The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Mara wakes up in a hospital and everyone thinks she's crazy.  Everyone except Noah.  He believes her when she says that Jude is still alive and stalking her.  Somehow Mara must "play nice" with her parents and these doctors so she can go home and figure out what is going on with her.  Because one thing is for sure, something is happening to her.  Is it some sort of genetic link to her mother's mother who also seemed to have some mental issues?  Is it something that is going to hurt Noah??  Is she just crazy?  Noah is determined to keep Mara safe by any means necessary.  And he's determined to track down Jude and make him pay.











Woah.  This book was a mindf*ck.  Let me start by saying that I really enjoyed the first book in this trilogy and found myself unable to put it down.  The second book was just as good and addicting, but I kind of thought I would be able to trust Mara as a narrator better in this book, and that wasn't the case.  She's still as unreliable a narrator as ever and I spent most of the book thinking she was definitely just crazy.  I was terrified that at the end of the book the author was going to have Mara wake up in a mental hospital and say that the entire thing never happened.... and well that still may happen.  There is still a book 3 yet to come and it could all be a dream or a hallucination.  Maybe Noah isn't REAL!!  Ok I'll stop now.

I must say that in the first book I wasn't feeling the Mara-Noah relationship.  I found it more than a little icky that Noah was lusting after this girl who had SO many problems.  Her life was a complete wreck and he's like trying to hit on her??  No, I felt like she needed a friend, not a boyfriend.  BUT in this second book, I accepted the relationship much better.  Mara was still a little bit too reliant on Noah, but damn I couldn't blame the girl with all that was happening to her.  There were a few times where the romance got too much for me.  For instance this:

"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 to make you mine in each one." ~Noah

So yeah that is super sweet, and in the past I loved swoony stuff like that.  But now I'm all jaded and the whole soul-mates thing, while super-sweet, just turns my skin.  Sorry, I just don't do soul-mates.  But that's okay.  These two were tumbling down a hell-hole so deep that if I were there I would probably declare a soul-mate for myself too.  I mean who wants to be alone when your world splits open and up becomes down??

This hasn't really been a review as much as it's been my reactions to reading a book that messed with my head (in a good way).  Sorry for that.... I'm not so good at reviewing books in series past the first book.

PS- I'm glad I waited so long to read this because now I only have a few months to go until the final book!!  Woooo!!!

Overall:  Just as addicting as the first book, and just as creepy.  Mara and Noah are back and to me better than ever.  I enjoyed their relationship so much more in this book and now I'm dying for the final book!!

This Book Includes:

• A creepy doll
• Mental illness
• Noah and Mara goodness
• A beach make-out session
• Jude
• Horizons, a mental health school
• Flashbacks to a past life?
• boating
• Psychological issues

Add it to your To-Read List!!!

My Rating:

How I got this book: Library

Date Published: 10/23/2012