The Retribution of Mara Dyer (FINALLY!): Review

Synopsis:

Mara Dyer wants to believe there's more to the lies she’s been told.
There is.

She doesn’t stop to think about where her quest for the truth might lead.
She should.

She never had to imagine how far she would go for vengeance.
She will now.

Loyalties are betrayed, guilt and innocence tangle, and fate and chance collide in this shocking conclusion to Mara Dyer’s story.
Retribution has arrived.

***

God, I've been waiting for this! FINALLY IT'S HERE! And it's released on my birthday :) Sadly I don't remember much from The Evolution of Mara Dyer, at least not the details. But I retained enough to remember it's still awesome enough for me to read the finale. And I'm so, SO glad I did. It's mysterious in its own way, even though I admit that I don't understand some of the small parts. 

Mara Dyer is officially classified as "not-normal". And with a certain someone apparently, um, missing, Mara is convinced that certain someone is still out there somewhere waiting for her. Accompanied by Jamie and Stella, she sets out to find that one. But the truth is the one she's never prepared for or even want to prepare for. 

Mara is actually a little crazy and, if I might say, a tad bit psychotic in her own right. It's not a shock that this book will be unpredictable with her being the main narrator. It's an absolute shock though, that this book is somehow more emotionally unstable yet more sinister than its previous counterparts. Partly because this book comes with an alternating time, which is about Mara's... past. While I couldn't understand some of the parts, I got enough to think that this story is really... masterfully screwed up. I meant it as a compliment, because The Retribution of Mara Dyer has made me gasp and emotionally unstable for quite a long time, and I'm usually considered as calm, if not overly critical at those things.

I love that this book comes in alternate point of views. It starts with Mara's point of view only. But a certain someone come along, and everything gets more interesting. (I guess by now you know who this certain someone is, even though I haven't given out any spoilers yet. But for the sake of not including huge spoilers, I'm still going to use the term "this certain someone") This certain someone is always a mystery to me, seeing through Mara's eyes, especially in The Evolution of Mara Dyer, which brings quite a lot of heartache and rage the other times (I remember that quite clearly). But now with this certain someone's point of view, I realize this one is fragile in this one's own right. Everything gets more intense with the alternating point of view, and a lot of uncertainties are solved in this finale. I love it, it's fiery and passionate and earth-shattering, for the better or the worse.

This is a neat and perfect ending, but I kinda want more. Okay I do want more, even though it's highly unlikely that an aftermath will be written.

Rating: 9/10

The Evolution of Mara Dyer: Review

Synopsis:

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?

***

Uh... I have no idea how to start this review. Not because the book is super good (I mean, it's good, but not that good) but because I really have no idea. How about this: It has a good plot and good characters that I can relate myself to but there are also major flaws that I don't approve of. 

Good things first. The plot is really good. It's delicate and the whole set-up is well-planned. First with Jude terrorizing Mara's mind and no one trusts her other than Noah. And then there's an encounter of a new character which I think is really important esp. in The Retribution of Mara Dyer (you have to find it out yourself!). And then there's Mara doing really weird things herself without her knowing it. All those lead to the epic ending of this book and I believe there're also some threads leading to The Retribution of Mara Dyer. I have to say this is one of the best-planned plots I have ever seen and I really appreciate that.

Another good thing about this book is that this time, I can finally relate myself to the characters. I can finally feel with them. In The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, I like those characters and I understand what they're feeling but I don't feel attached. This time, I truly feel like I'm experiencing all those crazy stuff with the characters and that's a really huge thumbs up because... normally I don't get too emotional about stuff but when I do, it gets really deep/messed-up.

But there are some flaws in this book. One of the biggest is probably the plot itself. Yeah, I mentioned that I like the plot. And truly I do. But while planning all the threads, I feel like the book is going too slow and sometimes I even feel detached from the story (alert: not the characters). I know that it takes some time to set up the whole thing but for some reason I just can't wait and I get really impatient.

There's also a flaw. Even though I have to admit the threats are really creepy (so I admire it :D), I have to say I can totally see a circle in this book: Jude threatening Mara and her family, her family doesn't trust what she's saying one bit, Noah and Mara trying to figure out what happened, Mara dealing with her issues, blah blah blah. It's slightly different each time but it's basically the same thing going on over and over again... well except maybe the last few chapters, I guess? That seems contradictory to what I said about the plot being well-planned. If you combine all the threads and stuff together and see the whole thing, it's really a good plot. But during the period, it's just circles coming full over and over again and sorry, I'm not a big fan of circular plots. (Or you can just say my mind is a big fat contradiction :D if you want)

Now to the ending. Oh the ending is killing me! No, I didn't cry in case you are wondering. But I can feel myself breathing really hard and I have an urge to kill a certain group of people. I can't concentrate to anything even hours after reading the whole thing and that kinda messes me up real bad (you can say this is a messed-up in a good way). Well, let's just say I can't wait for The Retribution of Mara Dyer. Maybe not on my top-anticipated list, but definitely in one of my must-read new releases category.

Rating: 7.5/10

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer: Review

Synopsis:

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.

***

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is probably one of those books that I definitely don't hate to read, but don't dwell on it either. It's an entertaining read and a good pastime, excitement and suspense are included of course (I mean, what is a YA novel without excitement?). But let's just say I'm not obsessed with this story or whatever.

Mara is an interesting character actually. On one hand she's really a good girl who wants to do righteous things when seeing some inequality around her and just want to be normal. On the other hand she's infuriating and always dwells on her guilt for far too long. She's okay for a leading role, but I won't say she's a good heroine in the story. She's too soft.

Noah is also interesting. But somehow I feel detached from his character. His infuriatingly healthy ego reminds me of Daemon a lot, only Daemon is more arrogant. I'm down with that because I've read some infuriating and arrogant male characters before and I guess I've gotten used to that. The sweet and caring part of him is good, only it's too different from his image on the outside that I have a fairly hard time picturing they are the very same person. So while I like him, I always feel like I'm liking two different people than one single character.

The background of the story is actually quite cool. Mara is like Juliette from Shatter Me in terms of their abilities. Only this is more like a mind thing than a physical thing. That's okay. Not the most jaw-hanging background of the story (come on, nothing is more jaw-hanging than Gone :D) The plot is smooth too, except for a few chapters towards the end of the book. It's only a minor flaw. 

I'm vastly amused by this book. Okay, typically my reactions while reading the book are either feeling heart-broken or irritated or surprised or things like that. This book is not as surprising as I thought but it's amusing, especially for the first twenty chapters because the conversation between Noah and Mara is hilarious. But the bad thing is, this humor kind of dies out when it comes to the last fifteen chapters of the book and that's another flaw.

Overall it's enjoying to read this book and refreshing. But to be honest, I won't strongly recommend this book and I don't think I will read it for a second time.

Rating: 7.5/10