy, we explore this grey toned concept of bad and good. Where can we really draw the line at murder? Yes, Jude was a terrible person who tried to sexually assault Mara, but does that automatically qualify him for death? Or Ms. Morales, the (devil) Spanish teacher, who had it out for Mara for no real reason? Noah makes a point to tell Mara that she didn't know what she was doing, but she still did it. And once she does realize what power she has, she doesn't seem to necessarily regret most of the murders nor does she try to stop her power. With great power comes great responsibility, but where exactly do you learn that responsibility. I feel like it sounds like I think Mara did terrible things, but I do like Mara and she definitely did not know exactly what was happening to her.
Going further into the characters themselves, I do like Mara a lot. I like her personality and I love the banter between her and Noah. She means well, but she also has some very dark thoughts. I love that Hodkins wrote her that way. I feel like often times in YA novels, authors will try to make the main characters, especially the girls, seemingly "perfect" or docile, but Mara has the potential to be a badass character.
As for Noah Shaw, I actually love him so much. While there are definite aspects that I feel like are unrealistic (such as the YA trope where all of the girls at their high school are crazy/possessive over him and hating any female who talks to him or even sneezes near him) but I do like his sarcastic nature. He comes across as cold sometimes, but he is also extremely vulnerable when it comes to Mara, and I personally love that about him. I think that they have the potential to either ruin each other or make the other infinitely stronger. "And just like that, I was completely, utterly, and entirely, His."