Published 27 September 2011
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.
That cover? GASP! That synopsis? SO SEDUCTIVE! All the exclamations of love from friends and bloggers alike? DROOL! I could carry on and on and on, but I won't because it's late and it would also be boring. I wanted this book OH SO BAD. More than I want a to find the perfect margarita. I KNOW. So when it wound it's way into my grabby little hands in NYC I was like CRAZY excited to read it......so crazy excited that I wouldn't even post the book back home, I kept it in my possession and declared it the book that would make my 8 hour flight back home alone bearable. Except it didn't.....but that's because of John (?) but that's a story for another time.
Okay, so here's my dilemma. I don't quite know what to say about this book without horrendously spoiling it for those of you who haven't read it, because that would be a rather shitty thing to do. But alas, I am going to try. I will give Hodkin mad propz where mad propz are due.....she sure knows how to write a hook. The first page is so deliciously suspicious that you can't help but WANT to know what it is exactly that Mara herself doesn't seem to know. The first few chapters are nice and snappy and I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. Until............50 pages in I realised that I really didn't have a clue what was going on and the upsetting thing was, I didn't really care either.
Also, can I just say this one little thing before I move on? Crocodiles. WHAT IN THE WTFNESS. I just can't even, I don't even want to talk about that, like Anna said, total total GATORGATE. I think the premise for Mara is one that could potentially develop a LOT in the sequel, but I would've loved to have seen more character development and a little bit less of the insta-love, to make me actually want to read the sequel. And Hodkin is good at creating suspense, I was literally wondering the whole book and it was so convoluted that I never once correctly predicted an outcome because most of them was SO left field that your brain can't even conjure these things actually happening. But wonder dies (holla if you get the reference!). And I got bored. By page 50. Hype be damned.
Another issue I had was the overall clunkyness of the plot thread, a lot of the scenes didn't propell the plot forward and just weighed the whole book down. What could've been a 200 page fast paced, heart pounding pulse racing suspenseful read, turned into a 400 page book with a confusing plotline and one dimentional characters. It seemed like climatic moments were built up and built up and built up and made to be something so mind blowingly amazing that a number of times I thought "this is it, this is the moment!" only for it to be skimmed over and not delved into. And that drives me crazy! I apologise, but when I read a 400 page book I atleast want to feel some sort of attachment to the characters, I want to be able to invest my time in their story and come away feeling like it was worth it. I know that a lot of books, especially series books, leave a lot of strings loose. And they do it for a reason; they want to keep you hooked, they want to leave you wanting more. This left me wanting nothing more than to turn the last page and be done with it. harsh, but true. No resolutions, none of the eleventy billion unexplained plot twists (that seemed like they were just thrown in for word count) were discussed. nothing. nada.
Ahhh. I can't end without telling you all about the boy. Because of course there is a boy. NOAH SHAW GO ON WITH YOUR BAD SELF. No really, go on. Like over there, someplace. Yes you are supremely hot and your smarmy and sexy and have crazy golden hair and say really nice things, but a hot guy a good book does not make. Basically he is the definition of a beatuche (beautiful douchebag). He plays mind games and messes Mara around but then as SOON as he starts behaving it's like a pantymelting swoonfest up in hurrrr, except I have perspective so I was all "uh, wasn't he just being a dick to you and now your drooling at his hot bod?" I mean, I prolly would do the same, but I expect more from fictional characters. And that scene where they do that thing and she just goes along with it no questions like it's normal and I was like OMG WHAT ARE YOU DOING CRAZY LADY. You'll know what I mean when you read it.
Like I've said before, I really don't think paranormal is my forte.....it's contemporary all the way. I would liken my experience reading this book to finding a pair of my favourite shoes from way back when and being SUPER excited!! Then when I put them on they're a bit tight, but oh my gosh they look so fancy! CHECK ME OUT. Then after a couple of hours they start to pinch and my feet start to really REALLY hurt bad. So I take them off and I feel sooooo much better. So much so that I don't think i'll wear them again. Bad analogy but you get the gist. Really really not my cup of tea.
Discolsure - I received my copy of the book from TAC in a goody bag.
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