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.
For the fourth book I am reading from Molly Horan’s list of 15 Young Adult Books Every Adult Should Read, I choose to read The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer.
So I really got into this book. I was totally hooked. I loved the idea of the book, a story about a girl overcoming her PTSD. I loved all of the characters and the setting and the dialog. It has depth and its one of those books that you get attached to everyone and you feel like you are there. I thought the author did a great job describing PTSD and really letting the reader into the mind of someone who has it. I think it is important to humanize mental disorders so that everyone can understand them better. I also liked that the reader discovered how the tragic event unfolded at the same time Mara was.
Now what I didn’t think was necessary was the supernatural aspect. I truly thought the book was strong enough without that twist. I started to get lost when the brother was kidnaped. And Mara started to get these weird “powers” if you will. It just wasn’t necessary. And I was disappointed when the plot took that turn. It seemed that the power came out of nowhere and we the reader didn’t really get an explanation.
The other thing I didn’t like was the back story of the love interest. I think by making him super rich we are setting unrealistic expectations for our youth. While there are people that have that kind of money it is not as common as Young Adults books make it out to be. I feel like we are telling our teen girls that fairy tales are real and their Prince Charming will be rich and handsome. Let’s get and average looking and regular social status love interest. That is more realistic.
However with that said the book was really good. Mara’s character was developed really well and the author perfectly captured the essence of a teenage girl. I also loved her family. I thought the brothers were great and provided levity to a heavy subject. The family served a purpose in the book because they helped move the story along. That is nice to see that they have an impact in Mara’s life, instead of being part of the background.
As for the list, this is one I’m on the fence about. I think it was a great read for both young adults and adults. However, I don’t see what an adult would gain from reading it that a young adult would not. I think if the supernatural aspect would have been left out my opinion would be different. It was still good but it could have been better! Still worth a read!
I give it 4.0 Bards
Moving! 