The Evolution of Mara Dyer

Mara Dyer, Book 2

By: Michelle Hodkin

Narrated by: Christy Romano

Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

The truth about Mara Dyer’s dangerous and mysterious abilities continues to unravel in the New York Times best-selling sequel to the thrilling The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer.

Mara Dyer once believed she could run from her past. She can’t. She used to think her problems were all in her head. They aren’t. She couldn’t imagine that after everything she’s been through, the boy she loves would still be keeping secrets. She’s wrong.

In this gripping sequel to The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, the truth evolves and choices prove deadly. What will become of Mara Dyer next?

©2012 Michelle Hodkin (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Keep em coming!

Twists and turns like you wouldn't believe! I absolutely love how the story is developing. The pacing is fantastic, the narration is spot on and the characters are impossible not to love. Just when you think you know what's going on, just when you come up with a theory of your own, Michelle Hodkin throws you a curve ball. Exciting, unexpected, supernatural, action packed, funny, romantic and creepy. All of my favorite things. :)

did not like the reader

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I read this book a couple years before I listened to it on audio. The reader does not put emphasis in the right places and does not give the book the right feel. I love the story though.

Great continuation!

Where does The Evolution of Mara Dyer rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I've read a total of 4 audiobooks so far, and it is probably the 3rd

Have you listened to any of Christy Romano’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not, but I think she does a very good job. The only thing I did not like is that she tries to do Noah's British accent, and she does not quite get there. I think that makes this character sound a bit fake. The first book I read (not listened to), and I definitely did not think that of him

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

There were definitely parts which I couldn't stop listening to.

Any additional comments?

It is a great continuation to the first Mara Dyer book (the Unbecoming of Mara Dyer), but I think it takes a whole new turn.
You can find my complete review in this link http://wonderfulliterature.blogspot.com/2016/11/the-evolution-of-mara-dyer-michelle.html

Yassssss

loved it too was such an amazing story couldn't stop listening funny, sad, and scary so amazing

Takes Everything Great About Book One Up to Eleven

What did you love best about The Evolution of Mara Dyer?

I made the mistake of waiting seven months between reading Unbecoming and reading this. Because in those seven months, I completely forgot how engrossing these books really are. I loved Unbecoming and plowed through it very quickly--only a couple of days. I was through with this in only two as well. Both would have taken half as long if I'd been reading physical copies instead of listening to the Audible editions. But although I wish I could have gone through these more quickly, because I was constantly on edge waiting for what would happen next, I am absolutely certain that the audiobooks were the way to go with these. Christy Romano embodies Mara's voice so fully and so completely that I feel like I'm really listening to Mara tell me her story, instead of just having someone read it to me. Her delivery is spot-on, emotions conveyed so fittingly, that I am even more enthralled than if I were just hearing this book in my head.

This book confused me so much more than the first one, and I loved every minute of it. The subtly creepy atmosphere of The Unbecoming was turned up to eleven in this one and it was absolutely thrilling. Each little thing that happened hightened the tension and the fear, and all along the way I became absolutely convinced that Mara really was going insane, rather than just experiencing real supernatural events. In the first book, I believed everything Mara said. But now, after having finished the second book, I can't decide which side I'm on. Nothing makes sense, but in a way it feels like it should because there is a thread of logic connecting all the bizarre events together coherently. It's a rare moment when I enjoy being confused by what I'm reading, but I'm hoping that The Retribution kicks everything into high gear and confuses the shit out of me. I am really looking forward to the last book. This trilogy is quickly taking a spot in my favorite series list (which currently only houses four others--Harry Potter, Anna Dressed in Blood, The Lunar Chronicles, and The Reckoners). I have faith that the last installment will keep it in that list of favorites.

Onto my complaints (I have a couple, despite the five-star rating): Why couldn't Jamie have felt this important to the plot in the first book? I was actually really surprised to see him at Horizons, because all I could remember about him from The Unbecoming was that he was a token minority of multiple types, and he was completely extraneous to the plot. But now he's suddenly important? I love that he is--he's a really enjoyable character to have around, and it's why I had such mixed feelings about him in the first place--but I can't help but feel cheated. Even if he needed to leave the scene for plot reasons, he didn't make enough of an impact before that happened for him to feel necessary at all. Nothing about him suggested that he'd become important. Which is why, although I love him returning and having more of a purpose, I feel like something about his character arc is lacking. He should have been built up more in the first book, so that his removal from the narrative had more impact, as well as his return, and the discoveries we make near the end of this book would be more satisfying.

Incredible

Michelle Hodkin is incredibly talented. This book was fantastic! I have to say the only downside to me, was the "Before" sections. I don't usually enjoy when a story changes from chapter to chapter so I'm sure that is just a personal issue. However, I love the love story and the twists. The twists are incredible and literally had my jaw dropping. I am so excited to read the next one in the series and to read Noah's books too!

Narrator awful

Her attempts at an english accent are dreadful. She has Noah sounding like a squeaky extra on AbFab

A bit too many things left unresolved

WELL, EVOLUTION certain amped up the mind games quite a bit! Of course you always want to believe the protagonist (Mara) but it’s a case of, is this really an unreliable narrator or is she actually experiencing the truth and no one believes her? It was so much fun to really play around with those ideas and never quite know what was going on! Things started to get absolutely bananas towards the end and I was literally shivering and shouting and afraid of things that go bump in the night because I was getting so freaked out (in a good way).

I really felt like things picked up throughout EVOLUTION and carried on with a steady pace. The reader finds out a lot more of what is happening to Mara and a little bit more as to why. This was definitely my favorite book of the series but things got super twisty and I was totally riveted from about the middle of the book until the end!

I was actually a little bit disappointed by the ending, though. I’m not sure if I had hoped for more mystery? There are some answers to whether we trust Mara or throw her into the loony bin and I wasn’t a huge fan of how the answers played out. I think it felt a bit strange, maybe a bit too hard to believe? Which is saying a lot considering what we’ve learned about what Mara can do and I’ve fully accepted that!

I also was a bit disappointed that more questions got added and there were STILL things I had no answers for. I always hope that book two answers some to most of the questions set up in book one and I was left wondering what the hell is going on with some of these things.

A more mature book from Hodkin

In many ways, The Evolution of Mara Dyer is a better book than its predecessor. It’s certainly a more mature work, free of the usual genre tropes. While The Unbecoming was emotionally challenging, The Evolution takes things a step further as our uncertainty and fear for Mara reach a whole new level.

After a horrible, terrifying event, Mara wakes up in a psychiatric hospital. Her family doesn’t believe her, and rightfully so. Mara has a history of PTSD and hallucinations that occasionally caused her to hurt herself horribly. However, while their lack of faith is certainly understandable, we can’t help but wish that someone, especially Mara’s mother, would finally listen to her. Her experience in the hospital leaves her (and us) with a horrible taste of betrayal in our mouths. Reason goes out the window when everyone but Noah turns their back on poor Mara.

Once again Hodkin shows her excellent sense of pacing and her ability to build tension to almost unbearable levels. Mara’s story is infinitely creepy, with danger lurking from every corner. No one but Noah can be trusted, and even Mara’s brothers have to be kept in the dark. Mara is the most unreliable of narrators, and fully aware of it. She often doubts the events around her, even as they’re taking place. The uncertainty doesn’t help matters, especially when she’s in danger and frozen because she doesn’t know whether the peril is real or hallucinated. Her constant questioning was painful and realistic, although occasionally frustrating.

The only thing I didn’t enjoy were the flashbacks of Mara’s (well, someone’s) life in India. They were so randomly thrown into the story and they were terribly disruptive. I didn’t really see the point, but hopefully their significance will become clear in the third book. As it is, I found it hard to concentrate during those chapters.

I didn’t know this before, but Christy Romano was chosen by Michelle Hodkin herself to narrate these books. Apparently her voice reminded Hodkin so much of Mara that she invited Christy to borrow her voice first for the trailer, and then for the audiobooks as well. The audiobook is truly of the highest quality. It’s quite obvious that a lot of time and effort was put into it. After the story, the audio version includes an interview between Hodkin and Romano, which gives us a chance to learn more about both the writing and the audio recording process.

We are once again left with a horrible cliffhanger, but there’s finally hope for Mara as well. Hurt beyond comprehension and separated from everything she holds dear, Mara is finally finding the strength to stand up to her enemies. There’s a true fighter somewhere in there, and I believe that she’s finally waking up. We’ll just have to wait and see.

I’ll be starting the final book as soon as possible. I don’t see how things could possibly end well for Mara and Noah, but I have faith in Hodkin, and I certainly have plenty of faith in Mara.

seriously addictive!

really enjoyed book and narrator. couldn't stop listening, but sad when it ended. can't wait for the third book!