Giveaway and Review: The Evolution of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #2) - Michelle Hodkin

I bought this at a bookstore, so this is all me here!

 This is officially my 100th post on the blog!  To celebrate I decided I'd give away a copy of The Evolution of Mara Dyer to one of my lovely readers (and also to protest that they moved the publishing date because I am DYING waiting for the third book!).


Summary

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?


Thoughts




Oh my god.  Like seriously, excuse my french, but holy shit.  Whatever thoughts I had have been completely obliterated by the ending of this book.  I bow down to the power of your plot twists Michelle Hodkin.  And your suspense.  And your unreliable narrators.  I seriously...my mind is sort of shattered by this ending.  I don't think I've been so...EVERYTHING about an ending before.  I suppose I should actually review the book now as I can't actually tell you about the ending but...OH MY GOD.  My brain is rejecting the madness that just happened!  Sorry.  I am going to try and focus right now.  I knew I should have waited until tomorrow to read this book!  Now I'm going to spend all night thinking about this damn ending!  I am so glad I waited to read this until now as the next book should be out fairly soon (next month? WHAT? I just looked it up and it's not expected to publish until June?! I thought was supposed to be out this fall.  AGGHHHHH).  Ok focus.  Really.  I'm going to do that now.

First, let me get the bad out of the way.  I'm going to put this out there and I'm sure it's going to provoke shock and outrage...but I'm not a Mara/Noah shipper.  Honestly I would have been way happier without any romance.  In fact, if Noah was Mara's bff I would TOTALLY be into this book Ok I already am...but...I would have no faults with this book if Noah was not Bella a person who continues to support someone who isn't even sure she herself is not crazy.  And when those options are either she's really, really insane, or her powers will kill you when she kisses you...shouldn't you be running far, far away?  I honestly skimmed the kissing because I just can't bring myself to care.  I can't remember if it was actually instalove in the first book, but considering how intensely into each other they are, it feels that way.  Luckily, romance in this book definitely takes a chill pill in comparison to the first

Onto the good.  Yay more Jamie!  I love Jamie!  And it looks like he's going to be playing a big role in the next book, which makes me happy.  I also love that despite Mara's issues and the strain it puts on her family, she's honestly from a good home and loves her brothers and parents, even when they don't understand her.  And they are really struggling to do right by her, to balance what she wants with what they think is best for her.  And when one of those decisions might mean putting your daughter in a mental institute, it is a really heartbreaking thing to go through.

Onto the insanely good.  This book...I don't think I've ever read a less predictable book (in a good way).  Part of this comes from Mara having an unstable mental state - she's missing time, and she's unreliable as a narrator.  I mean half the time I'm not convinced that Mara isn't crazy.  Like I seriously don't know if at the end of the series it's going to be this huge mind twist and Mara is actually insane.  YOU HONESTLY CAN'T TELL HALF THE TIME.  And it drives me nuts, but in all the right ways!  I know I've read books where the narrator isn't sure what's going on and it usually falls flat, but Michelle Hodkin seriously ratchets up the suspense and tension and mystery and EVERYTHING because it feels like you are slowly slipping into insanity reading this.  And there were some seriously creepy moments - like when she leaves a journal she doesn't even remember receiving on her brother's bed...and she had written help me help me help me over and over in the book.  And she didn't remember doing that either.  Or the fact that Jude is back and stalking her (or is she crazy?).  Or her grandmother's doll that appears to move on its own...and oh man I can't WAIT to find the mystery behind her grandmother...and things I can't tell you about! You. Need. To. Read. This. Series.  And then find me so we can go crazy on this together because I don't have any friends I can freak out about this to since they are all lame and don't read awesome things.


So, basically to sum this up:




It is terrifying.  Somehow it is more terrifying that Mara doesn't know what's real or not, if she's crazy or not, or if she can kill people or not.  And all the mysteries...and the doll...and that help me journal scene.  AND ESPECIALLY THE ENDING.  Read this with a friend.  Because when you finish this you are seriously going to need someone to explode with mind explosionness. 


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