Series: Genre: Publication.Date: October 23, 2012 Pages: 527 (paperback) Published By: Simon & Schuster for Young Readers Website: Michelle Hodkin The Evolution of Mara Dyer on Goodreads My review copy:
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Mara Dyer once believed she could run from her past.
She can’t.
She used to think her problems were all in her head.
They aren’t.
She couldn’t imagine that after everything she’s been through, the boy she loves would still be keeping secrets.
She’s wrong.
In this gripping sequel to The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, the truth evolves and choices prove deadly. What will become of Mara Dyer next?
(Goodreads)
"The people we care about are always worth more to us than the people we don't. No matter what anyone pretends." And for the first time in what felt like a long time, Noah sounded real.
Her Mona Lisa smile appeared again. "Sometimes the biggest secrets you can only tell a stranger."
"I'm the creepy girl. In a mental hospital."
He grinned. "Nobody's perfect."
Mara Dyer books are so . . . I don't even know. Everything feels like a lie and nothing makes sense. Not in the aggravating way, but in the "I can't turn these pages fast enough" way.
Mara and Noah continue to dig deeper into finding out why Mara is the way she is while her family continues to think she's suffering from PTSD caused by the collapse of the building and death of her friends from book one. Oh, if only they knew.
Mara is convinced she saw Jude and that he is alive. She knows he is out there, but at the same time is also doubting herself. Is Jude really alive? Or is she really crazy? That's part of the beauty of Michelle's writing. We don't know ourselves either. Because we're being told the events from Mara's perspective, she could very well have gone off the deep end and is dragging us right along with her. Or, Jude is really alive and she's in serious danger.
Either way, The Evolution of Mara Dyer grabs a hold of you and refuses to let go. The pacing is fabulous. I never felt bored or any "come on, get one with it" moments. The scenes are full of detail and imagery. The characters are fabulous - can I just say how much I love Jamie? The romance is hot and electric (and not as overpowering as it was in The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer). The mind fucks are still fucking with my mind.
This series is all I could have hoped for and more. The danger/horror is subtle. It's not in your face and it's not obvious. I'm a huge sucker for that type of horror. For me, that's scarier than staring at the guy with a knife outside my window. You don't know! You just don't know what is going to happen and when. I've got a pretty good idea what the guy with the knife is going to do, but I don't know what the maybe dead guy or the possibly crazy chick is going to do next.
I really struggled with this review as there were so many aspects of The Evolution of Mara Dyer that I want to discuss, but those aspects are also HUGE spoilers. One of the things I highly enjoyed about this novel is everything I read was a surprise. I hadn't read any reviews that hinted at this or that, so every occurrence of OMG was just that - OMG!
If you read and loved The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, you'll definitely enjoy The Evolution of Mara Dyer. If you read and were iffy about the first book, this book will make you a fan. And if you haven't read the first book? Well, I'm not exactly sure what you're waiting for.
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