The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer (The Mara Dyer Trilogy)

Originally posted on my blog: Tangled Up In Books Even though I had a small but manageable pile of review books that needed to be read, that wasn't how I wanted to start off my 2015 reading wise. I really wanted to start the new year off with a bang. Something to leave me thinking "wow, am I glad I picked this up instead!" I picked up my Kindle but nothing inspired me to drop everything and read. I kept looking toward the piles of recent purchases sitting on my desk just waiting for me to quit procrastinating and find homes for them on my bookshelves. On top of one of those piles was The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. Everything about it just kept calling out to me, the gorgeous cover, the intriguing title and most especially that blurb that piqued my curiosity in unbelievable ways. So I knew this had to be the one. And now that I've finished it? Oh. My. Gosh. Am I freaking glad that I picked this up instead! I have the worst book hangover in the world and I have since ordered the other two books. --"What's the last thing you remember?" I highly enjoyed the whole mysterious side to this book. Sitting here trying to guess as to what is going on as I read. Normally my brain will come up with quite a few different theories, all of which or generally wrong, but with this book I've been completely baffled. I'm still not even sure what's happened fully or what will happen next. I feel like this was a major contributing factor to how much I loved this book. I mean if I can't even come up with a guess, even a wrong one, then I am impressed! --"You don't know me. You only know what Daniel told you, and I don't let him see. There's something wrong with me." The characters in this book are so complex and different. I never felt like they were the same type of character I've read time and time again. Mara was just brilliant. I wondered from one page to the next if there was something truly wrong with her or not. She's funny and sarcastic, brave in so many ways and yet in other ways just a frightened teenage girl. I am so excited for the other two books to come in the mail so that I can see what comes of her character from this point. This one ended with her in a very what in the hell kind of moment so I'm just dying over here! --My mouth fell open. "Did I just see you litter?" --"I'm driving a hybrid. It cancels out." For a brief, delusional, moment I didn't think I was going to like Noah at the beginning. A reputation was implied before we really get to know him. One of him being sort of a love-em-for-one-night-and-leave-em type of guy. It didn't take long, though, for me to fall hopelessly for him. He's so freaking funny and sweet and chivalrous and just an all out good person. Plus he's got that whole British accent thing going on and I am a complete sucker for that fact right there alone. I loved how protective he became of Mara and how easily he fit into her life and melded with her family. He's quite the charmer. --Jamie batted his eyelashes. I kind of loved him. This book is just filled with unique and interesting characters. Mara's two brothers were both favorites and I loved the dynamic between the siblings. Daniel who's a year older than Mara is very protective and watches out for her not just in public type situations but at home with their parents as well. Loved him. But besides her family there's the first person she meets at her new school, Jamie, who is...well I don't know how to even describe him. He's just my favorite. Truly some really great character creation. If I didn't love them I hated them with a fiery passion and hoped for very bad things to happen to them! --"I had grand plans for today. Hookers and blow aren't cheap, but I suppose animal sacrifice will have to do. Happy birthday." What I love most about this book is it leaves you feeling so many things throughout. It's not just a dark, anxiety filled edge of your seat mystery. There's this sweet and yet passionate romance. There is so much humor that I was not expecting at all. There's also stuff to get you riled up and ticked off. You, or at lest I did, really experience the whole spectrum in the feels department. I am absolutely hooked and in love with this series so far. This first book was just a beautiful and brilliant series starter that pulled me in immediately. It kept me on the edge of my seat and the only break I took from start to finish was when my eyes were so heavy it was impossible to keep them open. Now if you'll excuse me while I go sit staring out the window like a dog waiting for his owner, I have a mailman to stalk because I'm dying to know what happens next!

I haven't reviewed any YA books for a while, though I do read a fair number of them, mainly because they are so similar that I keep saying more or lee the same thing. But days after finishing 'The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer' I still find myself thinking about it (a bit obsessively, to be honest). And I think that's because the good things about this book are so good, that the annoying things about it grow by comparison. So, beginning with the good: I loved, loved, loved the premise of this book, partly because it automatically made the narrator unreliable, which is always interesting, but moreso because she was unreliable by such a timely and telling means. Her situation is so common in the modern, western world: high-achieving child of high-achieving parents takes a tumble, and the well-meaning parents throw everything possible at the child to try to 'fix' her, without ever stopping to see and address the real problem. True, the reason for Mara's emotional instability - the death of her best friend in an accident she can't remember - is pure Gothic drama, but her frustration with her family's overzealous efforts to try to make it go away are 100% authentic teen. At times it's authentic enough to make you squirm: i.e. Mara caught on the front steps between her boyfriend who's waiting in the car, and her mother who's trying to make her swallow an antipsychotic before she'll let her go. The best thing about this book, for me, was creeping claustrophobia of the first-person narration: the intensity of being in the mind of this girl who everyone believes to be crazy, as she begins to wonder if they're right. Because of that, the whole thing came crashing down for me when it became clear that there was a supernatural reason for her apparent madness. This book would have been so much more interesting if it had remained a psychological thriller. Instead, about 2/3 of the way through, it became a rather tired rehashing of 'Carrie'. In fact, Mara even alludes to that story. And I don't really get why this had to go the paranormal route, except that that's been the done thing in YA for the last few years. It could have been a great mind-game novel, especially with the (big spoiler coming!) Jude plot-twist at the end. But seeing as it wasn't, let's move on to my other major grip - Noah. Before anyone freaks out, I liked him - a lot, actually. I certainly liked him better than most of the YA love interests I've read of late, and that's why he's also one of the things that's most troubled me - even haunted me - about this book. Taken on his own, he's a great character - funny, flawed, intelligent, with a hidden heart of gold. Put him with Mara and the chemistry is explosive, not to mention the quality of their banter, especially before she falls for him. But there is no way that Mara's mother, as a trained psychologist, would give her carte blanche where he is concerned. For on thing, he's the kind of guy who would make any mother leery - and trust me, we can spot them at 20 paces! But more to the point, the first rule of treatment for any serious psychological disorder is not to begin a romantic relationship. In AA, for instance, they tell people to see if they can take care of a plant, then a pet, before they even think about getting involved with another person. Mara's mother definitely wouldn't be okay with Mara dating. But my biggest issue with Mara/Noah was that she herself didn't have more issues with his reputation. We learn within paragraphs of his introduction that he's slept with every girl in school and broken all of their hearts. I was hoping, especially after his confession about his non-fling with Anna, that we would find out the rep was actually completely false. That would have been far more interesting, and easier to swallow once he and Mara do get involved. But no: he really is an a**hole. I do get the appeal of a bad boy - I think all women do - but there's bad and there's BAD. I'm no prude, and if Noah's badness = riding a motorcycle, writing graffiti, cutting school, smoking joints, partying all night, I'd have still been okay with Mara falling for him. Nor did I need him to be a virgin. But to pathologically use and hurt people is unforgivable, and I couldn't figure out why Mara didn't think so too. She protests for a while, but then his extreme sexiness apparently makes her disregard everything he's done. Ugh, really? This is what we're selling to teenage girls as desirable? The fact that he treats Mara as kindly as he does later on only confuses things further. Love 'em and leave 'em types just don't change their stripes that easily, and even if they did, what makes Noah treat Mara differently from the girls he's used like kleenex, before he even knows anything about her? There's a sort of half-baked 'I knew you before we met' caveat toward the end, but it really didn't convince me. So, four stars for a gripping story and a better-than-average premise. But this could have been 5+++. Hoping some of this is resolved in the sequel...

[Originally posted at [...]] Yeah, this is my second time reading The Unbecoming, and it is my second review for it. I don't think I did it any justice in my first review, and I just love it so much, I had to fix that. (Plus Michelle Hodkin is having a contest for an ARC of The Evolution of Mara Dyer, and I didn't remember exact details from The Unbecoming) Anyways, I love this book and wanted to talk about it some more. So, Mara's friends are dead, she ends up in the hospital with no idea how she got there, she is diagnosed with PTSD, the Dyer family moves to Florida. There Mara and her brothers start school at Croyden, a fancy private school. At Croyden, Mara meets Noah, the sexiest man on the face of the planet, who just might understand what's happening to her, if she can let him in (he has kind of a bad reputation). The majority of the story is filled with scary, confusing plot turns, and some amazing romance, and then a lot of death. It has this sad, dark feel to it the whole time, and it makes everything really interesting. I loved it. Oh, and then there's this heart-wrenching cliffhanger that hooks you into needing to read the next book. I think I nearly cried both times I read this book. I freaking love Mara Dyer. She's snarky and funny, but she can also be sweet and loving, especially when it comes to her family. And then she and Noah made the book with their amazingly funny banter all the time. She will do whatever she has to do to get things done, but she needs to be rescued sometimes, and she allows that. She's terrified that she's actually crazy, and she will do anything to protect those she cares about from herself. I loved that the book was written in her voice, because it completely made the book a thousand times more interesting. And then there was Noah Shaw. I love Noah. He really is the most amazing YA hero I've read about in a long time (seriously, I think he might be above Jace in my book). He's gorgeous and tortured and funny and sweet and I just love him! He even has a British accent (I read all of his lines in an accent the second time around and fell in love with him even more). He wears skinny ties and listens to Death Cab for Cutie (both of which I love). He is protective of Mara, and really isn't afraid to fight for her (and the guy can fight). I just... I adore him. Lots. I loved the minor characters, too. Especially Mara's brothers, Daniel and Joseph. They were cute and protective of Mara, and Daniel was just like the amazing big brother poster child. She had an amazing family. Don't even get me started on how gorgeous that cover is. I even love the font. I love Mara's dress and the underwater-ness and I love how dark it is. It suits the book so perfectly, I just love it. It's what made me pick it up a couple months ago when I first read it. I can't resist adding a couple quotes from the book here: "You're distracting," I said truthfully. "I won't be. I promise," Noah said. "I'll get some crayons and draw quietly. Alone. In a corner." Finally Daniel spoke. "Wow, Mara. You look like... you look like..." His face scrunched as he searched for words. [...] "Like a model," Mom said brightly. "Uh, I was going to say a lady of ill repute." I shot Daniel a look of pure poison. "But, sure." "My God, you're like the plague." "A masterfully crafted, powerfully understated, and epic parable of timeless moral resonance? Why, thank you. That's one of the nicest things anyone's ever said to me," he said. "The disease, Noah, not the book." "I'm ignoring that qualification." "I find it hilarious that whenever I light up, Americans look at me like I'm going to urinate on their children..." My mouth fell open. "Did I just see you litter?" "I'm driving a hybrid. It cancels out." I narrowed my eyes at him. "You're evil." In response, Noah smiled, and raised his finger to gently tap the tip of my nose. "And you're mine," he said, then walked away. "Grounded likely means no phone or computer," Jamie said. "But if I encounter an owl, I'll try to smuggle a message to the outside, okay?" I should probably stop there, but I'm guessing you are starting to see the genius that is The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. Obviously, seeing as this is one of my favorite books ever, I give it five stars. It's brilliant and funny and scary and amazing and I highly suggest reading it.

Did I love it? No...this is not my usual genre. I usually Prefer Male MC, 3rd person, with tons of action and powers and horror. Did I like it? Yes I did...Surprisingly, the main character(Mara) was very refreshing that the 1st person narration didn't bug me. The Love interest(Noah) didn't repulse me as much as I did and we got some amazing secondary characters in Jamie, Joseph and Daniel. 1. Plot & Writing The plot is refreshing and new to me. I haven't read a book like this before. What starts off is so creepy and scary. Mara wakes up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there and discovers there was a tragic accident that led to the death of her friends but she came out unharmed. Over the course of the book, she begins to slowly unravel and you see her questioning what is real. What isn't real...She's hallucinating or is she? People around her are beginning to die but the strange thing is....Somehow she begins to discover SHE may be responsible for it. This book is a psychological thriller because you find yourself going insane with Mara but it's part Horror with some romance of course. The writing is most excellent...it reads nothing like that of a Debut writer. Michelle Hodkin certainly know show to write a sexy YA thriller that is good for both girls and guys to read. She makes you empathize and connect with Mara andyou can fall in love with Noah despite obvious warnings and even a straight guy would wanna be friends with a guy like noah. The characters are mostly well-written and fleshed out. The action, the thrill and the world of Mara Dyer touches you and you feel as if you are inside this book. I often felt like I was Mara....When the hallucinations began, you feel yourself sort of falling just like her. I loved it. Grade A Writing. 2. Characters I generally despise 1st person books because I am always stuck with a Protagonist I can't stand(Tris from Divergent is a perfect example) and I don't get enough of the people I actually do like(Peter from divergent). I often feel like 1st person only truly allows you to get to know the one person and you have to sort of assume the rest about the other characters. But Mara is an excellent protagonist. She's a beautiful girl, She's tough but vulnerable and she has a fire inside of her that makes you root for her. She makes mistakes....But she learns from them. She also has a big heart and I love the fact that even when things got real hard and difficult to handle, she wasn't some whiny victim. She faced fears and I loved that. Noah is one of the most refreshing characters I've had the pleasure to read. Yes, he is a bit repulsive. He seems to be the kind of arrogant jerk who says inappropriate things, with an ego the size of a mountain...yet you can't help but like him. For all his obvious flaws and personality quirks, there is something about this guy that makes you like him. He isn't the typical Brooding silent type who is just misunderstood...nor is he the alpha male you read about who just has to be in control. He's a brand new and refreshing take on the character. Personally, I wish it was 3rd person so I could be inside his head to see what he thought on various topics. Jamie is the token jewish black bi guy in the book. He's a pretty amazing secondary character who serves as Mara's close friend and I wish we could've gotten more from him. I hear he plays a bigger role in Book two. He's funny, He's not one to be a stereotype and he definitely has a secret or two but he isn't shady. I enjoyed him and his scenes quite a bit. Daniel is another strong Secondary character alongside Joseph. Daniel is Mara's older brother who serves as the perfect older brother. He protects and looks out for his sister but doesn't smother her the way his mother does. He is sweet. He is understanding....Joseph is Mara's younger brother and way too smart for a kid who isn't even 13 yet. He was pretty funny and innocent and I loved it. I didn't really care for the subplot towards the end with Joseph because it was sort of irrelevant and served only as a plot device to further Noah's character. The two high school jerks, Anna & Aidan, were the weakest characters. It just because they were so one-dimensional. They hated Mara and hated Jamie, so that's literally all they did the entire book was be jerks. Luckily, they were minor characters but with such interesting characters like the 5 above, Anna and Aidan stand out as weak links. 3. Overall The writing is Phenomenal, The Characters are simply amazing and aren't one dimensional(aside from Anna and Aidan). The romance was engaging...but i did feel it was a bit rushed. It is a trilogy...Do we need to throw everything out there in the first book. I did feel slight disappointment because she had only known Noah for a short time and I wanted it to feel more natural but at the same time it was good. It is not an insta-love but i would have liked to see Mara's initial repulsion towards Noah last a bit longer...they were more engaging to me when Mara was repulsed by him and found him arrogant. The action and horror elements were certainly engaging enough to make you want to find out the mystery of it all. Is she hallucinating? Is she causing herself pain? Is she psychotic? Why is it that when she thinks of Hurting someone that person winds up dead? What is Noah hiding? It is a great psychological mystery and aside from a few minor issues(Mara did sort of just believe anything Noah told her without much question, Anna and Aidan were weak, and the Jamie Subplot) this is a great read. 3.5 out of 5 stars for me.

Title: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #1) Author: Michelle Hodkin Publisher: Simon & Schuster BFYR, 2011 Genre: YA Paranormal *This review can be found on my Blog, teacherofya dot Wordpress dot com* My Review: When you do a Google search for this book, a lot of things come up. There seem to be huge fanbases of Mara Dyer. It's kind of incredible. Because after several years, people still love this series. They sport t-shirts that proclaim, "I survived the Mara Dyer trilogy." I now wonder what I got myself into. But let's break down the book, yes? As you've seen fro the blurb, there's not much description given to tell you about the book. So that's what I'm here for. In the beginning, we are told by "Mara" herself that the name "Mara Dyer" is a pseudonym, and she has received advice from council to use one. So right off the bat, we know we are going to have what's known as an "unreliable narrator." These narrators tell the story, but the facts and perception may not be the truth. At least I was warned. Mara wakes up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there. Her parents tell her that there was an "accident" and a building collapsed on her and her friends. No one but Mara survived. And Mara doesn't remember why she was there or what happened. All she knows is that instantly she has lost her boyfriend Jude, her best friend Rachel, and Rachel's friend Claire. Maya has blackout moments, and her mother as a psychiatrist wants to commit her. Mara convinces her mom that simply moving away will help, because everything around her is a reminder. She knows that's not the issue, though. The problem seems to be that Mara is hallucinating, seeing Rachel's face in the mirror or Jude out of the corner of her eye. Once moved, she and brother Daniel are enrolled into Croyster Academy, a private school in Miami, Florida; this is quite the change from her hometown of Laurelton, Rhode Island. On her first day she is drawn to a handsome boy with a devil-may-care attitude, and he seems genuinely drawn to Mara. However, she develops a friendship with a fellow student, Jamie, who warns her against Noah. Apparently the British eye-candy has quite a reputation at the school for love 'em and leave 'em relationships. Strange things makes her life even more awkward and difficult: she falls face-first onto the ground and bleeds all over the class. She sees a dog tied up and malnourished, but when she berates the owner and she starts to envision his death, he ends up looking just as Mara pictures, with his head carved in. She starts to wonder as she sees things and the people from her accident: can she even trust her own eyes? Did she even berate the dog owner? Throughout all this, Noah pursues her, and though she pushes him away, she realizes she's been sketching his face in her book over and over. So maybe she likes Noah, but she refuses to be another notch on his bedpost. But when Noah helps her out of a jam, she is stuck owing him a date, and it appears Noah might be hiding some demons of his own. As the two draw closer, Mara starts to lose her grip on reality more and more, finally ending up on medication. But Mara is starting to remember the accident, slowly and in small chunks in her dreams. How did she survive? And should she really let Noah in, knowing that there are pieces of her past that have followed Mara to Florida?* *I'm pretty sure you're just as confused as I was....but this is all I can give without spoilers. But I can assure you, this barely scratches the surface of Mara's story. You'll have to read to find out more.* Is it Classroom-Appropriate? That's a tricky question. It does address the symptoms and issues of mental illness, and the struggles the family goes through when one of the members is ill (though I'm not saying that Dyer is crazy...you'll just have to see!). It has a little swearing and a hint of intimacy, but I think certain ages are already used to these occurrences in media today. I would probably be able to comfortably present it to a Sophomore or higher level class. There's little academic value in the book, though, so it would be more likely to be a book recommended for outside reading than one in the classroom. (Not that the book is bad...it's just more of an entertaining read than a scholarly one). Age Range: Lexile.com rates it as HL600L, with an age range of 14-18 (and up, of course). I'd prefer and feel more comfortable with 15, but it also depends on the maturity of the reader. 600 is higher than many YA books, but still low enough to give to reluctant readers. The HL means "High-Low," which implies that younger readers would be able to comprehend the material but it is not necessarily appropriate for them. End Result: READ IT. SERIOUSLY. I give it ★★★★★ easily. I read way into the night. Mara reminds me of Kestrel from The Winner's Curse, though, because of her stubborn ways and belief in self-sacrifice for the "greater good." She can be frustrating, but if one cannot trust their own mind, I would probably be frustrating, too. How can you know what's true and a lie when you can't tell if what you see is real? This is where my empathy for Mara comes in, and it will for you, too. I hope I steered you in the right direction with this book. I myself am starting book two today, The Evolution of Mara Dyer. Too much of a cliffhanger to stop now! Happy reading, my book besties!

***Review posted on The Eater of Books! blog*** The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin Book One of the Mara Dyer series Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Publication Date: September 27, 2011 Rating: 4 stars Source: Purchased copy Summary (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. What I Liked: I decided to reread this book this year, and finish the rest of the trilogy, so I can comfortably read The Becoming of Noah Shaw and The Reckoning of Noah Shaw. The two series are companion series (ish), but I never finished this original series and I always wanted to do so. I adored The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, even after all these years. This is the story of Mara Dyer, whose name isn't actually Mara Dyer, but that's the name she is legally allowed to share. Her friends were in a horrible accident, and Mara has been suffering PTSD as a result. She and her family move so that Mara can have a fresh start. Mara has no idea how she survived the accident that killed her friends; she also has no idea how to explain the strange things that she has been seeing - and experiencing. Is it the PTSD? Or is it something more? And why does it seem like the boy with the panty-dropping smile has something to do with everything? This psychological thriller is twisted and intriguing, and will keep you guessing until the last page and anxious for the next installment. The first time I read this book was in 2011 or 2012, not long after the book published. Honestly? I didn't really understand the story, and I wasn't sure if I even liked the book. I was so confused about so many things, and I wasn't sure what to think of some of the characters. Still, I blown away by the concept and the execution, and the originality. I'd never read anything like this. I liked Mara from the start, which surprised me because usually I feel disdain towards unreliable narrators. I liked Mara's spunk and honesty - she has a spitfire type of sarcasm that I really liked. Maybe I just like sarcastic heroines. Mara puts on a strong front but she is vulnerable too, and she doesn't like others seeing that vulnerability. Enter Noah Shaw, the bad boy of the high school, the guy who seemingly sleeps with everyone, the cultured British boy with an accent and smoking hot good looks and an arrogance to match. This type of hero is sometimes hard to like, but I actually liked Noah. Even after having only read one book (of the three), I was confident that Noah was fairly misunderstood and maybe not as bad as everyone thinks. Still, he comes across as a f***boy. You love 'em, you hate 'em. There was an interesting set of secondary characters, most of which I felt ehh about but could still appreciate their presence. Daniel, Mara's older brother, seemed way too perfect but was incredibly supportive of Mara, especially with her struggle with PTSD, and her budding trust of Noah. Jamie, Mara's new best friend, is a gay black guy with a lot going on, past and present. He's cool but maybe a little one-dimensional. Joseph, Mara's younger brother, is a sweetheart. He is much younger and he has an innocence to him that I really liked. The story is bizarre! Is Mara suffering from extreme PTSD? Is there something sinister going on? Something else? Is this a paranormal psychological thriller? There were a lot of unanswered questions by the end of the book. This could be a complaint, but I think this actually sets up the series well, and leads perfectly into book two. I'm not overly annoyed about being left with so many unanswered questions because I have a feeling the author will reveal more information as the story goes on. But there is some strange things going on, including murder... or was it coincidence? You'll have to find out! Or I will, as I continue to read the series. There is of course a romance, between Noah and Mara. It is a seriously fiery romance even though there is literally one (technically two?) kisses in the book. Noah and Mara have amazing chemistry from the start - lots of sparks and a ton of witty banter. I liked the dialogue between the two, and I loved how they set each other off. This book is extremely well-written, debut or not. Michelle Hodkin clearly knows how to build a story, and write it. I am sure her writing will get even better as she writes more books. I'm excited for more, from this series and new stories too. Overall, I liked this book, especially after reading it several times. Initially I wasn't totally sold, but the more times I read the book, the more I understood and the better it got. I am looking forward to reading the second book! What I Did Not Like: I mentioned that I had a lot of unanswered questions and confusion after reading the book, even several times. While I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing, it's something that will definitely frustrate readers. But hang in there for the next books (I'm assuming)! Would I Recommend It: If psychological thrillers are your thing, then I highly recommend this debut novel. It is strange and almost sinister at times, and worth the hype. I'm sure opinions are varied in the extremes, but I found this story to be extremely intriguing, even when I didn't quite fully understand it (I still don't, to be honest). It's a debut novel worth trying, at least! Rating: 4 stars. I read this book about six years ago and it stunned me then - it still stuns me now. I really liked this book and I am kicking myself for not continuing the series. I think I was waiting for the series to be complete, since I knew book three would take more time to publish (and it really did). But I'm sure the wait was worth it, and I'm finally ready to continue.

I have to admit this book lives up to all the hype it's been getting. It's an amazing story that was immensly fun to read. I loved the idea that we as the reader are really not sure what is going on, if Mara is really killing people or if she is just psychotic and seeing incredibly scary, intense visions. Even at this point after finishing the book I still find myself thinking about Mara. Characters: Mara and her family unit are very connected. You can feel the love and the understanding that they hold for one another. They are so comfortable with who each person is, they all hold a certain place in the story and amazingly they all get along! I cannot remember the last time I read a book that involved family where the characters did not bicker or hold something against each other. The family structure was a breathe of fresh air to me and I loved every one of them. Mara is not the only one going through some hard times, they all go through this together. Then there is Noah who I had a hard time with. I actually really appreciated the fact that Mara kept telling him to go away and tried to keep away from him. She is having a hard enough time at a new school making friends when Noah starts following her around when she's obviously not ready for a relationship and she pretty much tells him so. I am not team Noah just yet, I need a little more convincing to see what more he may be hiding, not that I don't see him and Mara being a great couple, just not convinced completely yet with their relationship. Story: What I loved about this story was the eerie what is going to happen next bubble that surround it. As you are reading along, some of the visions that Mara has really jump out at you, you litterally think "WTF was that?" You as a reader get mixed up into this weird mixture of what is reality and what is a psychotic vision. They are completely crazy and fantastic at the same time. They are what really kept me reading at such a fast pace. I had so many questions and no, they are not all answered. The ending was another OMFG reaction that you want to scream "how can you leave it like that?" knowing that I have to wait until who knows when to get the next book. The relationships between the characters were very curious to me as well. I really was at a loss when Jaime disappears from her life, he was so much of the first half of the book that it was a noticeble disappearance and I really missed the level of discussion between the two characters. When Jaime dissappears from the book, Noah starts to fill in more of those spots but like I said above, I'm still not a big fan of Noah and I wanted that other male figure to help talk Mara down from her anxiety. Now, her brother fit into that role nicely, but in the second half of the book the brother also takes a less prominant roll. It just focuses on Mara and Noah, and personally I don't think Noah is a good fit for her, he seems very dangerous to me and for somebody in Mara's condition, I am very wary of where they are heading. Noah seems to add to the anxiety and psychotic episodes than helping her heal. Overall the things that I didn't like very much about the story, really make the story. The weirdness I felt between these characters obviously play a bigger role in the continuation of the story. There are so many questions to be answered and the ending had me dying, seriously not fair for authors to get away with such things! I was seriously thinking of rating it 4 stars because of what I felt was a separation between the first half of the story and the 2nd half. But the fact of the matter is, if you finish reading a book and want to pick it up immediatly after your finished and read it again, I have to give it 5 stars. I have heard this book referred to as a "mind screw" and couldn't agree more. Somebody point me in the direction of more books like this, and lets hope that Michelle doesn't stop writing anytime soon

WOW! What a great debut novel! It fit in the "could not put it down" category and I read it in two days during a time I had a lot of other things going on. How many YA novels keep you guessing ALL the way through just what is really happening, whether something supernatural is happening, and if so, what is it? This one definitely did that. And what wonderful characters. Mara as a teen who most people think is crazy and who REALLY believes it herself as she tries to hide what she sees, dreams, and hears from her family and new school "friends". She really only makes two new friends after they move away from the terrible building collapse where three of her friends are killed, one a kind of nerdy boy who befriends her and one the beautiful illusive Noah who she can't believe is interested in her. Noah is in some ways typical of YA book heroes and in other ways is an individual like no other. He has a touch of the bad boy, but in so many ways is not bad at all. His treatment of Nora throughout the book is - well hard to explain, but it is beautiful to read. Yes, it is a romance of course. And again, beautifully written and constructed with scenes that sizzle but without being too graphic for YA -lots of them. One of the really well done things about this story was the author's ability to make it seem so real for a girl to be convinced that she is losing her mind and yet afraid to share with anyone what is happening to her. You can almost feel what she is going through. On top of this is her terrible fear that she has some power that she does not understand and her reluctance to really believe it. My friend Jeanine, who recommended this book to me (actually raved about it while reading it so I had to buy it) told me it was creepy and she knows I do not like creepy scary books. For about the first 50 pages I wondered if it really was going to be something I did like - then I fell into it and that was it! Some of it is creepy and a little scary, but not to the extreme. It gets away from some of that for most of the book. I should add a little bit about Mara's family. She has two brothers, one older and one younger, and both are just great. Her father is a criminal attorney and involved in a murder trial throughout the book so not actually in the story a lot. Her mother alternates between believing Mara is seriously psychotic and trying to ignore it. There are a lot of twists in this story and I have avoided giving anything away in this review. I do love some of the dialogue and the clever, sometimes sarcastic conversations between Mara and Noah. Just a well written different kind of story. At one point Mara has forgotten to tie her shoelaces. Noah kneels down and is tying them for her. "There," he said as he finished tying the laces on my left shoe. "Now you won't fall." "Too late." "I brought the water to my lips. I accidentally caught my reflection In the dark kitchen window. I looked like the ghost of a stranger. Something was happening to me. I heaved the plastic up at the dark glass and watched my reflection blur away." "My chest cracked open at his words. I stared into Noah's perfect face and tried to see what he saw. I tried to see us - not individually, not the arrogant, beautiful, reckless lost boy and the angry, broken girl -- but what we were, who we were, together." One of the quotes on the back of the book says, "WOW, Michelle Hodkin's debut will keep you guessing until the last page - and long after." That is an understatement. I am ready for the next book NOW!

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Libro aconsejable para el publico adolescente, con una lectura fácil y amena, asi como un inglés asequible para aquellos no nativos que quieran leer en inglés, argumento adecuado para adolescentes

Amazing! Suspenseful and well written

Definitely one of the best series I've ever read. I loved how it all turned out and the twists and mind games. This made me question the line between sanity and insanity, the line between reality and fiction. And let me tell you... Noah Shaw is my book boyfriend No. 1! 5/5 stars to each of the three books.

J'ai entendu pas mal de choses sur cette histoire, surtout des choses positives. Comme j'aime ce genre d'histoire, je l'ai acheté. Je vais vous expliquer ce qui se passe dedans avent de vous faire part de mon avis qui est un peu mitigé. L'histoire est introduite par un chapitre flashback. Mara, 16 ans, se trouve avec ses amis dans un asile déserté en pleine nuit. Mais c'est alors que le bâtiment s'écroule. Mara se réveille alors à l'hôpital mais ne se rappelle pas ce qui s'est passé trois jours plutôt. Les parents de Mara ne veulent pas la brusquer, mais ils lui disent que ses amis sont morts, que Rachel, Claire et Jude sont morts. Ses parents décident alors de déménager pour le bien de Mara, pour qu'elle n'est plus à vivre dans cette ville avec les souvenirs de ses amis. Le premier jour des cours dans sa nouvelle école, Mara se sent un peu perdu. Normal quand on est nouveau dans une nouvelle école. Dans les couloirs, un garçon lui fait coucou en souriant. Elle se demande si c'est pour elle, mais elle ne se trompe pas. Ce garçon lui fait coucou comme s'il l'a connaissait mais pas Mara. Cette dernière assiste à son premier cours, mais en rentrant dans la classe, elle ne se sent pas bien puis demande d'aller au toilettes se rafraichir. C'est en regardant dans le miroir que Mara ne voit pas son reflet, mais le reflet de quelqu'un d'autre, le reflet de sa meilleure amie qui est censée être morte. Mara croit halluciner. Un peu plus tard dans la journée, elle s'assoit dans l'herbe et se repose un peu quand elle entend une voix, une voix qu'elle connaît, la voix de Jude, son petit-ami. Comment est-ce possible ? Elle met tout ça sur le dos du stress. Un jour, en allant à l'école, elle croit voir un chien battu puis le maître du chien apparaît et lui dit de ficher le camp. Mara pense alors qu'elle voudrait voir cet homme mort. Mais ce qu'elle ne sait pas encore c'est ce qu'elle pense va arriver, quelques heures plus tard. Mara apprend la nouvelle en repassant devant la maison plus tard dans la journée. Elle commence alors peu à peu à se croire parano. Ce qui l'a tracasse aussi c'est Noah Shaw, le garçon le plus beau du campus, qui a apparemment que les yeux sur elle. Même avec les choses négatives que son nouvel ami Jami raconte sur ce garçon, Mara se rapproche peu à peu de Noah. Mais pourquoi Noah est-il aussi intéressé en Mara ? Est-ce une attirance saine ? Les premières pages vont laisse sans voix. A chaque page que vous lisez, vous avancez un peu plus dans l'histoire et on constitue peu à peu l'histoire de Mara, en découvrant pourquoi elle voit des personnes mortes surgir devant elle. Autant dire que les premières pages m'ont fait un peu flipper. On est tellement dans l'histoire, que le monde autour de nous semble s'effacer. Mais en avançant dans l'histoire, l'action se tasse et plus beaucoup de choses n'arrivent. On découvre qu'a la fin l'étendue du pouvoir de Mara et pourquoi Noah est tellement obnubilé par Mara. Au départ, je pensais que les choses allaient vite se développer, mais plus je lisais le livre plus les choses ralentissaient. C'est le seul point négatif à cette histoire car dans l'ensemble, l'histoire se teint bien. Même avec un manque d'action, l'auteure arrive à nous tenir en haleine.