Without doubt one of the most hyped YA books of 2011, THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER had a lot to live up to. Does it live up to those expectations? WellId say that depends on your reading tastes. Are Twilight, Beautiful Creatures, and Delirium among your favorite books? Or, in other words: are you the ideal market for all those YA speculative fiction bestsellers? If so, then THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER will probably be your favorite book. Do you often scrutinize books past their flashy premises to see if the world is well built, the plot engaging, and the romance well developed? Then you might have more of a problem with MARA.
Michelle Hodkin has a natural instinct for the flow of suspense in a story. Just when you find your attention on the verge of wandering, something happensbam!that widens your eyes and draws you right back in. The timing of these shocking moments was probably what kept me turning the pages.
I highly suspect, though, that these carefully timed moments of suspense hide from readers attentions the less nuanced aspects of this debut novel. THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER displays some common problems of bestselling YA paranormal romances. First, Noah is actually rather inexcusably an asshole. Edward Cullen was hot five years ago, but now we females should know better than to fall for the guy who says things along the lines of, Girl, I know you want me, and you know youll be mine before this is over. Cue the request for a restraining order, please. Yes, maybe the idea of being wanted as a guys possession is flattering, but in real life its actually very emotionally damaging.
Furthermore, the rules that govern MARAs supernatural world remain an inconsistent mystery. So Mara has thissuperpower(?) of sorts that allows her to do terrible things without really meaning to. I can believe that, except that at the end, were thrown a curveball in that, hey, Mara is not alone! Unnatural and weird occurrences happen in this world, of course, and they inevitably gravitate towards one another! Theres just too much of this world that feels like it only gets mentioned when its convenient for the plot to have some mysterious new detail that is supposed to throw off readers expectations yet develop the world at the same time. Im sorry, but good world-building is when new aspects and details are brought up and I can go, oh hey, yeah, totally, that totally works (see: Ilona Andrews).
When it comes down to it, Im afraid I have to say that THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER is a story that is fueled largely on hype. Which means that eventuallysometime soon, probablyit will splutter to a stop because it doesnt really have the content or the skill to go very far.
Michelle Hodkin has a natural instinct for the flow of suspense in a story. Just when you find your attention on the verge of wandering, something happensbam!that widens your eyes and draws you right back in. The timing of these shocking moments was probably what kept me turning the pages.
I highly suspect, though, that these carefully timed moments of suspense hide from readers attentions the less nuanced aspects of this debut novel. THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER displays some common problems of bestselling YA paranormal romances. First, Noah is actually rather inexcusably an asshole. Edward Cullen was hot five years ago, but now we females should know better than to fall for the guy who says things along the lines of, Girl, I know you want me, and you know youll be mine before this is over. Cue the request for a restraining order, please. Yes, maybe the idea of being wanted as a guys possession is flattering, but in real life its actually very emotionally damaging.
Furthermore, the rules that govern MARAs supernatural world remain an inconsistent mystery. So Mara has thissuperpower(?) of sorts that allows her to do terrible things without really meaning to. I can believe that, except that at the end, were thrown a curveball in that, hey, Mara is not alone! Unnatural and weird occurrences happen in this world, of course, and they inevitably gravitate towards one another! Theres just too much of this world that feels like it only gets mentioned when its convenient for the plot to have some mysterious new detail that is supposed to throw off readers expectations yet develop the world at the same time. Im sorry, but good world-building is when new aspects and details are brought up and I can go, oh hey, yeah, totally, that totally works (see: Ilona Andrews).
When it comes down to it, Im afraid I have to say that THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER is a story that is fueled largely on hype. Which means that eventuallysometime soon, probablyit will splutter to a stop because it doesnt really have the content or the skill to go very far.
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