Synopsis: 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.
Holy - hello - oh my - what? - gah! - Don't talk to me right now I'm freaking out.
Yeah, that was pretty much all the coherence I had while reading this book. This book was just so fantabulously frightening and psychotic and, well, beautiful. It seems to defy classification, it breaks the boundaries of your typical YA fantasy novel, and it definitely sets the bar high for YA novels of it's genre.
Very few novels actually get reactions out of me. I understand where I'm supposed to laugh, where I'm supposed to be upset, or where I should be scared. The few that actually make me laugh out loud, or make me want to chuck my book at the wall, or make me tremble when I open my closet - those are books that are exceptional for me. And Mara Dyer even managed to go beyond that. It wasn't only sensational, it was gorgeously narrated, wonderfully developed and paced, and it was a masterfully created story.
So to talk about Mara and her story, I just have to say that I'm very impressed that Michelle Hodkin was able to convey a storyline from a character who's possibly mentally imbalanced (or at least that's the way she's portrayed) but still manage to make the story believable. Mara has all these episodes and she doesn't know if what she's seeing is really there, and the reader doesn't know what is or isn't true - yet when I was reading, I never felt overwhelmed or confused. This takes so much talent on Michelle's part, to write on such instability without spinning off or falling over. I think this plays into the pacing of the novel as well. You follow through, finding out about the world as Mara does, but it's through action. I mean, it's possibly all action that's in her head, so it's kind of a blur between physical and psychological events that propel the novel. Either way, it's intense. The pacing keeps you on your toes, whole body alert, with eyes darting to the dark corners of the room to make sure you aren't being haunted.
I also feel the need to talk about Noah. Seriously, if someone would have mentioned to me before hand that he had a British accent I would have picked up this book much faster (I read it pretty much as soon as I could, but you know what I mean...) He's pretty yummy, and he turns out to play a pretty awesome role by the end of the novel. He's just another great example of a good boy with a snarky attitude. Which brings me to the insults. Michelle Hodkins has come up with some of the best insulting word play I've come across. It's brilliant (I'm thinking particularly of the scene in which the mean girl has stolen some drawings of Mara's and so Mara calls her something completely vulgar - but awesome...If you've read it you know, if you haven't read it, you should just so you'll know why I think Mara's talent with insult is great).
So, I'm going to stop myself here because this is one of those books I could ramble on and on about. I just have to say that this is a must read. It's freak-out worthy in all aspects of boys, suspense, and story. It's intense and crazy, but it's wonderful. It's the first in a trilogy (Mara Dyer was just released at the end of September) so I am beyond excited to see where Michelle takes Mara and Noah. It's just so good, I highly recommend going and finding a copy now. It's also a great book to read with Halloween coming up...
Synopsis: 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.
Holy - hello - oh my - what? - gah! - Don't talk to me right now I'm freaking out.
Yeah, that was pretty much all the coherence I had while reading this book. This book was just so fantabulously frightening and psychotic and, well, beautiful. It seems to defy classification, it breaks the boundaries of your typical YA fantasy novel, and it definitely sets the bar high for YA novels of it's genre.
Very few novels actually get reactions out of me. I understand where I'm supposed to laugh, where I'm supposed to be upset, or where I should be scared. The few that actually make me laugh out loud, or make me want to chuck my book at the wall, or make me tremble when I open my closet - those are books that are exceptional for me. And Mara Dyer even managed to go beyond that. It wasn't only sensational, it was gorgeously narrated, wonderfully developed and paced, and it was a masterfully created story.
So to talk about Mara and her story, I just have to say that I'm very impressed that Michelle Hodkin was able to convey a storyline from a character who's possibly mentally imbalanced (or at least that's the way she's portrayed) but still manage to make the story believable. Mara has all these episodes and she doesn't know if what she's seeing is really there, and the reader doesn't know what is or isn't true - yet when I was reading, I never felt overwhelmed or confused. This takes so much talent on Michelle's part, to write on such instability without spinning off or falling over. I think this plays into the pacing of the novel as well. You follow through, finding out about the world as Mara does, but it's through action. I mean, it's possibly all action that's in her head, so it's kind of a blur between physical and psychological events that propel the novel. Either way, it's intense. The pacing keeps you on your toes, whole body alert, with eyes darting to the dark corners of the room to make sure you aren't being haunted.
I also feel the need to talk about Noah. Seriously, if someone would have mentioned to me before hand that he had a British accent I would have picked up this book much faster (I read it pretty much as soon as I could, but you know what I mean...) He's pretty yummy, and he turns out to play a pretty awesome role by the end of the novel. He's just another great example of a good boy with a snarky attitude. Which brings me to the insults. Michelle Hodkins has come up with some of the best insulting word play I've come across. It's brilliant (I'm thinking particularly of the scene in which the mean girl has stolen some drawings of Mara's and so Mara calls her something completely vulgar - but awesome...If you've read it you know, if you haven't read it, you should just so you'll know why I think Mara's talent with insult is great).
So, I'm going to stop myself here because this is one of those books I could ramble on and on about. I just have to say that this is a must read. It's freak-out worthy in all aspects of boys, suspense, and story. It's intense and crazy, but it's wonderful. It's the first in a trilogy (Mara Dyer was just released at the end of September) so I am beyond excited to see where Michelle takes Mara and Noah. It's just so good, I highly recommend going and finding a copy now. It's also a great book to read with Halloween coming up...
