Showing posts with label Mara Dyer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mara Dyer. Show all posts

Monday, May 18, 2015

Book Review: The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Release Date: November 4th, 2014
Read: May 3rd- 4th, 2015
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers 
Series: Mara Dyer, #3
Format: Hardcover, 470 pages
Source: Winnipeg Public Library



Description from GoodReads:


   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.


Review:


   Sometimes we can only see the truth about ourselves if someone shows us where to look.
   When I talk about the Mara Dyer Trilogy I could never make up any true feelings for the book, well other then completely terrifying. It was terrifying in many ways rather then just one. I loved it, I had yet to meet a book that creeped me out so much and was so unpredictable. The Retribution of Mara Dyer did not do that for me, and I was completely disappointed by it.
   Like I said above, what I liked above the first two books was creepiness and how unpredictable it was. Going into the third book, I expected all of that but didn't receive any. Of course there were little things but they didn't make me feel like how Unbecoming and Evolution made me feel.
   Mara Dyer has powers, that part if obvious and shown to us in the ending of the sequel. With the ending it was you expected the third book to have even more action with Mara's as well as the others powers, nope it did not happen. Jamie used his a lot, and Mara used it once but otherwise that was it, Hodkin didn't even go anywhere with it. It felt as if she made up a bunch of random stuff about them having powers the just dropped it all at the end without and answers. It was very irritating.
    Another thing Hodkin dropped in this book was Mara's family, they were such a big part in the first two books that it felt like without them it was dishonouring them. Just having Daniel didn't count though, we needed all of them.
   Honestly The Retribution of Mara Dyer for me just had so many loose ends, with everything not being answered it felt like Hodkin just rushed everything. In the end I was just so confused by everything, it wasn't unpredictable it was plain random.
   I was not satisfied with The Retribution of Mara Dyer, it did nothing for me like the first two books did. Where I was not happy with this book but I still look forward to the next upcoming books Michelle will write.


Rating:


Favourite Quote:


   "You never know what a person stands to gain or lose by anything." ~ Mara 

   "Like you're the ocean and he's desperate to drown." ~ Jamie


Recommend to People Who Enjoy:


Young Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy, Mystery, Supernatural, Horror






Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Waiting on Wednesday (15)

The Retribution of Mara Dyer

Author: Michelle Hodkin
Mara Dyer #3
 Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Expected: November 4th, 2014



Description from GoodReads:


   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.


Why I Want It:


   To be honest, this series creeps me out. Things are said, things are done, eerie things. Yet, this series continues to draw me back in for more. I just don't know what it is, but I just have to finish it now.


Why You Should Want It:


   It feels real, when you're reading the story you just want to believe something supernatural exists, and yet you feel deep inside that you just know something is mentally wrong with her. For peat sake we don't even know what her real name is! This book will be like nothing you have ever experienced before, you just have to trust me on it.





   That's my Waiting on Wednesday for this week, will you be picking up The Retribution of Mara Dyer? What are you waiting on this week? Let me know in the comments!





Monday, July 7, 2014

Book Hangovers


   Everyone has their own set of books that have given them the worst hangovers ever. Epic Reads defines Book Hangovers as the inability to start a new book because you are still living in the last book's world. Also as the inability to function at work/school because you were up all night binge reading. This is my list of my top ten books that fit into those categories!


The Selection

Author: Kiera Cass
Series: The Selection Trilogy #1
Harper Teen

Description from GoodReads:


   For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.



   But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.



   Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself—and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.


   The part that gave me a book hangover for this book was that I just needed to know who she was going to pick already ugggh.





The Immortal Rules

Author: Julie Kagawa
Series: Blood of Eden #1
Harlequin Teen

Description from GoodReads:


   To survive in a ruined world, she must embrace the darkness…

   Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a walled-in city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten. Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them—the vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself dies and becomes one of the monsters.

   Forced to flee her city, Allie must pass for human as she joins a ragged group of pilgrims seeking a legend—a place that might have a cure for the disease that killed off most of civilization and created the rabids, the bloodthirsty creatures who threaten human and vampire alike. And soon Allie will have to decide what and who is worth dying for…again.

   The way this book ended made me so sad! I needed to know what happens next!



Of Poseidon 

Author: Anna Banks
Series: The Syrena Legacy #1
Feiwel & Friends

Description from GoodReads:


   Galen is the prince of the Syrena, sent to land to find a girl he's heard can communicate with fish. Emma is on vacation at the beach. When she runs into Galen—literally, ouch!—both teens sense a connection. But it will take several encounters, including a deadly one with a shark, for Galen to be convinced of Emma's gifts. Now, if he can only convince Emma that she holds the key to his kingdom...

   THE ENDING WAS SUCH A PLOT TWIST OH MY GOODNESS.


Beautiful Chaos

Authors: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Series: Castor Chronicles #3
Little Brown and Company

Description from GoodReads:


   Ethan Wate thought he was getting used to the strange, impossible events happening in Gatlin, his small Southern town. But now that Ethan and Lena have returned home, strange and impossible have taken on new meanings. Swarms of locusts, record-breaking heat, and devastating storms ravage Gatlin as Ethan and Lena struggle to understand the impact of Lena's Claiming. Even Lena's family of powerful Supernaturals is affected - and their abilities begin to dangerously misfire. As time passes, one question becomes clear: What — or who — will need to be sacrificed to save Gatlin?

   For Ethan, the chaos is a frightening but welcome distraction. He's being haunted in his dreams again, but this time it isn't by Lena - and whatever is haunting him is following him out of his dreams and into his everyday life. Even worse, Ethan is gradually losing pieces of himself — forgetting names, phone numbers, even memories. He doesn't know why, and most days he's too afraid to ask.

   Sometimes there isn't just one answer or one choice. Sometimes there's no going back. And this time there won't be a happy ending.

   The ending for this one was just so poetic and beautiful yet tragic, I cried. There were so many tears.



The Evolution of Mara Dyer

Author: Michelle Hodkin
Series: Mara Dyer #2
Simon and Shuster Books for Young Readers

Description from GoodReads:


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.


   This was the most mentally disturbing/ destroying book I've ever read. So yes, this book made my list.


Entice

Author: Carrie Jones
Series: Need #3
Bloomsbury

Description from GoodReads:


   Zara and Nick are soul mates, meant to be together forever. But that's not exactly how things have worked out. Nick is dead-supposedly taken to some mythic place for warriors called Valhalla, where Zara and her friends might be able to get him back. Bedford needs its warriors more than ever, since a group of evil pixies is devastating the place. But even if Zara and her friends can reach Valhalla, there's that other small problem: Zara's been pixie kissed. Will Nick even want to return with her? Especially since she's not just any pixie . . . She's Astley's queen.

   The main character endured and sacrificed so much for her love, only to be let down. It hit me hard.


Boundless

Author: Cynthia Hand
Series: Unearthly #3
HarperTeen

Description from GoodReads:


   The past few years have held more surprises than part-angel Clara Gardner could ever have anticipated. Yet from the dizzying highs of first love, to the agonizing low of losing someone close to her, the one thing she can no longer deny is that she was never meant to live a normal life.

   Since discovering the special role she plays among the other angel-bloods, Clara has been determined to protect Tucker Avery from the evil that follows her . . . even if it means breaking both their hearts. Leaving town seems like the best option, so she’s headed back to California - and so is Christian Prescott, the irresistible boy from the vision that started her on this journey in the first place.

   As Clara makes her way in a world that is frighteningly new, she discovers that the fallen angel who attacked her is watching her every move. And he’s not the only one. . . . With the battle against the Black Wings looming, Clara knows she must finally fulfill her destiny. But it won’t come without sacrifices and betrayal.

   It was a truly beautiful ending to a story, it was finished perfectly and the author even showed us the characters many years in the future after the series events occurred. I love when authors do that.


The Fiery Heart

Author: Richelle Mead
Series: Bloodlines #4
Razorbill

Description from GoodReads:


   Sydney Sage is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets - and human lives.



   In The Indigo Spell, Sydney was torn between the Alchemist way of life and what her heart and gut were telling her to do. And in one breathtaking moment that Richelle Mead fans will never forget, she made a decision that shocked even her. . . .


   But the struggle isn't over for Sydney. As she navigates the aftermath of her life-changing decision, she still finds herself pulled in too many directions at once. Her sister Zoe has arrived, and while Sydney longs to grow closer to her, there's still so much she must keep secret. Working with Marcus has changed the way she views the Alchemists, and Sydney must tread a careful path as she harnesses her profound magical ability to undermine the way of life she was raised to defend. Consumed by passion and vengeance, Sydney struggles to keep her secret life under wraps as the threat of exposure — and re-education — looms larger than ever.


   The end of this book was just heart breaking. Richelle knows what she's doing when she writes books aha.


Tiger's Destiny

Author: Colleen Houck
Series: The Tiger Saga #4
Splinter

Description from GoodReads:


   With three of the goddess Durga's quests behind them, only one prophecy now stands in the way of Kelsey, Ren, and Kishan breaking the tiger's curse. But the trio's greatest challenge awaits them: A life-endangering pursuit in search of Durga's final gift, the Rope of Fire, on the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal.  It's a race against time--and the evil sorcerer Lokesh--in this eagerly anticipated fourth volume in the bestselling Tiger's Curse series, which pits good against evil, tests the bonds of love and loyalty, and finally reveals the tigers' true destinies once and for all.

   This book was beautifully written and answered all the little questions we had from previous books.


Clockwork Princess

Author: Cassandra Clare
Series: The Infernal Devices #3
Simon and Shuster Margaret K. McElderry 

Description from GoodReads:


   Tessa Gray should be happy - aren't all brides happy?
Yet as she prepares for her wedding, a net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute.
A new demon appears, one linked by blood and secrecy to Mortmain, the man who plans to use his army of pitiless automatons, the Infernal Devices, to destroy the Shadowhunters. Mortmain needs only one last item to complete his plan. He needs Tessa. And Jem and Will, the boys who lay equal claim to Tessa's heart, will do anything to save her

   Words can't even express how I feel about this book.




That's my list of book hangovers! What are your top book hangovers? Let me know in the comments!




Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Book Review: The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Release Date: October 22nd, 2012
Read: June 10-11th, 2014
Publisher: Simon and Shuster Books for Young Readers
Series: Mara Dyer #2
Format: Hardcover, 528 pages
Source: Winnipeg Public Library



Description from GoodReads:


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?


Review:

Contains Spoilers:

Own yourself
   This book is honestly the most messed up book I've ever read. Not in the way of it being a bad read, but in the way of it being thrillingly horrific that I was a nervous wreak. Going into the book I thought that Mara and Noah's situation would improve and they'd finally be able to live a some what happy life, asdfghlksdlaksjdksa boy was I wrong. 
    After going to the police station and explaining to them that her "dead" ex-boyfriend was trying to kill her, Mara Dyer was marked as mentally unstable. Throughout the book Mara was treated as a mental patient at Horizons, a health care facility. Put on a special care program, the doctors and her family tried to make her think that she needed help. Maybe she did. This book had me constantly considering myself unstable. With all the different treatments and stages for Mara through the book, I actually kind of agreed with all the doctors and considered her crazy as well. But right when you think you finally understand Mara Dyer, the tables have already turned again.  Michelle's writing constantly has you rethinking about what you think you know about Mara and the events that had taken place in the book. Michelle is also a truly astounding horror story teller.
    The events that occurred in Evolution had be disturbed and horrified. Pictures taken of you while you were sleeping with no idea how they got there, dead animals suddenly appearing then disappearing with no evidence of them ever being there, and finally sleepwalking. The descriptions for these events were terrifying. The idea of sleepwalking spooks the heck out of me, especially when you have no memory of what happened during those times. You have no control over yourself, you don't know what you could do. Michelle would make an phenomenal horror movie writer. 
   The way that no one believed Mara disturbed me the most, not even her family believed her. They would keep going on about how she needed their help, but it was the wrong kind. She needed them to believe her and trust her, then they let her down. Only Noah was truly there for her, at least she wasn't completely alone.
  November 4, 2014 is when the long wait of 2 years finally ends for the third and final book in the Mara Dyer trilogy, The Retribution of Mara Dyer



Rating:



Favourite Quote:

"If I were to live a thousand years, I would belong to you for all of them. If we were to live a thousand lives, I would want you mine in each one." ~ Noah


Recommend to People Who Enjoy:

Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Mystery, Supernatural, Thriller, Horror




Sunday, April 13, 2014

Book Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer Michelle Hodkin

Release Date: September 27th, 2011
Read: April 9-13th, 2014
Publishing: Simon & Shuster Children's Publishing
Series: Mara Dyer #1
Format:Hardcover, 452 pages
Source: Winnipeg Public Library



Description from GoodReads:


   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.



Review:


Contains Spoliers:

   And I could see it with stunning clarity.
   For months before I got myself a copy of this book, this series was all I saw on Tumblr. Quotes, pictures, gifs and I have to admit I sort of became obsessed with the covers. But the book itself was completely unique as well. To loose your best friend and boyfriend all on one night is really rather tragic, but to have no memory of it? How can one person kept their sanity? 
  One of the things that keep coming back to the surface of the novel was the fact that Mara had lost a huge part of herself already by loosing not just her friends, but her memories as well but she was experiencing hallucinations. Thinking about this experience gives me chills, many people go through sorts of experiences that are similar to this in our world, Mara thought she was insane or slowly becoming it. What if this is what all those people feel? Reading this book we see a bit into the life of someone this has occurred too. I understand people in our world don't tend to have powers that can kill people whichever way that evil part of you desires but otherwise the life Mara lived was quite haunting. 
   Even though we never met Rachel I felt like she would have been a terrible friend, no matter what Mara said about her. Best friends are supposed to know you better then you know yourself, the fact that Mara had told her multiple times she didn't want to stay at the Asylum over night would have been a big red sign. In the end Mara was fighting to keep her friend exactly that her friend, there shouldn't have been any fighting. Rachel was never truly Mara's friend if she couldn't care about her wishes. 
   Mara having powers also set off a flag for me.With Mara having powers I felt as if at any moment she would pull a Carrie on us and attack Anna or Aiden. Mara at times could be a bit unstable so it would make sense wouldn't it? Either way I seriously think some magic voodoo going on in this book.
   The Evolution of Mara Dyer is the sequel to this unpredictable read, which I will have my hands on as soon as I possibly can! The final book in the Mara Dyer trilogy, The Retribution of Mara Dyer releases on November 4th, 2014. 


Rating:





Favourite Quote:


"There." he said as he finished tying the laces on my left shoe. "Now you won't fall."
  Too late. " ~ Mara


Recommend to People Who Enjoy:

Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Mystery, Romance.