The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

It’s not often that I sit down to type down my initial review notes and find myself overwhelmed by the adjective choices. This book is ah-mazing. There, I said it. Let me first copy and paste my notes so I can share the adjective fun! (Who doesn’t like a good adjective?)

• Creepy
• Romantic
• Thrilling
• Sweet
• Sexy
• Scary
• Mysterious
• Adventurous
• Endearing

Yeah, it’s all that and so much more. “The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer” is definitely in my top 10, maybe even my top couple books for this year. It started off a little rough, but once I really connected with Mara, there was no going back. I was hooked until the very end. I read this 450 page novel in less than 24 hours and man, I am DYING for book two.

Mara wakes up from a coma and finds out that her best friend, her boyfriend and her boyfriend’s sister are all dead after a terrible accident. Something isn’t quite right though. Somehow, she is completely free of major injury and now she’s being haunted by PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) hallucinations. Or are they? On top of it all, her family moves to help her deal with her loss and now her dad is defending a creepy murderer. Plus the infamously sex-crazed hot guy at school won’t take a hint and leave her alone.

I know it sounds like it could end up being the same ol’ cliche - girl falls in love with bad boy, he turns good, she deals with her demons. It isn’t though. Ms. Hodkin finds a way to take something that totally could have ended up being “the usual” and turns it into some magical. There is a mysterious paranormal element running through the whole book. She asks a lot of questions and really keeps you guessing the answers throughout the whole books. Is Mara really crazy? What is the deal with Mr. Hottie? Are the rumors about him to be believed? How in the world did she escape that accident unscathed? And what the heck is with all these weird things happening? Seriously, as I said, SO many questions. The book is creepy, but not in the way that will keep you up at night. It just keeps you guessing and in today’s world of accessible information, that’s a little creepy. :) Ms. Hodkin bakes up a book that is one part mystery, one part romance, one part paranormal and one part horror to create something extraordinarily delicious. You do not want to miss this one, folks. It may take you a little bit to get into, but once that connection with Mara snaps into place, you won’t want to let go.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is scheduled to be released tomorrow, September 27th, from Simon & Schuster. I received an ARC from the publisher to review.