Quick Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

Title: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
Author: Michelle Hodkin
Rating: 6/10
Date of Release: September 27, 2011
Summary: 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 

MINOR SPOILER ALERT

This was very, very difficult to rate. I had a serious love-hate relationship going on for this book. I mean, read the summary. Sounds flippin' awesome. And some parts were.

Many people complained that this was confusing, or even nonsensical. I would disagree. For the careful reader (especially in the last fifty pages or so), things more or less make sense. I had two big drawbacks with this novel. Firstly, the romance.

Is there a YA book, anywhere, that doesn't include some cheesy romance with a smoking-hot jock? Noah, Mara's boyfriend, is smoking hot. Perfectly handsome. Even has an English accent. Rich, of course. Pretty much everything I hate in a  love interest. Just ugh. That whole subplot could have been dropped, make the book a lot shorter and less cliche.

The second gripe I have is the jerkiness of the whole story. Things happen too quickly, and then not quickly enough. One minute we have a kidnapping, crocodile murder, and escape from some sort of freak serial killer, and the next Mara is hunched in her room, thinking, and the next she and Noah are hanging out in his mansion. Too many strings were being pulled at once, it was too jerky and fast, not enough time to catch your breath, or else the romance scenes dragged on.

The biggest pro to this book was the story, and more specifically, the mind-bending, never-sure-what's-going-on-until-the-last-page story. I LOVED that aspect of this story, the cliffhangers, the surprises, discovering who Mara is and what she can do. I don't want to give away more than I have to, but it was a fantastic, original storyline that kept the reader on their toes.

So, I decided what I liked about this book outweighed what I didn't like, making it a little over 50/50. I'm still not positive on this rating. Be assured though, if you want a mysterious thriller, read The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. 

Review: Ashes, Ashes

Title: Ashes, Ashes
Author: Jo Terggiari
Rating: 6
Date of Release: 6/1/11
Summary: A thrilling tale of adventure, romance, and one girl's unyielding courage through the darkest of nightmares. Epidemics, floods, droughts--for sixteen-year-old Lucy, the end of the world came and went, taking 99% of the population with it. As the weather continues to rage out of control, and Sweepers clean the streets of plague victims, Lucy survives alone in the wilds of Central Park. But when she's rescued by a pack of hunting dogs by a mysterious boy named Aidan, she reluctantly realizes she can't continue on her own. She joins his band of survivors, yet, a new danger awaits her. The Sweepers are looking for her. There's something special about Lucy, and they will stop at nothing to have her.

I expected a lot from this book. Cool cover, interesting synopsis, nice setup...it had all the necessary components to make it insta-book love. Unfortunately it fell short.

First of all, I didn't really care about the main character, a girl named Lucy who lives survives by herself in what was once New York. I didn't dislike her, but I had no feelings to really care about her. So, sure, her life kind of sucks and she meets a hot boy who saves her from a pack of feral dogs. I didn't really care at all.

The other characters were slightly better. Aidan, the boy who saved her, is cute, but we never really know about him. Why does he like Lucy, aside from the fact that she's the female main character and that kind of thing is written in the literary stars? Where did he come from? Why does another character, Del, like him for? I feel the author was setting up for another story to answer some of these, but I'd have liked a lot less secrets and a few more answers. 

In the same way, we never know how this plague that killed much of the earth's population 'mutated'. The characters use the phrase 'it mutated', but we never know how, are what that entails. The plot had holes, and more than I touched on here for the sake of spoilers. There were too many scenes of Lucy doing work, flirting with two different guys or just thinking about superfluous details--like how to get meat off a turtle--that when you get to the end of the story you realize how little real plot went on between the 342 pages that wasn't some long, detailed treatise on how Lucy's house looked before she moved out.

But, for all its shortcomings, I cannot say I derived no enjoyment in reading Ashes, Ashes. I did. Maybe because, as I stated before, I really love this genre, or the fact that everything was directing me to read this first out of all the new library books I picked up. So while there were many things I didn't like about this novel, they didn't stop me from reading it. If you don't look too hard at the plot holes or annoying main character, some could enjoy this book.

Final Rating: 6

Review: The Hunt

Title: The Hunt
Author: Andrew Fukuda
Rating: 6.5
Date of Release: 5/8/2012
Summary: Don't sweat. Don't laugh. Don't call attention to yourself. And most of all, whatever you do, don't fall in love with one of them.

Gene is different from everyone else around him. He can't run with lightning speed, sunlight doesn't hurt him and he doesn't have an unquenchable lust for blood. Gene is a human, and he knows the rules. Keep the truth a secret. It's the only way to stay alive in a world of night--a world where humans are considered a delicacy and hunted for their blood.

When he’s chosen for a once in a lifetime opportunity to hunt the last remaining humans, Gene’s carefully constructed life begins to crumble around him.  He’s thrust into the path of a girl who makes him feel things he never thought possible—and into a ruthless pack of hunters whose suspicions about his true nature are growing. Now that Gene has finally found something worth fighting for, his need to survive is stronger than ever—but is it worth the cost of his humanity?

Again, another review. I promise I won't do only reviews, but this book was another one I whipped off real quick. I was trying to read 'The Keeper's Tattoo', but it was so unutterably dull I took a break for something more exciting.

For any of its faults, you cannot say The Hunt isn't exciting. The action sequences were the best part of this book, and what gave it a higher rating then I would have otherwise from me. Also, something I was glad to see, The Hunt isn't full of the weak, palsy, sparkly variety of 'vampire'. I use the word 'vampire', even though they aren't expressly called 'vampires' in the novel, that is basically what they are: beasts who hunt 'hepers' (humans) for their blood and who cannot be in contact with sunlight. These are the true vampires, the ones that suck blood and go into rages. That being said, there were holes. How did the 'vampires' take over this futuristic world? Did they evolve? Did they come through magic? We never learn exactly how. All we know is that the humans, called 'hepers' by the 'vampires', have almost gone extinct, and Gene is one of the few left.

Gene wasn't my favorite character. He didn't seem to have much personality, or character to him. Many times throughout the novel he remembers the phrase his father told him 'never forget who you really are' while he tries to blend in as one of the 'vampires'. But I didn't know who he was. I didn't see much in him but love for a girl and a primal urge to survive. Also, one of the "big plot reveals" could have been seen a mile away. I can't say if I want to keep this spoiler-free, but to anyone who knows how a writer might think, it was painfully obvious that would happen from the beginning.

The other characters were forgettable. The main female character, Ashley June, is smart and drags Gene's sorry behind through the survival process, but again, a weak character I didn't really care for.

The thing that saved this from a very low score was the interesting plot. A dystopian with vampires isn't the classic formula, and the idea of the Heper Hunt was intriguing. But, again, [minor spoilers], there was no heper hunt! Most of it was full of Gene waking up, shaving, eating, dancing, thinking about Ashley June and the other hepers, and then sleeping. When there is some real action within the last pages, all one can think is 'Finally!'.

This book was not my favorite, but not bad either. I would give it a 'meh' score. That being said, I might look out for the sequel only to get another action fix.

Final score: 6.5