The Evolution of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #2) by Michelle Hodkin

First impression

When I first read The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, I was pleasantly surprised; the book had a fair amount of diverse characters and most importantly the whole story was driven not by the romance part between Mara and Noah, but on the mystery that IS Mara. I was very excited to read the second book. As it turns out, it was very entertaining…I almost gave it a full 5, but then…the end left me rolling my eyes a bit too hard, and hence I took a full star.

Final thoughts

In general I really like the series so far. Mara is complicated but not in an annoying way, she reads as a smart, complex girl with a big problem that she cannot understand, nor control. I like that, while she is crazy about Noah, the story doesn’t seem to revolve around their relationship.

I particularly enjoyed the flashbacks in India; I was looking forward a full mythology development, with the references to Maat and other points I thought that was where the author was going to take us, and oh boy was I hoping for something like that. Even with the Santeria everything was pointing to something more mythological….so when the end came I was flabbergasted and not in a god way. I am going to try to not ruin the end for you guys, so I will not mention the specifics. But the truth is that the end for me was ludicrous, at the same time in satisfying and worst of all, seemed like it belonged to a completely different story. One thing that I ask from fiction is that everything happening in the described world makes sense in it.

Maybe the author wanted to throw us in the wrong direction, with diversion all along the way. But really? This “explanation” felt as farfetched as they come and not to sound like 14 year old me, but I can’t even deal with the end you guys, I can’t.

And still I gave it a 4. Why you ask? Because removing the past 20 or so pages of the book I really liked it. The whole psychological part for Mara; the new character;, the fact that Jamie was back; the fact that I read this book in 2 days because it flows so easily; it all account to a very amusing read. Will I be reading the next book? Probably, just to close the trilogy. But I will remain frustrated about the end of this one.