Series Review: Mara Dyer Trilogy

Posted October 25, 2017 / Book Reviews / 6 Comments

As you know, I love to binge a good series when I can. It takes a lot for me to really keep engaged and read “the same thing” back-to-back like this… So when I do it, you know it’s worth it! I was definitely late to the party on this one and have no one to blame but myself. I love getting addicted to a world and seeing what happens post-cliffhanger in the next book. That was definitely the case for the Mara Dyer trilogy.

I had put off reading these books for a while because they seemed a little… not Lauren-y? I like books about memory loss and the aftereffects, but this series seemed to weird and creepy for me. The plot summary gave almost no information and I really didn’t know if this was a mystery or paranormal series. Turns out, it’s a bit of both. Goodreads shelving can spoil you on that, so sorry if you didn’t know! Here are some mini reviews:


Series Review: Mara Dyer TrilogyThe Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
Series: Mara Dyer #1
Genres: Young Adult, Mystery/Thriller, Paranormal
Published by Simon and Schuster on September 27th 2011
Also by this author: The Becoming of Noah Shaw, The Reckoning of Noah Shaw
Format: eBook (452 pages) • Source: Owned
GoodreadsAmazon Barnes & Noble
four-half-stars

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.

This book caught me so off-guard. We chose it for book club and I was happy to finally read this series, since it’s been on my TBR foreeeever. I found myself incredibly addicted right off the bat. I was intrigued by the memory loss concept and honestly didn’t know what to expect genre-wise. It seemed like a big ol’ mindfuck… and that’s kind of exactly what happened.

I was hoping to read a little bit before bed and absolutely could not stop reading no matter what I did. There were quite a few twists and things that really had me curious. What the hell could possibly happen next? What does Noah know? All of my GR status updates say things like “very intrigued” and “this gets better by the minute” because I couldn’t believe everything that was happening to her. I don’t want to spoil anything even though EVERYONE has read this, so there you have it.

After the intense cliffhanger, I started book two the next day. I couldn’t wait until the following month for the book club meeting. In fact, this was my exact Goodreads instant reaction review:

Holy shit what did I just read? I wanted to sleep at a reasonable hour tonight, goddamnit. And that book was way creepier than I like to read this late. I can’t believe I put off this series for so long. That was so interesting and unique!! How did people wait so long in between books? I don’t think I’ll be able to.


Series Review: Mara Dyer TrilogyThe Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
Series: Mara Dyer #2
Genres: Young Adult, Mystery/Thriller, Paranormal
Published by Simon and Schuster on October 23rd 2012
Also by this author: The Becoming of Noah Shaw, The Reckoning of Noah Shaw
Format: eBook (528 pages) • Source: Scribd
GoodreadsAmazon Barnes & Noble
four-stars

The truth about Mara Dyer's dangerous and mysterious abilities continues to unravel in the New York Times bestselling sequel to the thrilling The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer.

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?

As I said, I jumped right into this one after finishing the first. Even though my bookish memory sucks and my book club might hate me for forgetting everything (no they wouldn’t), I had to keep going.

There were some definite cheesy parts in this one romance-wise. It was obvious why Noah and Mara found each other and instaloved right away, so I get that. I just felt some secondhand embarrassment with how over-the-top their love was sometimes. Don’t get me wrong, I still ship them like nobody’s business.

This one had an interesting setting but I don’t really want to spoil it. Some major revelations happen in this book and confirmations are made about previous assumptions. Lots of big words and vague thoughts there, huh? I do what I can to keep it spoiler-free 😉 There was one specific thing that I figured out way before Mara, but the reveal happened in the same scene where another huge reveal happened. It was a pretty tense few minutes as a reader!

I didn’t LOVE this one like I did the first one. I read most of it in one sitting, much like the first one, but it took me a few days to get around to the last 40% of the book. I finally did read all that in one sitting too, so I guess I can’t complain too much about the addiction factor!


Series Review: Mara Dyer TrilogyThe Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
Series: Mara Dyer #3
Genres: Young Adult, Mystery/Thriller, Paranormal
Published by Simon and Schuster on November 4th 2014
Also by this author: The Becoming of Noah Shaw, The Reckoning of Noah Shaw
Format: eBook (470 pages) • Source: Scribd
GoodreadsAmazon Barnes & Noble
four-stars

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.

What a whirlwind! I was a big fan of this series overall. I truly had no idea how all of the pieces were going to come together for the final book, but I did have one theory. View Spoiler »

I loved how quickly the #SquadGoals developed between Mara, Jamie, and Stella as they went around trying to figure their shit out. I wish there was a bit more closure (not sure if that’s the right word) about someone in particular, but I think it was handled realistically. I loved getting to see them out and about, piecing things together and bantering like nobody’s business.

I’m happy with the ending but I’m happy that there’s a new spin-off kind of series next. I think it’ll give even more information, since there were a few loose ends still. I’m glad I only have to wait a month or two, compared to everyone else waiting a few years! I loved having this original trilogy to binge. I don’t know how everyone was able to wait, especially between books 1-2.

6 responses to “Series Review: Mara Dyer Trilogy

  1. I’m so glad you enjoyed this series! I binge-read the books last year too and was blown away by the plot, especially. I’m reading Noah’s book at the moment. It’s not giving me as strong feelings as Mary Dyer did, but I’m still holding out hope it will get better!

  2. I didn’t clock onto the thing in that spoiler tag! I honestly had no idea. I’m not sure if I’m going to read the spin off because I wasn’t too keen on the final book. But maybe I’ll get to it eventually!

  3. Glad you enjoyed it Lauren! I definitely love the first book, the second book is super creep, and I still haven’t find the courage to read the 3rd book 😀

  4. What I loved about this series was that I COULD NOT STOP READING!!! Michelle Hodkin has some of the most addictive writing I’ve ever been exposed to. Like, even when I didn’t LOVE what was going on (the romance was insta-lovey, some the twists were meh, etc.) I still could not put the books down.

    I really did NOT love the ending. I’m still on the fence about whether to read the Noah book or not???? (I probably will!)

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