A review by ellawh
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

challenging dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced

4.25

”Lolita,” […] ” So,” he said, his eyes meeting mine again. “You’re a smut-hound with daddy issues?” The corner of his mouth turned up in a slow, condescending smile. I wanted to wack it off his face. “Well you’re quoting it. And incorrectly, by the way. So what does that make you?” His half smile morphed into a whole grin. “Oh, I’m definitely a smuthound with daddy issues.”

4,25/5 stars

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was very funny yet also mysterious in the paranormal department, so to speak. I often hear it compared to Shatter Me, which I kind of understand. They both have the insane girl with a lethal power trope, which I love every time. They are both published in 2011 (this book is actually published before Shatter Me), and both have the kind of feel of books written in the early 2010’s (they have a special flavor that you either get or you don’t.) However The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is not a dystopian book, it’s more of a paranormal mystery, set in today’s society.

Short back story
The story begins when Mara wakes up in a hospital bed with no memory of how she got there. She has it explained to her that she, along with her friends, were found in the ruins of an abandoned asylum, rumored to be haunted. Mara is the only survivor of the accident. However she has no memory of ever going to the asylum, nor what happened and why only she survived. Wanting to leave their old life at Rhode Island behind, she and her family moves to Miami. Mara gets diagnosed with PTSD, but what she doesn’t tell anyone is that she isn’t only traumatized, she has begun seeing dead people.

The characters/Romance
I adored all of the characters, they were really funny, and even made me laugh out loud on many occasions (which I rarely do). The banter was 10/10.

Mara is a lovable main character. Which is always a win win in my opinion, my biggest pet peeve in books is when the main character is lacily written, overlooked, and solely used as a vessel for the reader in the story. I want to root for the main character. Mara is funny, strong, yet shows weakness too. Her love interest is very funny and likable too (not to give too much away). Their banter was, as I said, 10/10, and they were all tension and slow-burn.

They bonded over their love for literature, which I think always gets us book lovers (it just doesn’t get old), especially when the references in the book were fun and more unique (unlike reusing the same Pride and Prejudice reference again, and again).

There is really not too much to say about this book without spoiling it (it’s a mystery after all), but if you like girls going mad, slow-burn+tension+banter, solving-a-mystery-together-trope, and paranormal mystery, then this book is definitely for you.