The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

August 1, 2011
When 17-year-old Mara wakes from a coma, she learns she was in an accident; her best friend, boyfriend, and his sister were all killed when an abandoned asylum collapsed on them. But Mara has no memory of why she was there. Hoping to escape her hallucinations and nightmares, she moves with her family from Rhode Island to Florida, and on the first day of school meets a handsome boy "miling at me like he knew me." Even as Mara's romance with Noah starts to simmer, her stress boils over, especially when her fantasies about bad people dying start coming true and she starts remembering the fateful night. There are plenty of haunting, cinematic images to capture readers' attention, but first-time author Hodkin has packed too much into this mystery, including a murder trial in the background and Noah's own secrets. Readers may enjoy drawing their own conclusions about what is real, but they will have a hard time tracking all the possibilities. And after so much windup, they will certainly feel let down by the scripted conclusion. Ages 14âup.