Bethany Larson

Title: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
Author: Michelle Hodkin
Publisher: Simon &  Schuster
Pages: 450
Release Date: September 27, 2011
Format: ARC, borrowed from Ginger 🙂

Mara Dyer doesn’t think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.

When I first heard about this book, I was immediately clamoring to read it. I was obsessed with the title and the cover and that description—the combination of the three were just beckoning me to read it. And then some blogger friends got a hold of ARCs and they read it, and had very, very mixed reactions. While I’d love to say that others’ reactions to books don’t influence how I think about them, it just isn’t true. So I was a little nervous to read this.

Turns out, I had absolutely nothing to be nervous about.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is effing incredible. Michelle Hodkin is a writer after my own heart. The dialogue she writes is witty and snarky and sort of nerdy, but in a geek-chic sort of way, and her scene setting skills are faaaantastic. The woman can write suspense so intense that you end up holding your breath without realizing it (Seriously. I had problems breathing while reading this.) and then she can have you laughing your ass off. And her sexy scenes? Lord have mercy.

Which brings us to Noah Shaw. Noah is straight up sex: witty and charming and reckless and BRITISH-ACCENTED and not afraid of a fist fight. But he’s also the kind of guy who completely understands the sexually-charged thrall he holds over basically everyone, and somehow that makes him all that more attractive instead of insufferably douchey. In personality, he reminds me of Logan Ecolls from Veronica Mars, if Logan had a British accent. There’s no way I’m going to do Noah justice, so I’ll leave it at this—Noah Shaw is one of the most swoon-worthy YA males I’ve ever read.

But Noah isn’t the only well-written character: Hodkin introduces a very diverse cast, featuring characters you immediately love (Jamie!!) and those you hate with such a passion that you want to reach into the book and choke the bitches yourself. And it would be SATISFYING, lemme tell you. Suffice it to say, you’ll like them, even if you hate them.

While the characters are incredibly crafted, what really drives The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is the shroud of mystery that hangs over the book and the eponymous Mara Dyer. While I loved loved loved my reading experience with this book, at no point did I necessarily feel like I had a perfect grasp on what was happening. In fact, on more than one occasion I had the inkling that I was in the midst of an Inception-style, multi-layered world.

But that doesn’t mean I ever felt confused. Hodkin weaves in enough intrigue, suspense, and what-the-effery to keep things feeling off-kilter, but not so much that I wanted to throw the book across the room and leave it there. My biggest hang-up while reading was that as I was nearing the end of the book I kept thinking “But I have soooo many questions! There’s no way I’m going to feel satisfied with the ending!”

And while it’s true that not all of my questions were answered, the book ends on a GINORMOUS cliffhanger that will make your head spin and your eyes bulge out. Now, normally I’m not a fan of the cliffhanger ending—I’m not a supremely patient lady, so I don’t enjoy waiting that year or so for the next book to be published. But this cliffhanger is strangely satisfying: it answers questions, but also opens up a whole other can of worms for you to process and discuss with others. *hint hint*

To illustrate the OH-HOLY-CEILING-CAT-WHAT-JUST-HAPPENEDness of the ending, here are my tweets from directly after I finished:

I love this book more than is probably healthy for a person to love a book. But I do not care.

Overall, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer is one of the most satisfying books I’ve ever read. It’s wonderfully paced, features incredibly dynamic characters you want to spend more time with, and includes a plot that is so twisty and confusing and compelling that I couldn’t help but become completely, totally absorbed in it.

Now, while I can’t promise that you’ll share my enthusiasm for this book, what I can promise is that at the end, you’ll look like this:

And it is SO. WORTH. IT.

Title: The Fault in Our Stars
Author: John Green
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Pages: 272
Release Date: January 10, 2012

I love John Green.

I love John Green’s books.

I will read anything he writes.

And you should too!

Now listen to him talk about it.I can promise that you’ll fall slightly in love with him. It’s ok. Just accept it.

On this first Friday of August (AUGUST!) Ginger at GReadsBooks has asked: 

Well. You see. I’m the kind of person who really delves into books. Meaning, I have a tendency to over-involve myself with the characters. I get so involved that I feel like I KNOW them, and, sometimes, I find myself adopting their attitudes and/or speech patterns. I know. It’s weird. But I never said I was normal. 


But, what this all means is that there are a lot of characters or entire books that have really resonated with me while I was reading. But the ones that have STAYED with me? They’re a whole different breed. 

1. Mansfield Park—Jane Austen
As much as I love Pride and Prejudice, it was Mansfield Park that really made me an Austenite. It’s in this book that Austen’s grasp on not only gentility and society shine, but her knowledge of politics and social commentary comes through as well. I guess it can be argued that all of her works have an element of politics in them, but this one REALLY does. And it’s the one I point Austen critics to when they admit they’ve never read it. And Fanny Price is an incredible heroine—strong and smart and steady, even when she doesn’t feel like she is. In fact, when people ask the always fun hypothetical question “If you could be a literary character, who would you be?” I often say Fanny Price. ❤

2. Georgia Nicholson series—Louise Rennison
This series shows up on basically every list I make, but it’s because it means so much to me. If you’ve read the books, then you’re probably thinking, “Bethany . . . what?” And I know. These books are goofy and silly and so stylized in dialogue that some people may be put off by them. But you know what? I lurve them to the point that I have incorporated a lot of the words Georgia uses into my everyday vocabulary. (e.g., Mariachi-a-go-go. I only refer to Mariachi music as Mariachi-a-go-go music now.) Anyway. I just have a really special place in my heart for these books about a super goofy British girl. I started reading these when I was still in high school, a place where I was really confused about who I was as a person, and Georgia was the first character to make my super goofy ass feel as if it’s ok to be super goofy. So, BIG HUGS for Georgia and the hilarious Ms. Louise Rennison.

3. If I Stay and Where She Went—Gayle Forman 
These two books, man. They are intense. And though I only read them for the first time earlier this year, probably everyone I know has heard me talk about these books. When people come to me for book recommendations, these two ALWAYS come up, no matter the age/gender/interests of the person who is asking.   They are just incredible. The story is arresting and the writing is so vivid that it’s hard to not get personally involved in these books and completely swept up in the story of Adam and Mia.

4. Harry Potter—J.K. Rowling 
I’d be remiss not to add these to this list. I’m not gonna say much, because other people before me have waxed poetic about these books in much more sophisticated ways than I ever could. But. Well. Y’all know. These books are just special. They leave a mark (ha!) on everyone who reads them and Ms. Rowling deserves every damn royalty penny. 

5. Looking for Alaska—John Green
This is another book that shows up on almost every stinkin’ list I make about books, but really, this one is important to me. My sister introduced me to the Green brothers’ vlogs back in . . . Lord, 2008. From then on, I’ve been hooked. But, when I realized John is an author, I dashed out to get Looking for Alaska. I had no idea it was a YA novel. I had no idea what it was about. I just knew that I found John to be a very intriguing, funny, intelligent man and that I wanted to read his book. It did not disappoint me. In fact, I think I’ll credit Looking for Alaska as the book that got me back into reading YA. I was so impressed with the style and tone he uses in his writing that I was like, “I have GOT to start reading YA again, if this is what YA books are like now.” And thus began my reintroduction to the YA genre. And now I have a this here bloggy blog. 

Title: The Name of the Star
Author: Maureen Johnson
Publisher: Putnam (Penguin)
Pages: 370
Release Date: September 27, 2010
Format: ARC from Fire & Ice (Thank you so much!)

The day Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London marks a memorable occasion. For Rory, it’s the start of a new life at a London boarding school. But for many, this will be remembered as the day a series of brutal murders broke out across the city, gruesome crimes mimicking the horrific Jack the Ripper events of more than a century ago. 

Soon “Rippermania” takes hold of modern-day London, and the police are left with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory spotted the man police believe to be the prime suspect. But she is the only one who saw him. Even her roommate, who was walking with her at the time, didn’t notice the mysterious man. So why can only Rory see him? And more urgently, why has Rory become his next target? In this edge-of-your-seat thriller, full of suspense, humor, and romance, Rory will learn the truth about the secret ghost police of London and discover her own shocking abilities.—Goodreads

It’s no secret that I have a ginormous crush on Miss Maureen Johnson and all of her wacky awesomeness. It’s also not a secret that I haven’t necessarily loved her books in the past.

The Name of the Star changes that.

Y’all. This book is GREAT. And I’m not just saying that because I like the author so dang much. I’m saying it because I’d be reading and I’d put the book down and think “Holy Buddha, this book is good.” And then I’d text people or tweet and then go back to reading. And then I realized I was getting close to the end, and I couldn’t put the book down because I was glued to it, but I didn’t want to finish. It was an issue. But finish it I did. And let me just say . . . it is one of my favorite books I’ve read this year.

So here’s why I liked it, in LIST FORMAT. Because I like lists.

1. Rory Deveaux
Rory is joining the ranks of female main characters whom I super like. She’s funny and confident and has a quirky-ass sense of humor. For example, instead of getting embarrassed or feeling awkward when a snobby girl insinuates in front of a bunch of people that Rory is out of her league at Wexford, the British boarding school she enrolls in, Rory plays up her Louisiana accent and sarcastically quips about how she’s never owned a pair of shoes before. I would have NEVER done that at seventeen. Hell, I probably wouldn’t have the lady balls to do that now. Anyway. She’s awesome and I luff her.

2. Jazza’s Pink Piggy Mug
So, Jazza is Rory’s roommate at Wexford, and she is the epitome of what I think a sweet, quiet British girl would be like. She is studious and serious and loves Jane Austen. And she has many tea mugs, including a pink piggy one. I like that one the mostest.

3. The Boys
Okay, so as in any YA novel, (also, anything EVER) there are boys. Namely, Jerome, Stephen, and Callum. But the boys in this really take a back seat to Miss Rory and, of course, the legacy of Jack the Ripper. I actually really liked that about this book. The book isn’t a romance—it’s about a girl and what she knows and how that knowledge is going to perhaps get her killed. Now that doesn’t mean there aren’t funny or sweet or touching moments throughout the novel—there definitely are—but those things are used for comedic or romantic relief from the super tense and creepy moments. So. Hooray for boys, but also hooray for them not being distracting.

4. The Use of Society’s Obsession with the Macabre
So, I think part of being human is being fascinated by sick, twisted, horrifying things. It’s something that is both disturbing and terrifying, but it’s still true. I think it’s a coping mechanism—the only way we know how to process sick, twisted, horrifying things is to learn as much as we can about them so that we can maybe understand them.

Anyway, Johnson uses this sick facet of human nature and does a superb job both exploiting and explaining it. She captures the fear, paranoia, obsession, and disbelief that society feels when a deranged serial killer in on the loose, both in the past and in present day. She also does a great job describing the ways people might “cope” with those situations—there’s lots of sitting around TVs and theorizing and drinking and making light of it all and trying to capitalize on Rippermania by selling cheap baubles and merchandise to tourists. And there’s also a lot of freaking out. Because this is a creepy book. *grins*

5. The Research
Johnson did her homework on what London was like in 1888, when the original Ripper was terrorizing Whitechapel and uses it in a way that informs the plot, but doesn’t weigh it down. She adds in details and suspense that is so vivid it feels real—you feel like you’re watching the CCTV surveillance or walking through the streets with the characters instead of just reading about them.

But it isn’t just the historical research that’s impressive—it’s the way Johnson conveys her knowledge of being an American in London. Although Rory is quirky and funny and fun, she’s still a fish out of water. On several occasions Johnson mentions that Rory’s British friends talk about TV shows or celebrities that Rory has never heard of, or they use phrases or colloquialisms that have to be explained to her. Though it’s not a huge part of the book, it happens just enough to make Rory and her world all that more believable.

You know else I like about this book? Everything.

This is by far my favorite book by Johnson—it’s the perfect balance of creepy and funny. But more importantly, it’s really, really well-written and well-edited and well-researched. And. Yeah. It’s damn good.

I can’t wait to get my finished copy so I can read it AGAIN.

Title: Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick
Author: Joe Schreiber
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
Release Date: October 25, 2011

Perry Stormaire is a normal high school senior– he is busy applying to college and rehearsing with his band –until he agrees to go to the prom with the Lithuanian exchange student who is staying with his family. It turns out that Gobi Zaksauskas is not the mousy teenager that she seems but rather an attractive, confident trained assassin. Instead of going to the prom, Perry finds himself on a wild ride through the streets of New York City as Gobi commandeers the Jaguar his father lent him for the prom in order to take out her targets. Perry learns a lot about himself – and ends up with some amazing material for his college application essays.—Goodreads


This sounds like SO. MUCH. FUN.

Why, you ask?

1. Surprise! Lithuanian assassin. Awesome.

2. “Wild ride through the streets of New York City”? FANTASTIC.

3. “Jaguar his father lent him for the prom” . . . wait what?! What father in his right mind would LEND his Jaguar to his son. On prom night, nonetheless. Unless this father never went to prom, or doesn’t remember what it was like to be a teenaged boy, or has never seen a movie about prom, or does not care what happens to his Jaguar. And then maybe that makes sense.

Mostly, this sounds sort of like Nick and Norah on crack. And with guns. And high speed chases. Which means I am SO IN.

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.