Review: The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

The Evolution of Mara Dyer
Michelle Hodkin
Series: The Mara Dyer Trilogy (Book 2)
Paperback: 544 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Source: My shelf
Goodreads – Amazon

Mara Dyer knows she isn't crazy. She knows that she can kill with her mind, and that Noah can heal with his. Mara also knows that somehow, Jude is not a hallucination. He is alive. Unfortunately, convincing her family and doctors that she's not unstable and doesn't need to be hospitalised isn't easy. The only person who actually believes her is Noah. But being with Noah is dangerous and Mara is in constant fear that she might hurt him. She needs to learn how to control her power, and fast! Together, Mara and Noah must try and figure out exactly how Jude survived when the asylum collapsed, and how he knows so much about her strange ability...before anyone else ends up dead!

My reaction after finishing The Evolution of Mara Dyer:

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Y’all, this book is a hot mess. There is so much going on, not a single part of it makes sense and fits neatly in the plot.  Rebecca looked at me and said this needed to be my last YA “girl” book.  But that’s not it—it’s not because this is a “girl” book.  It’s not that there aren’t interesting parts, because there are, it’s because none of it works together.  It feels like Hodkin decided to write a book and fit it into as many genres as humanly possible—and it just isn’t cohesive.  At all.  I wanted to like this book, and with it read the rest of the series because I think that there is an amazing concept buried somewhere in all the garbage that makes up these books.

I reread my reivew of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer before writing this one—I wanted to remind myself what I didn’t like about it and what I did.  It seems TUoMD was more likeable that TEoMD.  By about a quarter of the way through TEoMD, I wasn’t sure I would be able to finish.  I was so fed up with the juvenile, amateurish writing and the strikingly apparent lack of chemistry between Noah and Mara.  The constant description of how perfect and arrogant (seriously, this is like the only word she used to describe him) Noah is, every time he entered the scene.  How Hodkin decided we weren’t smart enough to read between the lines and spelled out every. Single.  Thing.  Mara was thinking.  That no one grew or developed or changed for better/worse ever.  That there was nothing moving the story forward.

I actually jumped ahead and read the last chapter.  Or I wouldn’t have finished.  I liked pages 491-527 (on which the Second Volume ended).  I feel like Hodkin finally found her voice and story after going in circles for nearly 800 pages (the entirety of TUoMD & the first 490 pages of TEoMD).  There was action, excitement, and paranormal.  There was mystery, and a cliffhanger.  There were some amazing revelations.  And I want to know why.

Yet, I don’t know what so many people see in these books.  I checked out Goodreads, and there are several people that feel the same as I do about this book/series.  I do know that I won’t continue this series.

So, my advice, if you haven’t already bought this, don’t.  If you haven’t started reading this, don’t.  I’m still shaking my head, confused and disappointed.