Book Review: The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

These books are driving me crazy. Absolutely out of my mind insane (but I guess that's the point?) Do you ever get into a book and slowly realize that you are going to form a weird love/hate relationship with it?  Something will inevitably frustrate you about the plot/writing/characters but you know you will be moving on to the next one in the series.  That is this series for me.

The Evolution of Mara Dyer is not just a suspense/thriller novel, nor is it a typical YA/NA paranormal romance or a book exploring the depths of psychological issues. It's all of that rolled into one and while the premise of this series is awesome and unique, this one dragged on and on for the first half.

Let's look at that cover. This is perfection of a cover defined. There is movement, there is direction, there is a sense of what is going on in the book. Noah and Mara are reaching for each other but are completely incapable of touching and making that connection. They are so close but there is still that void between them. Covers are important because, in a lot of cases, they are what make you pick out that book on the shelf in the store and this one is completely effective for that purpose.

Mara is having problems to say the least. She is in a mental institution with a lot of people who are crazier than her (in her opinion) and trying to figure out her own problems along with that. Noah Shaw is as heartbreakingly attractive as ever and is walking temptation. Except that Mara is dangerous and can't be trusted, according to her parents and Dr. Kells, her new doctor who seems a little too happy to have another patient under her wing. Her only solace is that she isn't alone in all of this crap with Noah helping her and one friend, Jamie, in her new crazy people school.

Mara is told that she is hallucinating her dead ex-boyfriend but she knows what she sees is real. But who would believe her? Her parents are hovering, her brother is trying to help and Mara is desperately clinging to some sense of normalcy in order to maintain a relationship with Noah.

“Everyone is a little crazy. The only difference between us and them is that they hide it better.”

And then, as things do, everything spirals out of control.

Mara and Noah develop well in this book and you see their strength as a couple grow in a significant way.  They are both flawed people who have tendencies towards manipulation and compulsive lying but as a couple, they work together well.  They have each other's best interests at heart and that is what makes them endearing. 

Noah can grate on your nerves but I can understand his irascibility. I mean, the poor boy was essentially abandoned by his father and left in a gilded cage where he is expected to put on a nice smile and be the front man for the family. Mara is trying to convince people that she is seeing someone that is legally dead. (I am forever grateful that there was no mention of The Sixth Sense in this book.) So we have a boy with abandonment issues and a girl that is reaching out for anybody to believe her. They connect and they help fill the sad emptiness in each other's lives. They believe in each other and it's easy to forget that they are only seventeen. Their desperation for a solution is real and Mara feels so helpless throughout the story. Pretty damn heartbreaking.

"I can't slay her dragon because I can't find him, so for now I stay close. It's not enough."

I'm going to be honest, the first half of this book was an utter drag. There was too much time spent on trying to figure things out without there being any significant action. It was designed to highlight Mara's growing frustration of being completely sane but being trapped in a situation where nobody believes her. (OMG, Cassandra? Is that you?) I can't imagine the anger that would build up over time where everybody around you is writing in notebooks and coloring and you are trying to figure out why you keep killing people.

I can't imagine. I'd lose my mind. Mara deals with it surprisingly well. I'd be in the bathroom puking up the pills they gave me and probably end up running naked through the streets yelling "THE END IS NEAR!" But no, Mara and Noah tackle things systematically and try to solve what the hell is going on. And that's what makes this book worth it.

“You will love him to ruins.”

I can overlook the trope of having a stunningly attractive British asshole for a male romantic lead. I can look over the overwritten journal entries and the dream sequences. I can even ignore the first half of the book where I was about to not finish my very first book in over a decade. The second part of this makes this story worth the read and I'm actually looking forward to the final installment in the trilogy.

“Boys are stupid and girls are trouble.”
Truer words were never spoken.”

The plot twists, the drama and the ending...it was wonderful. It was exciting and I was cheering for Mara and Noah. For a second there, I had actually started to believe that Mara was insane and she was imagining it all but I was proven gloriously wrong. 

But, this book is still stuck at 3.5 stars for me. You have to charge through the first half in order to make up for the second. It gets better! I promise! Just suck it up and know that there is something really good to look forward to at the end.

Have y'all read this book/series? What did you think?

Book Review: The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas

I've been wary of alternate universe fantasy for a while now. I went through a stage where that was pretty much all I read and I burned myself out a bit. Everything started looking the same with the same powers and characters and evil overlords that kept the townsfolk oppressed. I wanted something a bit more diverse than that.

This book helped restore my faith and love in it. I'm not saying it is completely repaired but it definitely helped. This magic was almost a cross between Harry Potter and Avatar: The Last Airbender which was different. There aren't grand schemes to kill dragons and rescue princesses but rather the goal to make the world right and not be showered with praise for doing so. Our princes are not on white chargers galloping across the field of battle with a claymore ready to kick ass and take names.  The Burning Sky is a more subtle book than that and it challenges the readers more.  It feels like a more moral book than what I was tired of.

The cover is absolutely gorgeous and it is plot relevant! How strange! I feel like a lot of authors/publishers are ending up with these ambiguous can-fit-on-anything covers and it is wonderful to see one that actually makes sense when considering the book.  This is not a generic model in a theme outfit not showing her face on a dark background.  This is not just random symbols that have nothing to do with the plot splashed across a cover with a sepia tone on it. This cover fits. And it's wonderful.

I went into this with the attitude that I was reading it for the romance and not the world/universe which worked out well. The magic and world building felt a bit jumbled and not well thought out. You never really get a sense of oppression from the people in the towns that are supposedly being held down and the magic never gets fully explained. There are wedding, people are allowed to live normal lives and learn magic, there is no mention of heavy taxation or people being kidnapped in the middle of the night. How exactly are you being oppressed? That sounds pretty normal and good to me. There needed to be more tension in the setting. Drought? Famine? Wars? Martial law? GIVE ME SOMETHING!

So Iolanthe starts out as a normal girl just trying to make her way in the world.  After a spell gets messed up by her eccentric mentor, she goes up to the top of the local mountain to call down lightning. This may be a problem since practically nobody is actually capable of doing this.  When her trick gains the attention of the local law and a young prince with a taste for destiny.

Titus is searching for his future in the predictions of the past.  It has been prophesied that he will die young, trying to free the realm from the evil tyrant, Bane. He is looking for the Savior of the realm and thinks that he has found her in Iolanthe.  He is young and determined, filled with his own goals.  Titus never expects to fall in love with the girl he is supposed to protect.

This felt like a land with history. This book just felt like a singular event in this world and not something an author had created for convenience. There is some depth there with the old legends and the stories that were involved. The author seemed more occupied with creating a history than creating a cohesive setting to base the story line on. 

I enjoyed the footnotes, especially in the Kindle edition, because they did help explain some things without it being an info dump in the middle of the plot. It made it feel a bit like a textbook at times but they were easy to skip over when wanted to or skim through when I needed more information. Sometimes the information was necessary and sometimes it wasn't but I like that the reader has the option to get more information.

Iolanthe is a good protagonist in that she isn't perfect. She starts out with deficiencies and isn't all that trusting. She has her own priorities and battles and Titus has to work hard to get her to trust him. I'm sick and tired of protagonists that are so flipping perfect. Real people have real flaws. Authors need to get that. Being clumsy isn't a real flaw. Being a complete and total narcissistic bitch is a real flaw.

Titus is strong as well because he has depth as a character. He isn't a jerk for no reason and he isn't just some spoiled royal. He has so much belief in his destiny that he is willing to die for someone that he doesn't know. That's admirable to me. His convictions are strong and he follows through with his promises. Titus is strong in ways that most young men aren't and he is a good person for it.  That's the best part.  He isn't a bad boy. He isn't a hardass.  He is a genuine and good person.

"I will keep you safe" he murmured. And he meant it. As long as he was safe, she was safe. But how long would he remain safe"

 
So beyond the problems with the world building, this is a good book. It is a light and fun read and well worth it. The slow burn romance is played out perfectly and you can actually believe the relationship between the two main characters. It doesn't feel rushed at all. They learn to trust each other and they have to work together in order to accomplish their goals. These feel like real people.

The Burning Sky has all the great elements of a good fantasy novel with fighting, romance, deception, magic, destiny and the fight between good and evil. Read it for the romance and the fun of it all but don't focus too much on the world building.

"When you will have done what you need to do, you will have lived long enough."