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Book Review - Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Title: The Retribution of Mara Dyer
Author: Michelle Hodkin
Publication Date: November 14th, 2014
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers 
ISBN: 1442484233 (ISBN13: 9781442484238)

Rating: ★★★★★

“Don’t find peace, find passion.”

M. ara
A. mrita
D. yer
N. oah
E. lliot
S. imon
S. haw

Let just take a moment.
I need to get my emotions in check

*Ten years later*

Ok I’m good now.

Let's ignore the fact that I read this in February, but was too lazy to post a review until now.

*ATTENTION: SPOILERS GALORE. YOU HAVE BEEN FOREWARNED.*

What a absolutely beautiful end to this trilogy. I don’t even mind what anyone says about how there were some lose threads.

Doesn’t every book have it’s flaws. I may have liked to know what happened to Stella and there were other bits and quirks that remained unsolved. But even after we finish a story, there is always so much we do not know. I honestly do not care about it’s minor flaws because I had a hoot and a half reading this book.

So many parts that I loved and now I am left an utter emotional wreck. I honestly lost count of how many times I cried reading this. This is by far the best book in the trilogy.

Going into this I was very skeptical, because many people felt indifferent on this, but by the end I am literally blown away.

LOVED the setting. I loved how we didn’t just stay in Florida, but got to explore around and see New York. I loved Hodkin’s descriptive narrative, making me feel as if I am right along with the characters.

Can we just talk about Mara’s fantastic character arc. I absolutely positively without a doubt love Mara Amitra Dyer. In the beginning of this trilogy we meet her as this uncertain unstable character mess of a girl but begin to see her grow as a person.

I loved seeing Mara grow into herself as she finally accepts her abilities, unafraid of who she is. She can also kick ass. (◡‿◡✿)

Not only can Michelle Hodkin write great characters, but she nailed humor. About 70% of my tabs are about Mara and Jamie’s banter. It was laugh out loud hilarious and shed some light on this quite dark book.

I was so glad we got to see Jamie more often in this book, and get to see his friendship with Mara grow. Nope I am not crying. Can we also mention how his powers are freaking amazing. It had me thinking of Ruby from the Darkest Minds and Piper from Heroes of Olympus.

Noah Shaw.
Noah Shaw.
Noah Shaw.

What can I possibly say about Noah. I really am trying not to sound repetitive but I absolutely love him. What I loved about this book is that you get to see the more vulnerable side of his emotions which was so endearing. I am not crying, nope.

Can we just pause and talk about the dual POV. I honestly did not see that coming and at first I thought Hodkin was gonna pull a Veronica Roth on me but I am doing backflips that she didn’t. That was a close one. (⊙‿⊙✿)

I was surprised at myself for actually feeling sort of bad for Jude. There’s no way I would ever forgive him for the terror he caused, but what I feel bad is that if he wasn’t artificially manifested he could have grown up a normal kid.

At the beginning of the book I could already come to the conclusion of who was funding this entire experiment. Though I did love that Hodkin dropped clues throughout the last two books, which had me flipping back and forth in a frenzy.

It’s so refreshing to read a satisfying conclusion to a trilogy. So many times I have been left underwhelmed by series endings and I’m so glad now I able to finish these beautiful books without feeling bitter. I read the first two books back in 2013 and was becoming increasingly anxious when this books publishing date keeps getting pushed back. Incredibly satisfied that this was not a disappointment. If you’re looking for a book that is multitude of different genres then I definitely recommend reading this trilogy. Definitely worth the wait.

“This is a love story. Twisted and messy. Flawed and screwed up. But it’s ours. It’s us. I don’t know how our story will end, but I know how it will start.”

"I love big books and I cannot lie..."

Currently reading More Than This by Patrick Ness.

A Monster Calls book review

"The monster showed up after midnight. As they do.

But it isn’t the monster Conor’s been expecting. He’s been expecting the one from his nightmare, the one he’s had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments, the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming…

This monster is something different, though. Something ancient, something wild. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor.

It wants the truth” - Goodreads summary

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness [illustrated by Jim Kay] is an beautifully told story, illustrated throughout with pictures, about a boy who gets visited by a monster by midnight. At first upon reading this I have already held this book with high expectations because it is a Patrick Ness book (to understand my obsession with this author please read the Chaos Walking trilogy) and seeing that this book has won both the Carnegie and Greenaway Medal made me all the more anxious to read this. I honestly haven’t read many illustrated books in recent months but I can tell you that these illustrations were absolutely mesmerizing. There wasn’t an overflow of pictures where it became too much but just the right amount, and the black and white coloring made it all the more chilling.

This book is about a boy named Conor who has this frequently recurring nightmare that is never specified until near the end of the novel. At one certain point in the night (12:07 precisely for some reason) Conor is visited by this monster who also happens to be the yew tree that resides on the other side of his backyard. The irony of this all is that you are expecting a vicious terrible creature that comes to terrorize this kid, but in fact it is the monster who helps Conor cope with his problems and face his fears.

The monster who is there to tell Conor three stories and which in turn Conor must tell the monster his story, which is the recurring nightmare. I really enjoyed the themes of the stories the monster told, which made you question moral and the overall feeling of is there good and evil or is everything just a grey area? All the while this happening the story goes through Conor’s everyday life and you discover that his mother is ill. This weighs heavily on Conor and he often feels upset about how everyone treats him differently because of his ill mother (besides the bullies of course) Ness goes on to write a well thought out story about learning to face the truth of yourself. In the span of this short novel you are able to connect with this character you just met and for that I applaud you Patrick Ness. What I do wish is that we were able to see more conversation or background info on Conor’s past friendship with his schoolmate Lily who I really end up liking, which is rare for me in short stories like these.

The conflict between Conor and his grandma I found most interesting because she isn’t your “traditional” grandmother. She is persistent, uptight, always on the move which I found thought provoking. All in all A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness is one of those books that anyone can read and fall in love with because of this author’s incredible writing style. Highly recommend this for everyone and this makes a perfect October read.

Starting New Blog

First Blog post. My name is Rebecca and I am an avid reader. Hiiiii