The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

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.


First line:
"My name is not Mara Dyer, but my lawyer told me I had to choose something."

Interesting plot. Great characters. Good dialogue. Loads of mystery/intrigue.
Mara has PTSD and hallucinations. Her family moves to another state to help her get a new start after her friends are killed.
Noah is the local newbie, bad boy from England. Mara wants to stop the hallucinations and reluctantly accepts Noah's offer to help. Mara makes one other friend at school, a boy named Jaime. He keeps Mara sane (if that's possible) and smiling (me too!). There are the typical cheerleader/jock bullies. The main one is a girl who likes/hates Noah but hates Mara more when they become an item.
I enjoyed the mystery and trying to figure out what was happening with Mara, her memories and her family.
I would've liked to understood more before the end of the book.
I want to read the next book but may not solely because of the language.

Liked:
The story
I was hooked, had to see how it ended
The cover
 Jaime

Didn't like:
Too many swear words
Confusion at the Mara's "abilities"
It's Book One
(you all know how I feel about reading trilogies that are all out yet.)


Rating: PG 17 (for language) max
S: No
L: Yes
V: No

3 STARS

25% test (p. 113):
""Thanks."
Aiden pushed past Jamie on his way out the door, slamming Jamie's shoulder into the door frame. Aiden turned before leaving the room.
"Don't you have a lawn you should be decorating?"
Jamie glared after him and rubbed his shoulder. "He needs a knife in the eye," he muttered, once Aiden was gone. "So. A-holes aside, how's your first week?"
Oh, you know. Saw a dead guy. Losing my mind. Same old. "Not too bad."
Jamie nodded. "Big change from your old school, is it?"
When he asked me that, a still frame of Rachel materialized in my brain. "Is it that obvious?"
"You've got public school written all over you."
"Uh, thanks?"
"Oh, that's a compliment. I've sat in class with these douches for most of my waking life. It's nothing to be proud of. Trust."
"Going to private school or going to Croyden?" I asked as we made our way to his locker.
"From what I've heard from friends at other schools, I believe this level of a**hattery is unique to Croyden. Take Anna, for example, She's only a few IQ points above a corpse, and yet she sullies out Algebra II class with her stupidity."
I decided not to mention that I was probably just a confounded by the homework as she was.
"The amount your parents donate is directly proportional..."