Tuesday, August 21, 2012

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

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.

I've been wanting to read this book since it came out last year, but I've heard that it has horrible language which was kind of a deal breaker for me. Finally I decided to get it from the library and skim it first to see what I was in for. I ended reading it (obviously) and now I'm a little torn on what to say.

First, the language. It wasn't as bad as I was expecting. It actually didn't even drop the first f-bomb until about 150 pages in. I would say that it says it 10 times or less in the entire book, but probably about half of them are concentrated in one conversation at the end of the book.

Second, the story. I feel like I just read 452 pages that led up to absolutely nothing. I'm fairly uncertain what the point of the entire story was. While I liked Mara and her love interest separately, I felt like there wasn't any love between them. Actually, I'm not even sure there was LIKE between them for most of the story. This was one of those books where I felt like the conflict grew and grew and nothing ever got resolved. Even though this is a series, it still frustrates me that I felt like the first book was a complete waste.

Maybe I'm being too harsh, and I don't want you to misunderstand me. I did like this book. (Could you tell??) It was a surprisingly quick read and it was difficult to put down. I'd pick it up for a minute when I had some down time and next thing I knew I was halfway through it. I love books like that. However, with this book I just feel like I didn't get as much out of it as I felt like I deserved. I invested in those 452 pages and I'm as clueless about the storyline as when I started.

I think at this point, I have no choice but to read the sequel when it comes out in October. Maybe it will shed some light on all my unanswered questions. As for a recommendation- this is one you're going to have to decide for yourself.

Happy Reading!

1 comment:

Katie Dodge said...

I've heard such mixed reviews of this! I don't know what to do. But, dang I love that cover. I'll have to hear what you think about the next one...