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quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
When Mara Dyer wakes up in hospital with no memory of how she got there, or any explanation as to why the bizarre accident that caused the deaths of her boyfriend and two best friends left her mysteriously unharmed, her doctors suggest she start over in a new city, at a new school, and just hope her memories gradually come back.
But Mara’s new start is anything but comforting. She sees the faces of her dead friends everywhere and now she’s started to see other people’s deaths before they happen. Is she going crazy? As if dealing with all this isn’t enough, Noah Shaw, the most beautiful boy she’s ever seen, can’t seem to leave her alone. But does he have her best interests at heart, or another agenda altogether?
Mara Dyer wakes up in hospital with no clue how she got there. She doesn’t remember sneaking into an abandoned insane asylum with her boyfriend, Jude, and friends Clare and Rachel or its collapse. She doesn’t know why she’s the only survivor.
Left with PTSD that makes her hallucinate visions of her dead friends, Mara’s family move from Rhode Island to Miami to begin afresh. But Mara’s new start at Croyden Academy goes awry when she runs foul of Anna and Aiden by attracting the attention of Noah Shaw, a blond English boy with devilish good looks and a reputation as a sexual predator.
Despite the warnings of her only friend, Jamie, Mara is drawn to Noah and when her hallucinations of other people’s deaths start coming true, he’s the only person she can turn to. But Noah has secrets of his own, secrets that will leave Mara questioning just who and what she is …
Michelle Hodkin’s debut YA novel is a weird mix of psychological thriller and paranormal fantasy that doesn’t quite hit the mark.
Mara’s hallucinations are vividly realised and creepy both because of what she sees and her reaction to the same. For me, they’re the most powerful scenes in the book. I also liked the fact that Mara is mixed race and has an Indian mother because it gives the book a cultural edge. It’s a shame that the cover chooses to show a white girl instead.
However the relationship between Noah and Mara is nothing that hasn’t been shown in other YA fiction. Noah’s the standard good looking, heart-breaking rich boy who all the girls fancy. His secret is easy to guess, his family issues didn’t interest me and I found his behaviour too controlling.
The book’s slow to get going and doesn’t decide whether it’s a psychological thriller or a paranormal fantasy until the final quarter, at which point there’s a deluge of plot points. Yet Mara never asks the obvious questions in her quest for answers and shows a superficial interest in finding people who can help her, which I found frustrating. Jamie disappears half-way through the book for contrived reasons, which was disappointing as he provided most of the wit and tension with Noah.
In conclusion, there’s some good writing here but ultimately it didn’t grip me enough to be particularly keen to read more – notwithstanding a cliff hanger ending.
The Verdict:
Michelle Hodkin’s debut YA novel is a weird mix of psychological thriller and paranormal fantasy, which for me doesn’t quite hit the mark. This is mainly because it doesn’t decide what it is until the final quarter of the story and at the same time is very slow to get going, but the hallucination scenes are very well realised and genuinely creepy. I’m not in a hurry to see where this series goes, but I would be interested to see what else Hodkin writes.
As a final note, I don’t normally comment on covers, but I was particularly disappointed that this book features a white girl on the cover for a story about a girl of mixed Indian and Caucasian heritage.
When Mara Dyer wakes up in hospital with no memory of how she got there, or any explanation as to why the bizarre accident that caused the deaths of her boyfriend and two best friends left her mysteriously unharmed, her doctors suggest she start over in a new city, at a new school, and just hope her memories gradually come back.
But Mara’s new start is anything but comforting. She sees the faces of her dead friends everywhere and now she’s started to see other people’s deaths before they happen. Is she going crazy? As if dealing with all this isn’t enough, Noah Shaw, the most beautiful boy she’s ever seen, can’t seem to leave her alone. But does he have her best interests at heart, or another agenda altogether?
Mara Dyer wakes up in hospital with no clue how she got there. She doesn’t remember sneaking into an abandoned insane asylum with her boyfriend, Jude, and friends Clare and Rachel or its collapse. She doesn’t know why she’s the only survivor.
Left with PTSD that makes her hallucinate visions of her dead friends, Mara’s family move from Rhode Island to Miami to begin afresh. But Mara’s new start at Croyden Academy goes awry when she runs foul of Anna and Aiden by attracting the attention of Noah Shaw, a blond English boy with devilish good looks and a reputation as a sexual predator.
Despite the warnings of her only friend, Jamie, Mara is drawn to Noah and when her hallucinations of other people’s deaths start coming true, he’s the only person she can turn to. But Noah has secrets of his own, secrets that will leave Mara questioning just who and what she is …
Michelle Hodkin’s debut YA novel is a weird mix of psychological thriller and paranormal fantasy that doesn’t quite hit the mark.
Mara’s hallucinations are vividly realised and creepy both because of what she sees and her reaction to the same. For me, they’re the most powerful scenes in the book. I also liked the fact that Mara is mixed race and has an Indian mother because it gives the book a cultural edge. It’s a shame that the cover chooses to show a white girl instead.
However the relationship between Noah and Mara is nothing that hasn’t been shown in other YA fiction. Noah’s the standard good looking, heart-breaking rich boy who all the girls fancy. His secret is easy to guess, his family issues didn’t interest me and I found his behaviour too controlling.
The book’s slow to get going and doesn’t decide whether it’s a psychological thriller or a paranormal fantasy until the final quarter, at which point there’s a deluge of plot points. Yet Mara never asks the obvious questions in her quest for answers and shows a superficial interest in finding people who can help her, which I found frustrating. Jamie disappears half-way through the book for contrived reasons, which was disappointing as he provided most of the wit and tension with Noah.
In conclusion, there’s some good writing here but ultimately it didn’t grip me enough to be particularly keen to read more – notwithstanding a cliff hanger ending.
The Verdict:
Michelle Hodkin’s debut YA novel is a weird mix of psychological thriller and paranormal fantasy, which for me doesn’t quite hit the mark. This is mainly because it doesn’t decide what it is until the final quarter of the story and at the same time is very slow to get going, but the hallucination scenes are very well realised and genuinely creepy. I’m not in a hurry to see where this series goes, but I would be interested to see what else Hodkin writes.
As a final note, I don’t normally comment on covers, but I was particularly disappointed that this book features a white girl on the cover for a story about a girl of mixed Indian and Caucasian heritage.
