The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

To see the spoiler version go here!
The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Second in the Mara Dyer trilogy

5 stars

Mara’s past is catching up to her and Jude is lurking in the shadows. No one believes he’s dead and she ends up being put in an outpatient program. Noah is the only one who knows the truth and he’ll do anything to protect Mara. Mara must find a way to stop Jude and uncover the secrets to both her and Noah’s mysterious abilities.




This book is amazing! Michelle Hodkin is probably one of my favorite YA writers as of this book. I loved The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, but the Evolution is almost better. The suspense, the drama, the mystery, the fear it’s all there and it makes for a heart stopping read. I love when I find a book that makes my palms sweaty from the thought of what could happen next. I love being shocked and there was only one twist I saw coming at the end. I need The Retribution of Mara Dyer ASAP! I can’t wait! I need it! Time to stop fangirling and actually review now!


The main female character is once again Mara. I love Mara. I gave her a low score on the kick butt heroine scale in The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer but I take it all back! I love her. I don’t want to be her friend and go shopping with her, but she’s definitely one of my favorite heroines ever because she intrigues me. I’m never bored reading her thoughts and I’m always on the edge of my seat when it comes to her. I still don’t know if she’s actually crazy. That ending! It only left me wanting more. I loved that ending and the whole setup it builds for the next book. I also liked the flashbacks of what I’m going to assume is Mara’s past life. They were just as good.

Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 9.5 (That’s a huge jump from 7.5!)

The main male character is Noah once again! NOAH!!!!!!!!! Will you marry me? Maybe? Or be my friend? 


Noah’s actually not much of an ass in this book. In fact I loved him. I loved reading those journal entries about him and his thoughts on Mara. I also see him differently after hearing the story about what happened with Jamie’s sister. He also gave Mara his mother’s necklace which I thought was sweet.  
 

That ending! I hope Mara is right about (view spoiler)


Swoon Worthy Scale: 9 (He made progress too. Look at him jumping up from a 6 to a 9!)/b>
The Villain- OMG! OMG! This is all probably just one big fangirl review. Jude is an asshole. I hate his guts. (view spoiler) He’s a sadistic bastard and I hate them, but I love them as villains. Dr. Kells can go away she’s a nuisance.

Villain Scale: 10

Guess whose back?!? It’s Jamie! I love Jamie. He’s so sarcastic and funny. I love how he has a philosophy on everything and his philosophies are pretty much spot on. (view spoiler) I liked Stella she seems like she’ll be a very active character in the last book. Phoebe is crazy! Daniel was once again a big part of the novel, but what’s going to happen to his role now? I want him to believe Mara!


Character Scale: 10

This book has a lot of creepy parts in it and I loved that. It was fun to read and I could feel the skin on the back of my neck prickle in discomfort. I love it when books do that. There were murders of crows falling from the sky, creepy dolls, dead animals, blood messages on the wall. It was intense. I also liked how Hodkin used some Kingsley terms.


I thought it was funny and since I do have a few friends who use the word fuckery I thought it was funny. One thing I wish that would’ve happened was for Noah and Mara to have sex. It seemed like they were about to, but YA authors just seem to skitter around actually doing it. Maybe in the next one it’ll finally happen? Even though I understand why it didn’t happen. If you haven’t read The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer do it now! If you have read the Unbecoming and haven’t read Evolution do it NOW! If you’ve done both you can wallow in pity together while we wait for the Retribution to come out.


Cover Thoughts: The cover on this one is spectacular! I love it more than the first one’s cover. There’s something about this cover that is just absolutely beautiful and to hold it in your hands in person is just surreal. A lot like floating in water. I can’t wait to see what the Retribution of Mara Dyer’s cover is going to look like.