Mundie Moms

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Book Review & Blog Tour: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer



Published by: Simon & Schuster
Released on: September 27th, 2011 TODAY
Source: ARC from publisher to review
4.5 stars: I REALLY Enjoyed It


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.- quoted from Goodreads

Michelle Hodkin's delivers a debut that is haunting, edgy, swoon worthly, sarcastic, intriguing and totally messes with your mind. In essence, it's fabulous! I can honestly say I've not read a more twisted, engaging story that left me mulling over it long after I finished.

With characters who are flawed, are in many ways relatable, and are written in an in-depth realistic way, it wasn't hard for me to become absorbed with them and their stories. Each character brought something different to Mara's story. Whether that was some sort of family stability, friendship, a normal family relationship, drama, haunting, love, romance, sarcasm and acceptance. What I admired the most about Michelle's characters is how imperfect they all are.

Mara herself is a complex character, layered character who's world is simply crazy. Well her world isn't, but after her accident that she remembers little about it, it's left her feeling like she's going mental or just crazy. It was intriguing for me to read about how normal she tries to be, while fighting what's going on in her mind. A perfect match to Mara's "peachy" side is Noah. I LOVED their sarcasm, chemistry and that underlining swoon worthy tension that builds as the story progressive between them. I think the best way to describe him is by saying I swear he and Jace are some how related.

Michelle's debut is best described as a blend of mystery, mixed with sarcasm, craziness and romance. Her writing is hauntingly beautiful and so unique. I'm in awe over the way she was able to make me feel like I was apart of the craziness of Mara's world. I liked that each time I thought I was starting to figure out just who Mara Dyer was, another twist would get thrown into the plot line and throw me off. I really don't know how to describe Mara's world other than saying it's something you'd have to read to understand it.

If you're looking for something utterly unique in the YA section, pick up The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. It's definitely a read that will stick with you for a while. On a side note, I LOVE this cover! Not only is it captivating to look at it, but it really captures Mara and Noah's relationship (at least I think so, but maybe I'm delusional). This is definitely a read I'd recommend to reading 13 yrs & older. There is some mild language and some uses of the f word.





Today we, along with Books Complete Me are celebrating the release of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by co-hosting our tour stops for the Mara Dyer blog tour. I'm excited to not only share some art work from Mara's sketchbook, but we've got an AWESOME giveaway!! First, Mara's sketches:

One of my favorite scenes from Mara's story is centered around her sketchbook and what Noah does to help her. That's being vague, but I'm keeping is spoiler free. Noah not only says something that makes me laugh out loud, but Michelle sets up the scene perfectly for something to happen between Mara and Noah.

Here's two of Mara's sketches that are Noah's hands;


GIVEAWAY:

Thanks to Michelle Hodkin and Books Complete Me we are giving away a SIGNED, FINISHED, FULLY ANNOTATED copy of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer to one lucky winner!

The Rules:
  • - We, along with Books Complete Me are giving away one (1) signed, annotated, finished copy (visit Books Complete Me for another chance to win!)
  • - Open to U.S. Mailing Addresses Only
  • - You must be 13 yrs & older to enter
  • - 1 entry per person
  • - Giveaway ends at midnight 9/30/11
You will need to fill out the FORM below to enter, but be warned, you will have to work for this one of a kind prize!

Here's some helpful links to help you find your answers:




The Scavenger Hunt Giveaway:


Be sure to follow all 21 stops in this exciting tour! Each stop will be posting a letter or character that makes a complete phrase from the book. You will need to visit EACH stop to collect the letters and symbols in order to make the word, which has to do something important from the book. After you piece together each of the puzzle pieces go HERE to fill out THIS FORM. This giveaway ends on at midnight on 9/30.

5 comments:

  1. Great review! LOVED this book and Noah = swooooon. :-P Glad you enjoyed it!

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  2. Thank you DJ! We need to swoon over Noah together! I seriously loved his character. I'm so glad you loved it as well!

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  3. DEFINITELY unique. Both Em and myself thoroughly enjoyed it. Michelle threw in some crazy twists and turns, but we both loved it.

    Nice Review!! :) xoxo

    Sash and Em

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  4. I loved the scavenger hunt aspect of this. I feel like I'm being productive somehow when I have to search all over for answers. Plus it's fun :] And it also makes me feel like I have better chances since I went through all the work :P Thanks for the fun giveaway :D

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  5. Sash- Thank you so much! I agree, Michelle knows how to throw in some unexpected twists. Those twists kept me on my toes.

    Jasmine- Thank you so much for your comment! I'm so glad you've enjoyed the scavenger hunt. Best of luck with winning!!

    ReplyDelete

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