The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer - Review by Katherine Pestun

The Book Review of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

            The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin is one of the best books I have read this year. That is a huge thing for me to say because it takes me forever to get into a book; but with this one, I was hooked in the first few pages. I finished reading it within a few days, when some books take me a few weeks. The plot interested me, and the main character prevented me from putting the book down.

            Mara, the main character, has lost her memory. After waking up in the hospital, she finds out that her best friend and boyfriend are dead from a building collapse and that she is the only survivor. She can’t remember being in the building or going to it. The last thing she can remember is her best friend’s sixteenth birthday, where her friend’s death was predicted by a Ouija board.

            After the accident, Mara and her family move to a different city to get away. She starts a new school and meets new friends, but she doesn’t forget about what happened. Mara sees rooms collapse and her friends’ faces looking back at her in mirrors. Her nights are filled with fragmented memories that bring horror. Mara’s life starts to fall apart; she gets diagnosed with P.T.S.D. and, as much as she would like to pretend she is fine, she can’t hide the fact that she is losing her mind.         

             There is some romance between Mara and a boy she meets at her new school. He isn’t like the other boys at the school, but in books, when are they ever? Mara and the boy, whose name I won’t give away, have one thing in common: they both have secrets. Through working together, they are both able to overcome the past.

            The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer keeps you in suspense throughout the entire story. Michelle Hodkin writes the book from Mara’s perspective and gives insight into what she is feeling and thinking as she tries to take life one day at a time without accidents. I would recommend this book to other people because I loved it a lot.

This is Michelle Hodkin’s first novel, and it is a great start to her career. She has yet to win any awards from her work, but it is obvious that she has great talent. I bet that like The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, any other book she writes will be just as amazing. I am looking forward to reading her second book, The Evolution of Mara Dyer.