The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin | Rating: ★★★★★

Noah matched my pace. “Don’t you mean ‘assclown’?” He looked amused.
"No," I said, louder this time. "I mean asscrown. The crown on top of the asshat that covers the asshole of the assclown. The very zenith in the hierarchy of asses," I said, as though I was reading from a dictionary of modern profanity.

I was skeptical about this book at first. 100% skeptical of it, in spite of a killer opening and promising plot. Yes, for whatever reason: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer at a distance made me shrug and assume it wasn’t worth the hype or a second glance. I’m here to tell you how very wrong I was.

Mara Dyer has a unique, heart stopping plot and offers us twists and turns with a dash of romance. It’s tragedy. It’s confusion. It’s darkness. It’s delicious. It’s witty. It’s an easy read. And it just might be your next big young adult obsession.

Fans of The Darkest Minds and Shatter Me book series have flocked to it immediately due to the similar feels each series has. It’s obvious that each has a voice of its own and that while the genre is similar, the story is all its own and equally as mysterious as those. Our introduction, Mara’s note, on its own will capture your attention immediately and make you curious about what could possibly make this teenage girl speak the way she does.

And wonder how she has a body count.


When Mara wakes up in the hospital, her entire world has been turned upside down. Although she has survived something of an accident, she quickly learns her best friend, boyfriend and another “friend” of hers are dead. And this is only the beginning of a series of events that are downright frightening.

Mara Dyer. They say she has PTSD. They say that her lack of memory will probably come back and that one day she may move forward from it all. Her family becomes worried and eventually decide to move to Florida to have a fresh start in hopes that she can move past this. But there’s still something nagging her mind about the accident and the events that follow.

She is quite sure there is something wrong with her. How could there not be? After such a traumatic ordeal and the stress that follows her, there has to be more to it. Without her memories of that night, it’s all just a thought. But when mysterious deaths follow her around, Mara is positive there is something wrong with her — how can a girl think of someone dying and have it come true moments later?

And what about this mysterious and insanely attractive boy at school? How are they connected? Cue the stereotypical romance. Don’t let it scare you away, though. It’s still a very intriguing novel in spite of the instalove with a bad boy theme that’s gone on.

Don’t get me wrong, as much as I loved the story, there were many moments I cringed. Mara and Noah’s romance seemed a bit rushed. Stereotypes galore, as stated previously. There wasn’t always enough characteristics when it came to varied characters, if not all, the side characters. And this made a bit of it all rather frustrating, but I’m willing to forgive it because the rest of the story was mysterious and engaging and worth the downsides.

I don’t think this book is meant to be serious and that’s definitely okay with me. It keeps you busy and on the edge of your seat and certainly entertains you. Mara Dyer’s story is as mysterious, promising and fun as the title and cover lead you to believe. It’s worth the second look and although it may not be everyone’s cup of tea, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I look forward to reading the remainder of the trilogy!