Mara Dyer Trilogy
by Michelle Hodkin
Published: September 27, 2011
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.
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer aka THE QUESTIONS
I first heard about this book back when I started blogging (2012). I saw this repeatedly mentioned on a favorite blog that I got curious enough to buy the book. After I read Unbecoming I was like:
I didn't get it. I didn't know what it was supposed to be about. Sure, there were creepy scenes but creepy isn't really my genre not because I was scared as hell to read it but because it just takes a lot to creep me out (only in books, I'm easily creeped out in real life). Instead of scaring the shiz out of me, my brain was stamped with a big, fat question mark. Everyone was talking about how the romance is steamy and blah, blah, blah so I was eagerly looking forward to that but I didn't even like Mara or Noah. I just didn't care about them. Some passages were funny but that's about it. It's mainly about the romance. What little info I could piece together to form a slightly coherent plot didn't make sense and not a lot happened.
The Evolution of Mara Dyer aka THE CLIMAX
When I finished Unbecoming I wasn't planning on reading the next book. But then out of the blue, I DID. A week after Evolution came out, I read it for no reason at all. It was so random. And I was so, so thankful to whatever force that made me do it. Or else this would have been off my radar for good. The Evolution of Mary Dyer is AMAZING. The suspense was killing me. This is where I started to get obsessed with Noah. Basically, shit is starting to go down, the romance is good, the book is hilarious and the family dynamics is touching. I was so addicted to the book that I couldn't stop reading it. I was flipping pages so furiously that the ending came oh-so sudden it's unacceptable. Obviously, Retribution (book 3) immediately became my most awaited book.
The Retribution of Mara Dyer aka THE ANSWERS
I was left precariously hanging by Evolution's ending that I almost couldn't take the one year wait just to know what happens next. AND THEN, months before it was about to come out, it was announced that the publication date was moved and they kept pushing it back until ONE YEAR became TWO YEARS.
So I'm like: This wait better be worth it. But all it gave me was DISAPPOINTMENT. I am so disheartened by how it all turned out. Okay, it wasn't ALL bad but... *sigh* It was like the first book only instead of questions this one has all the answers. There were things I liked and enjoyed but my overall feeling was: "I waited two years for this?"
Sorry that you didn't enjoy the series. Strange that the second book was the one you enjoyed the most, as second books in a trilogy are usually boring. I have the first book in my TBR somewhere, but haven't been motivated to pick it up. Think I might put it off awhile longer, especially since I don't have the other two. Thanks for reviewing all three together!
ReplyDeleteYeah. Second books usually make or break a series. I'm glad Evolution was an amazing read. Too bad the others weren't that great.
DeleteYou'r welcome, Alexia! Thanks for stopping by :)
Aw that sucks that Retribution didn't leave up for you. The two years wait was killer. Literally.
ReplyDeleteSolid 4* trilogy for me. The Evolution is also my favourite of the three.
Happy reading!
Brittany @ This is the Story of My(Reading) Life
Thanks, Brittany! I'm glad you enjoyed it :)
DeleteI agree with you. I thought the first book was intriguing and the second book was kind of campy and fun. But the third book did disappoint me a lot.
ReplyDeleteAnd I love series reviews -- I want to try to do a couple this summer!
Jen @ YA Romantics
Me, too. I also plan on doing more series reviews in the future. Can't wait to read your reviews!
DeleteHaha, I love the honesty in this review. I've heard some AMAZING things about these books, but I've also read plenty of negative reviews that have put me off. I guess it's good that the second book was so good, but the disappointment sounds awful. Maybe I'd enjoy this series more if I read it right now, since most people seemed to mainly have problems with the long wait?
ReplyDeleteThank you, Emily. For the last book, yes, it's pretty much the long wait though I also know a lot of my friends who loved it still. I hope you enjoy this series :)
DeleteOh dear, sounds like a REALLY disappointing series! :( I've heard mixed things about it - not too sure I wanna read it anymore if all I'm going to get is disappointment in the end!
ReplyDeleteNice review, Haraiah <33
Thanks! I really had high hopes for the last book because eventhough the first one wasn't that good, the sequel was amazing. Ugh.
DeleteSounds like this series is pretty varied then! You had me convinced because I read a little of Unbecoming and didn't get it either - I felt the EXACT same you did, it was basically just about romance, no questions were answered, etc. But since you enjoyed the second one I'm really thinking I would too. But then the third..ahh, so conflicted! Great series review though!
ReplyDeleteYou will! Evolution is SO freaking good. I think that's one of the reasons why I was disappointed with Retribution. It made my expectations higher. Thank you, Alise!
DeleteI am so with you on all of this!!! I didn't like the romance in the first book. It was too icky and instalovey and I just didn't like Mara or Noah that much either. Also I didn't think as messed up as she was that she needed to be starting a romance. It didn't feel right. I am just not a fan of the Twilight, I knew you were the one the moment I smelled you sort of stuff.
ReplyDeleteThe second book I did like and felt like it was GOING somewhere.... and then that third book was BLAH!!!!!!!!! I was so pissed. The writitng I felt was excellent throughout all 3 books, but the story had major ups and downs.
Right? haha. It's hard not to get pissed. At least I got to love Mara and Noah until the end even though I wasn't a fan at first.
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