Review: The Evolution of Mara Dyer

The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Wow, what a cliffhanger! Mara is trying to bide her time, give the correct answers, and do what has to be done to avoid being put in full-time treatment. No one believes that she saw her ex-boyfriend Jude in the police station, and after a pretty disturbing scene, she was admitted again. Noah is the only person who believes her and is willing to help. Even if Mara wasn't crazy before, dealing with strange new powers, and a dead ex-boyfriend, all while everyone thinks you're imagining things is enough to make anyone mental.


***Spoilers***
After seeing Jude in the police station, and freaking out her parents have her admitted. She gives the right answers and says what they want so that she can go home and into out-patient care. Once she is home Jude starts leaving things for her, a dead cat, blood on the mirror, and moving things around. At one point she throws her grandmothers doll out with the trash at the curb. She keeps having flashbacks of a little girl in a remote jungle in India. The doll was given to that little girl when she was found alone. She later finds the doll back in her drawer, and she tells Noah as much. He tells her that he watched her get up, tell him she shouldn't have done it, and go get the doll. It was her that retrieved it out of the trash. After this, you start thinking maybe it's her doing all of this. She has periods of time she doesn't remember, etc. Dr. Kells the new psychologist at her new treatment facility is a bit shifty, but Phoebe is worse. Phoebe is bat shit crazy and leaves things for Mara to find that her boyfriend gave her. When Mara wakes up in a trunk of a car, and Jude reveals that he has taken her, he tells her that she will slit her own wrists, or he will do it for her. If he has to do it, he will also use the key he took from her to kill her two brothers. She knows that sometimes pain triggers Noah's gift to see her, and she bites her tongue as hard as possible hoping he can see what's going on. She does cut her own wrist but is stopped by a police officer checking on the two of them. He calls for back up but suddenly has a stroke. Mara is found in a pool of her own blood with the dead officer, and no Jude. So again, everyone thinks she wants to kill herself, and no one believes Jude was there, except Noah. He saw everything through her eyes. Mara is admitted to a full-time treatment center run by Dr. Kells. Phoebe is her roommate and keeps telling people that Mara is trying to hurt her. Turns out Jude is her boyfriend, and has been using her to scare Mara all along. He doesn't want Mara dead, only scared because he thinks she can bring his sister Claire back to life if she is motivated enough. Dr. Kells facilitates the whole thing. Jude traps Mara, Noah, Jamie, Stella, and a few others and reveals that they all have powers. Jude heals himself but while doing so, he takes strength from others. Stella can read Jude's mind, not sure if that works with anyone. In the end, Mara wakes up in a hospital with Dr. Kells there. She remembers the fight and killing Jude. Kells tells Mara that she was given some drug that will make moving her body impossible. She also tells her that she has been a part of a blind study, that not even her parents knew about. She pulls up a list of names on a board. Stella, Mara, Jamie, Jude and Noah all have contraindications next to their names, which is what they call the powers. Five of them, three I don't know, and Phoebe and Noah are listed as deceased. Mara doesn't believe it because Dr. Kells has lied about so many things. She asks Mara if she wants help getting better, and Mara answers yes, knowing that she won't be trapped forever.

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Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Why have I not read this until now?? I was sucked in right away, and though at times I couldn't tell what kind of book I was reading, it was phenomenal.
Mara wakes up in the hospital and is told that she was in an accident. She and her friends went to a condemned asylum, and the building collapsed. She was the only one to make it out alive, but she can't remember anything. Some say it's her minds way of protecting itself, but as weird things continue to happen, she starts thinking maybe there is something wrong.



***Spoilers***
Mara meets Noah at her new school. He is the class whore, and she's warned away from him by her new bff. Noah is not one to be dissuaded and continues his pursuit. Eventually when his ex Anna pulls a real bitchy little stunt to embarrass Mara, Noah steps in and turns it all around. Anna is the only one embarrassed. From that point forward the grow closer while spending time with each other. Mara hasn't told anyone about the strange things that are haunting her, the nightmares that reveal some of the missing memories, the ghosts of her dead friends, or the way her thoughts sometimes create reality. Mara doesn't know what is real, and what's fake so she remains quiet. After seeing an emaciated dog, and his disgusting owner she imagines the guy falling, hitting his head, and dying. After school when she walks back to check on the dog, she sees the police there and sees the man dead. Her Spanish teacher lies about Mara doing well on her exam and gives her a failing grade. Mara imagines her choking on her own tongue. Until the teacher dies of anaphylactic shock, Mara thinks they are coincidences. Noah shows up at her house one night, telling her she has to come with him. Her little brother Joseph was taken, and Noah knows where he is. They find him tied up in a shed, and Noah reveals he saw it all in a vision. They couldn't go to the police, otherwise, they would want to know how he knew where to find him. Joseph doesn't remember any of it, and they tell him he fell at school, and passed out. They found him and brought him home. Mara and Noah agree to keep the real story to themselves. Afterwards, Mara confesses everything that's happening to Noah, and he reveals that he saw her in a vision before meeting her. She is the third person he has seen in a vision, but the first he's met in real life. He also reveals he has the ability to heal people. The person that took Joseph they later find out is the guy on trial for murder, that her father is defending. When he gets off on the charges, Mara says she has to use her new power to stop him from hurting anyone else. Noah tells her not to do it, that the other times were accidents, and this would be intentional. Knowing that it means losing Noah, she still imagines the guy being shot on the courthouse steps. The mother of the victim shoots and injures both the defendant and her father. The mother is taken to jail, for a crime that Mara made her commit. She goes to the police station to turn herself in, but Jude (her ex who died in the collapse) walks in behind her. At first, she assumes he is another one of her hallucinations until the officer there responds to his question. She wakes up in an institution, having flipped out and confessed to everything, naturally they think she is crazy.

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Review: It Ends with Us

It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


It Ends with Us is a thought provoking piece of magnificence! It's raw, real and at times emotionally overwhelming. It Ends with Us is heavy, with topics including abuse, rape, betrayal and love. I questioned things I thought I knew and cried when everything in Lilly's life seemed to be falling apart. All of the characters, even down to the minor characters were well developed and integral to the storyline. When considering a rating for a book it takes quite a bit to earn five stars and requires the author make me feel as though I were experiencing the protagonist's conflicts personally. Hoover was able to pull it off flawlessly with one of her best pieces yet.

Lilly makes her way to Boston, where she meets Ryle Kincaid. He's smart, driven, definitely good looking but has no interest in anything beyond a fling. Lilly has no interest in anything casual, but the two of them can't seem to stay away from one another. As their friendship progresses and Lilly finds herself becoming the exception to Ryle's rule, she runs into Atlas Corrigan whom she's loved since she was a teenager. Atlas is steady and everything she thought she wanted before starting a new relationship. His presence in her life threatens what's she's building with Ryle but things have a way of working out how they're supposed to even when we can't imagine the possibility. The most important topics discussed are also spoilers so you will just have to take my word for it that this book is it. You won't be disappointed.

***Spoilers***
I'm not going to lie, I'm one of those girls. I look at women in an abusive relationship and wonder how they could possibly be so weak to allow that type of thing to continue. I can't understand how you could love a man who is capable of hurting you, but they don't love that man. They love the man they fell in love with, the man he is the other 99% of the time and It Ends with Us has somehow shed a light on domestic abuse that I never thought I would see. I questioned beliefs that I never knew needed questioning and found a new respect for the women that are able to withstand the pain and break the cycle. Hoover pulled back the curtain for her readers and wrote this book based on her mother's life, and I admire her for that. It can't be easy to allow strangers a glimpse of something so private, but she did and she did it very well.

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Review: Infinity + One

Infinity + One by Amy Harmon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I have never read an Amy Harmon book that wasn't worth reading. I was a little skeptical about Infinity + One just because I am so over the rockstar/ superstar love story. Fortunately, Bonnie Rae Shelby is a totally likeable character. She is somewhat of a goofball but compassionate and not at all full of herself. Finn is struggling with the life he's been handed and the feeling of being caged. The two are an unlikely pair but I was rooting for them from the beginning! Bonnie's antics and Finn's exasperation with her antics comes together making some hilarious moments.

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Review: Ruining You

Ruining You by Nicole Reed
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I'm pretty sure I cried through at least half of Ruining You.. Depression is a silent disease, in some ways worse than anything physical. While you're dying on the inside, no one knows or even suspects that you aren't that smiling face you portray.
Jay lost her innocence to a man that was supposed to protect her. The boy she has loved since they were kids loses his life while attempting to avenge her. Not being able to take another day of the turmoil, she attempts to join him. Waking up alive wasn't in the plans, but now she must attempt to put her life back together. With family, friends, Rhye, and Kane all willing to help her find a reason to go on living.




***Spoilers***
When the secret comes out about Coach Branch raping Jay, which led to an abortion, JT and Cal jump in the car to confront him. Driving recklessly they end up in an accident which kills JT, and the other driver, as well as paralyzes Cal. Jay attempts to kill herself but is found before she succeeds. The next three months are spent in a rehabilitation center, hopefully gaining the tools she needs to put her life back together. She meets Eli there, and they quickly become great friends. He is the gay son of a Baptist preacher, who also lost his boyfriend. The two hit it off, and Eli's friendship does more to help Jay than all of the therapy she has gone through. After being released she finds out that Kane has moved on. She didn't respond to any of his letters, and he couldn't go on waiting. She is devastated but this is what she thought she wanted. The two of them eventually get their shit together, but with the trial coming up, the battle is just beginning. At first, she didn't want to testify but eventually realizes that choosing not to may mean that running into Bruce Branch will continue. His obsession is even worse than anyone imagined, he has followed her for years, and being out on bond hasn't stopped his sick obsession. After an attempted break-in, Branch is on 24hr surveillance. Thinking she is safe she goes to the cemetery early the morning of JT's birthday. Branch's wife shows up, showing all of her crazy, and asking why she couldn't be enough for her husband. She tells Jay that without her in the picture, Branch goes free and she can have her life back. She shoots at Jay, but the bullet on grazes her neck b/c Kip (JT's brother) tackles her from behind. His wife admits to knowing her husband has been stalking Jay for years, and now they may have enough evidence not to need her testimony. She and Kane take off for a vacation on the beach, first stopping in Vegas to get married.

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