thebookinsider

The Book Insider

A 21yr old female who reads because she believes that living life from one perspective is too boring and that critiquing those perspectives is inevitable. | Created on the 8th of January 2015.

Currently reading

Amy and Roger's Epic Detour
Morgan Matson
The Evolution of Mara Dyer
Michelle Hodkin

MIA

Currently on a break. We will be back on the 18th of February with new updates and reviews.

2015 Reading Challenge

Because this is a new blog and I really need something to help plan out what I will be posting here throughout the year, I thought why not go ahead and start my first reading challenge. According to the rules, you cannot use the same book twice for the same challenge. In other words, you can only tick one box per book even if the book is relevant and appropriate to more that one of the challenges below!

 

 

By the end of the year I will post the books that I've read to complete this challenge; but for now, below is a list of what I might be reading:

 

  1. A book with more than 500 pages

The evolution of Mara Dyer

  1. A classic romance

Sense & Sensibility

  1. A book that became a movie

The book thief

  1. A book published this year

Fairest

  1. A book with a number in the title

The 5th wave

  1. A book written by someone under 30

Galagolia

  1. A book with nonhuman characters

Cinder

  1. A funny book

Fan-girl

  1. A book by a female author

In the Afterlight

  1. A mystery or thriller

We were liars

  1. A book with one word title

Crescendo

  1. A book with short stories

My true love gave to me

  1. A book set in a different country

Girls of Riyadh

  1. A nonfiction book

Wonder Woman: Marketing

  1. A popular author’s first book

Looking for Alaska

  1. A book from an author you love that you haven’t read

The Disreputable History of FLB

  1. A book a friend recommended

The last lecture

  1. A Pulitzer Prize-winning book

To kill a mocking bird

  1. A book based on a true story

Free Fall

  1. A book at the bottom of your to-read list

Legend

  1. A book written in Arabic

ساق البامبو

  1. A book that scares you

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

  1. A book more than 100 years old

Pride & Prejudice

  1. A book based entirely on its cover

These broken stars

  1. A book you were supposed to read in school but didn’t

Julius Caesar

  1. A memoir

Diary of Anne Frank

  1. A book you can finish in a day

Four

  1. A book with antonyms in the title

Inside Out & Back again

  1. A book set somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit

Anna & the French kiss

  1. A book that came out the year you were born

The Giver

  1. A book with bad reviews

The Goodreads killer

  1. A trilogy

The Summer I turned Pretty

  1. A book from your childhood

Alice in wonder land

  1. A book with a love triangle

The host

  1. A book set in the future

Never Fade

  1. A book set in high school

The Duff

  1. A book with a color in the title

Scarlet

  1. A book that made you cry

The Fault in Our Stars (Re-reading)

  1. A book with magic

Red Queen

  1. A graphic novel

The Sleeper & the Spindle

  1. A book by an author you’ve never read before

The unbecoming of Mara Dyer

  1. A book you own but have never read

City of Bones

  1. A book that takes place in your hometown

Desperate in Dubai

  1. A book that was originally written in a different language

Ruby Red

  1. A book set during Christmas

Let it snow

  1. A novella

The Queen (The Selection Trilogy)

  1. A play

Romeo & Juliet

  1. A Stand Alone

Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour

  1. A book based on or turned into a TV show

Delirium

  1. A book you started but never finished

Hush, Hush

 

Replaced A book mom loves, a banned book, and a book written by an author with your same initials with An Arabic book, a stand alone, and a novella – because 1. Mom hates books 2. I can't get my hands on a banned book 3. I couldn’t find an interesting author that has my initials, and 4. I need to read an Arabic book.

 

Don't hesitate and join! If you have any questions, visit this link for further information.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer - Michelle Hodkin

Trilogy: Mara Dyer #1

Publication: September 27th 2011

Goodreads Link

Goodreads Summary: Mara Dyer believes life can't 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 strangely unharmed. There is. She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love. She's wrong.

 

If I had a camera recording my one and only face expression while reading this book... my face would probably look like this...

 

 

The book starts with Mara Dyer, AKA our disturbed protagonist, waking up in a hospital bed not knowing how she got there or how she managed to survive an accident that killed her boyfriend and two of her friends. The doctors suggest that it is better for her to move to a new school which in turn will hopefully help mara regain her memories of the accident gradually.

 

Mara's family moves to Florida and her memories start to resurface. Throughout the book, Mara tries to cope with her PTSD's side effects, including her inability to differentiate between reality and hallucinations. On the other hand there is Noah, her love interest AKA the douche bag who slept with all the girls in her new high school because he’s a good-looking asshole. Noah eventually falls for Mara because she’s “different” and he's good looking so why not...

 

 

Yeah, that was not a cliché at all.

 

The good

 

At first, let me just put it out in the open and say that I did, in fact, like this book. It was a quick read for 452 pages and the writing style wasn't bad at all. I also love how the mystery turned this book into a page turner until the very end. The characters where well-rounded and interesting. Each one of them had a distinct personality and role that added to the plot in some way or another.

 

 

The Bad: 

 

1. The book starts with her saying "my name is not Mara Dyer" well... hate to break it to you but we do not figure out exactly why she has a nom de plume... at least, not yet. 

 

2. It is difficult for me to admit that I’m not quite sure what on earth it was that I read! That is not because of the author’s writing style, but because of the story itself. The protagonist is someone that cannot be trusted. She is someone who's suffering from PTSD. Mara keeps hallucinating throughout the entire book, leaving you questioning each and every event because it is told from her POV. Did this really happen? Is that person real, a ghost, or just another hallucination? Are the people close to her really in danger or is it just all in her head?

 

3. Another thought that I was not able to push aside while reading this book, is how the plot suddenly shifted from being a paranormal/psychological one to being

about people with supernatural powers falling in love and trying to understand how fate brought them together and how they can further “discover” their gifts.

(show spoiler)

 

 

The book ended with a cliffhanger that I did not expect at all…

Why on earth would her ex be alive? Couldn’t you just keep that a hallucination? And again, why would wearing a "Rolex" be a sign. Rolex does not sell their watches to one person, you know. I think I'll need to start reading book #2 to find out.

(show spoiler)

 

 

Do I recommend this book? Yes, but not to everyone. If you’re into classics and realistic stories that are in no way affiliated with YA and, hate to say it, “Twilight” then do not read this book. However, if you’re like me and you like mysterious-YA-fiction-with-an-annoyingly-perfect-love-interest then go ahead.