The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer// A Review (THIS BOOK IS SO GOOD!)

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin is one of the few Rad Read certified bangers!

*Little summary* Mara Dyer woke up in the hospital one day having no memory of a building collapse that she was the only survivor of. She seems to be struggling through PTSD and paranoia, and the people around her are treating her as such. However, it turns out that there's much more to the accident --and to Mara herself-- that she can't explain. In going to a new school after the tragedy and meeting Noah Shaw, someone who seems to already know more than Mara herself about her situation, Mara is thrown into an entirely new terrifying world, wondering what she truly could be.

I. Am. IN LOVE. With. This. Book! So, I have just read this book this past week and oh my god do I have to talk about it! I have already started reading The Evolution of Mara Dyer as well and the excitement only continues BTW. I digress, this book is just phenomenal and took me through a WHIRL WIND of a reading experience. So, from what I understand now, this book was extremely hyped up a few years ago, but that was before I kicked my reading into "high gear" if you will, so I had absolutely no idea what I was in for. I actually got this book at the GoodWill bookstore over my school's winter break. I usually just pick from the selection in my school library but over winter break I couldn't check out any books so I had to just roll with whatever I could find. I mainly bought the book because it conveniently also had The Evolution of Mara Dyer right next to it and I was like... sick, two books in one trip! I wasn't even excited to read it... oh how young and naive I was... those five days ago.

Anyways, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is absolutely insane. So, this is a paranormal, thriller type of genre but I did not know that going into it because it was just in the regular young adult section in the store, and honestly I think not knowing that this was a paranormal made my reading experience way more exciting. You may think that it is kind of weird that I didn't notice it was a paranormal when I was reading it, but it's not that weird, I promise you! It reads a lot like a contemporary and until near the end when it is straight up confirmed that there are paranormal happenings, it really does read like all of this could be going on in Mara's mind. As I was reading, I genuinely could not tell if Mara was actually going crazy and that all the crazy paranormal things that were happening to her were inside her head, or if this was the actual reality of the matter. It was beyond exciting.

The way Michelle Hodkin told this story was just amazing. She is so good at creating an eerie atmosphere, creating what might be real but still making you question it. I have learned that I hate it when books overwhelm you with information, they don't let you figure anything out. This book did NOT do that. It reminded me a little bit of those books you would get in, like, elementary school book fairs where the reader tries to solve the mystery. I loved that it was told through Mara's perspective because I got to figure everything out along with her. This was the first time I've ever been "jump scared" by a book! With very abrupt twists I was genuinely left with my mouth open in shock.

I loved how I was never sure if I could trust Mara. As Mara's story is (like I said) in her first person account, at one point I thought that she could be an unreliable point of view. The fact of the matter is, Mara is in fact a very unstable character. You don't know if what she is telling you is actually happening or if it going on inside her head as a part of her paranoia and PTSD. You don't know if the people around her --treating her and telling her she's insane-- are right. It makes for a VERY interesting story! However as I came to find out that there were in fact supernatural factors surrounding her and causing all these crazy things to happen I still had a great time reading it because the story line was so interesting and thrilling.

The plot is so fast paced and I just couldn't put it down because I needed to know what was going to happen. The paranormal-ness and contemporary-ness worked so well together! The creepy aspect wasn't so overwhelming that it read like something that was very far fetched. Like I said prior, for the longest time as I was reading, I couldn't tell at all if this was a paranormal or not, so I think that speaks a lot for itself. And that cliff hanger!!!!! OH MY GOSH!!! I couldn't believe what I was reading!! (but no spoilers...) ;)

That however, is all just plot A. Plot B is just as intriguing! Mara is in high school and is going through all the trials and tribulations that such times entail. With a powerful and entertaining character like Noah and a funny "best friend-ish" character like Jamie, you grow to want to know just as much about Mara's teenage drama as her life threatening supernatural drama. One of my favorite attributes was the dialog. It is so genuinely funny that there were times I actually laughed out loud. Another complaint I frequent in my reviews is the lack of realistic portrayals of high school and teenage dialogue. Often it seems forced or awkward, or just plain wrong in terms of personal dynamics. However, this book hit the nail on the head! I also read this book at a very great time in my life, so I suppose that among other reasons is why I hold this book so near and dear.

Mara is a very enjoyable character. She has a super creepy aspect to her which is interesting and intriguing because often we read books where the protagonist is just some innocent wouldn't hurt a fly kind of person. However, Mara is NOT like that. She is angry and vengeful and dark. It is -well- for lack of a better word, cool.

Noah Shaw is so witty, funny, intelligent, and a little conceited and annoying, but I just couldn't even handle it! This is one of those books where the characters are so well written and developed, you feel like you already know them. The way Hodkin writes the little things, like small habits or motions, it makes you so much more invested in the character and the story. The way she wrote Noah was perfect and I loved reading about him.

I really liked Mara's older brother and her best friend. Daniel and Jamie were both awesome. Daniel was cool, loving, caring, believable, and teasing towards Mara. Like I said, Hodkin does such a great job at portraying accurate dialogue and relationship dynamics that it is just so believable and intriguing and just adds to the wonder and enjoyment of the book! Jamie at times did seem a little far fetched, but as the story went on he got better and better!

So, my rad readers, that is my hot take on Michelle Hodkin's The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. I think it goes without saying that I gave this book 5/5 stars on GoodReads and HIGHLY recommend it. This is absolutely one of my favorites of all time now!

Have a literature filled and splendid day, and keep it rad my fellow readers,

-C8 ;)

City of Heavenly Fire... oh my god (FINAL BOOK OF THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS) // Book Talk

Rad Readers...

I am shattered, broken, exhausted, and amazed.

This was an insanely good book and a phenomenal ending to a legendary series. It really blew me away. I feel like it is always the final book in a series that makes it or breaks it. For example, nobody will ever forget the disappointment we all endured as the Divergent series progressed... City of Heavenly Fire made it, though! There can be so much disappointment in finales because readers feel so strongly towards characters that if they don't end up exactly how they envisioned them, there is always major backlash in the bookish community, which I never really think is fair. It is the author's story, and therefore it is their choice how they want to progress it, ya know? I digress.

Obviously, seeing as it is the final book in the series there is absolutely no way that I can avoid spoilers, so just read the books!!

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Let's just start out strong... Jordan's death. I was never that into his story line-- unpopular opinion, I know!-- so this one didn't really get me as good as it had everyone else. People said that they were upset that more time wasn't spent on his death... eh. I thought it was perfect, honestly. If they all stayed on that topic forever then we would complained that it dragged on for too long. He died in the very beginning of the book, certainly within the first 75 pages at least. Then Maia's story line kind of fell off and it bummed me out that she was only really written in to be Jordan's girlfriend? I don't know? That honestly hit me harder than his death. Like I said though, I wasn't really very invested in either of their story lines. Especially due to the fact that we still had 700-ish pages of absolute insanity hurtling at us from all angles. Within the next 100 pages I'd basically entirely gotten over it.

That brings me to my next point: I felt like there was a bit too much time spent on the side plots. I really just cared about the core gang at this point in the story, and I know Cassandra Clare wants to connect all of the stories she creates, and even perhaps market them, but I just wasn't enjoying that. Specifically I am talking about the Emma, Julian, and the rest of the LA Shadowhunters. I just... didn't care enough. That is always how I feel about side plots, though. I understand that the majority of the time they are added to expand the world and make it feel more authentic, but it honestly just takes me out of the story, because then I am only looking forward to when we get back to the main plot. In City of Heavenly fire, the subplots simply took up too many pages. I have only read TMI thus far, so perhaps when I read the others I will grow to appreciate the parts that those characters played in this book, but not right now. I wanted to read about Jace, Clary, Simon, Isabelle, and Alec. I don't know who Julian and Emma and Mark are? I don't care!! Not right now, at least! I honestly --at a certain point-- just began to skim those parts, and you can't even blame me for that one. We'd been in the middle of some crazy important part with Isabelle and Simon and then scenes would change to something about Emma avenging her family. It wasn't that those parts were necessarily bad, it was just that I certainly didn't care about them (at all) at the time. My research tells me that these are the characters in the Dark Artifices, so maybe when I read those I will appreciate their cameo more, but who knows? I will say, though, the prologue with them in the Los Angeles Institute when Sebastian was there and Julian killed his father and Emma was trying to save everyone and they were just these little kids... that tugged on the heart strings a bit, that's for sure. Certainly a great intro. All in all, not really that big of a complaint because it didn't really bother me that much. Some parts were good, and some parts were still good just placed poorly, in my opinion.

It was a banging start and I have praised these books, genuinely from the very beginning on the fantastic pacing. There is no beating around the bush (perhaps aside from City of Ashes) and there is no delay to the action. It was very "boom boom boom" if you know what I mean? It was one thing after the other after the other. In some books that can go wrong, things may not be unpacked well enough or they might seem random and out of place, but I didn't find that to be an issue here. Rather, it was constant action and excitement.

Rafael's death... kinda big, kinda not. I didn't care too much but it as shocking nonetheless that it had happened. I think it was more so meant to represent how far the gang had come, because Rafael was kind of an important character in the very first book, and it is pretty crazy to think about how the story had progressed since then.

Amatis being turned into an Endarkened and then ultimately being killed... thatttt was heavy. I never really liked her but she was definitely an important character and it was a tough point in the novel for basically everyone. It certainly was one of the darkest points for the gang, and there was a shift in the tone from then on, as well as the fact that the levity of what they were going through only seemed to increase. It really had be questioning weather or not they were going to make it, because I could totally see Cassandra Clare writing a devastating ending where Sebastian wins.

Finally... Sebastian's death... the moment we have all been waiting for. Okay, so, I heard a lot of reviews saying that people were upset that he didn't have this extraordinary death, but when I heard those complaints I was immediately reminded of Harry Potter. Does Voldemort's death ring a bell to anyone? J.K. Rowling purposely wrote his death to show that he died just like any other wizard would. There would be no extravagant bursting into flames of the corps, Voldemort just... well... died. The same was with Sebastian. I thought that he died in such a way to prove that he was no different than the other shadowhunters. He just chose the wrong path in life, ya know. Well, that and the demon blood... What I didn't like about Sebastian's death was the fact that Clary and Jocelyn kind of felt bad for him in the end. I sort of understood Jocelyn. That was her son and even though he 100% needed to go, it is still probably tough on her. Clary on the other hand!? Why in the world would she feel anything but immense relief from this fools death? He ruined her life on so so so many accounts and tried to kill her and her friends basically every time he got the chance. HE KILLED MAX FOR GODS SAKE! MAX! I WILL NEVER FORGIVE HIM FOR THAT! MAX DESERVED SO MUCH BETTER!

The humor was great throughout, as it has been in all of Cassandra Clare's work. She is so so so talented at writing dialogue and I think that is why we are all so attached to these stories. Her characters just seem so real and so incredibly developed. The development with Clary and Jace was what we have been looking for from the jump with these books. Finally they are done being insufferably angsty, broody, and dramatic. They are finally learning how to communicate and stop being lame, and I really appreciated that. Especially in these last three books, I felt like they were a broken record. Things were going good and then something small happens; and then one of them keeps it a secret; and then because its a secret things escalate; and then things get worse; and then the truth comes out; and then things blow up; and then simmer back down; and then repeat. FINALLY we got out of that loop and I loved it!

The continuity in this series is extremely impressive. The way Cassandra Clare was able to bring back the rune that Clary had been envisioning from book one as the rune to link the shadowhunters and downworlders reminded me of when J.K. Rowling connected the R.A.B mystery from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone all the way to The Deathly Hallows. Extremely impressive. That is how you know that the author is either extremely smart, or knew what they were doing from book one. Either way, it was a great homage to her detail oriented and very dedicated fans!

Okay... now as much as it physically and emotionally pains me to do, we need to talk about the ending and we need to talk about Simon, and we need to talk about the fact that it literally had me crying on a bench in a very public place.

Cassandra Clare, why did you do that to me?

Was the ending incredible? Yes.

Will I ever be okay again? No.

When Simon had to give up all of his memories of the shadow world and his best friends to save everyone... I cannot think of anything more hurtful. He has been best friends with Clary for his entire life, and just like that, he doesn't even know her name anymore. And the fact that she will still remember him... UGH! I AM SO SAD! To have gone through an entire journey with people you have come to love so dearly and care about and made so many memories and great times with, only to forget about it all in the end... I genuinely cannot think of anything worse. The moment when I was absolutely shattered to the point of no return was when Simon tossed Clary the Fae ring... THE TEARS WERE FLOWING! I have never gone through so much strife in just 100 pages ever. I genuinely don't even know what to say about it because I was in such shambles.

Then finally, in the epilogue, Clary visits Simon, he has no idea who she is, the lady at Java Jones is like where is your friend and he's like what friend and there I was crying and crying and crying again... and THENNNNN, Simon gives Clary his band flier, and the band name... what does he choose... THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS!!!! THE MORTAL FREAKING INSTRUMENTS!!!!! NOT ALL OF HIS MEMORIES ARE TOTALLY LOST! HE CAN STILL BE SAVED! It was just so perfect that it must have been planned from book one. It was just too good. He was literally trying to find his band name from the very beginning... Oh my gosh, why am I tearing up as I'm writing this!?!? Then Magnus gives him the choice to try to ascend to becoming a Shadowhunter so he can get his memories back, and then the book ends. Major props to Cassandra Clare for sticking with her guns and having it end with him still not remembering anything, because it was really powerful and really emotional so if she went back on it, then it would just seem like a cop out. Perhaps we will know in one of the other books in the Shadowhunter Chronicles if he ends up remembering, but for now we still must be saddened by the ending. Not completely saddened, but certainly fractured.

Okay, Rad Readers, that was a lot.

Ave atque vale,

- C8 ;)

City of Lost Souls// Book Talk

Rad Readers!

Oh the plot thickens!!!!!!

So here we are everyone, we are on the fifth book of The Mortal Instruments series, and I am not ready for it to end yet. Who knows what is going to happen in City of Heavenly Fire!?!? After what happened in this book, there is no use in making predictions anyways because of the sheer insanity that is the Shadowhunter Chronicles!

I honestly don't think there is anything I can say about this book without spoiling it. I loved it, there were some parts that felt pretty repetitive. I understand why some people are saying that this one felt slower than the rest, but honestly I liked this book more than the last. It is probably my second favorite in the series thus far. But, like I said, I understand where the criticism is coming from. A lot of it just seems like they are running from the same old same old, or the conflicts are just repeating themselves over and over again. Nonetheless, I felt like that was only really an issue in the beginning portion. I would say 25% of it was slow and the other 75% was fantastic!

I, like many others, love this series not only for the totally wicked plot, but the great characters as well. Cassandra Clare certainly delivered in that respect. Perhaps a reason for it feeling more slow in the beginning would be because it had a whole lot more to do with characters and relationships than the plot and the action. Of course however, you will hear no complaint from me about that. I believe I have said this before, but Cassandra Clare could write a book about these characters going grocery shopping and I would probably still read it, and knowing Cassandra Clare's writing, I would probably still give it 5/5 stars... I am so weak...

Just like the rest, this book was interesting, entertaining, packed with tons of action as well as humor, and obviously, left me wanting more! Oh how I cannot wait to read City of Heavenly Fire!!!

That is about all I can say without spoiling things, so if you have not caught yourself up on the Mortal Instruments up until this point GO DO THAT! Spoilers ahead!

I feel SO BAD for Simon. The poor dude didn't ask for any of this, and to start off the book with Simon basically being banished from his home, and his mother being absolutely horrified of him totally shattered my heart. I remember back in book 2 when he began worrying about this, and to know now that it all went wrong just totally destroyed me. At least he found some comfort in his sister's trust in him at the end, but still it just hurt me in my heart.

Leave it to Clary to make the worst plan of all time and try to make a deal with the Seelie Queen. I mean comeeee onnnn! That is another lesson we learned from book 2! Those dudes are like the masters of trickery. I knew from the jump that this was going to lead her to failsville, if you will. I do love the Seelie Court and how clever they are. Cassandra Clare writes them so well, so those were actually some of my favorite parts of the book. They are just so cunning and fantastical!

So, Clary goes to do the Seelie Queens dirty jobs and I already knew that this was bad news because she's the freaking Seelie Queen, she doesn't need a newbie Shadowhunter to do her business she can do literally anything she wants. She rolls up to the institute. Surprise surprise, Sebastian and Jace are there. I was fully expecting Clary to do something stupid and was very relieved when she did not. Character development if I do say so myself.

Alec still sucks. I don't understand what his deal with Magnus is. Homie needs to learn how to live and let live. Magnus is legitimately like 1,000 years old so if Alec is seriously going to get upset about everything that has happened in his past then he is going to have A LOT to get upset about. I have never really liked Alec that much, but I am not even being biased here when I say that the dude needs to take a chill pill. Magnus is still an absolute king, so no dissing on him will be tolerated on this book blog!!!

So Camille... that conniving, psychotic, vampire... tells Alec that though there isn't a way to make him immortal, there is a way to take away Magnus' immortality... UHHHHH IN WHAT WORLD DOES THAT SEEM LIKE A GOOD IDEA?? In what universe does Alec think that he should do anything of the sort without Magnus' say? Oh, how I screamed at my book as I read this. What is wrong with Shadowhunters having horrible motivations and even worse communication skills.

The Jace that is actually Sebastian-- but not really Sebastian-- but... like? Connected to Sebastian I guess you could say? Perhaps possessed would be a good way to put it..? Anyways, I digress, that Jace is capital E Entertaining! I really liked those parts a lot because I just thought that it was such a clever way to take the story. Sebastian is so evil and Clary knows that but there is no way for her to get Jace away from him now that they are connected. I didn't even know what to think it was just so crazy. With a dynamic like that you just had no clue what was going to happen next because you want Clary to absolutely annihilate Sebastian, but you also can't want that because if she does that then it's a big old RIP to Jace since they are connected now. Oh, the complications of Cassandra Clare's genius!

Jocelyn? Don't like her. That's the beef.

Isabel? She's dope. As always. No beef.

There was a lot of attempts to humanize Sebastian and I just was not into that at all. He is like the definition of evil and messed up so I didn't really enjoy the justification of said messed up-ness. There would be a part where it is talking about how sad Sebastian's upbringing was and how he has just been lonely his whole life, but then I'm like... wait a second... homie SHOULD be lonely because when he is not alone he is literally terrorizing the people that he surrounds himself with.

Simon saves the day and I couldn't have been happier about it.

Clary pulls the ultimate prank on Sebastian and the delivery was so savage, bravo.

Poor Jace literally has heavenly fire burning inside of his body.

I don't even know what to think anymore.

I don't even know what to say anymore.

Simon is the GOAT,

- C8 ;)