Book Review- The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

I just finished reading The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin for an Around the World ARC Tour.

From Goodreads:

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

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.

There is.

She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love.

She's wrong.

Ok, so first things first.  I have a new crush.  His name is Noah Shaw.  Yum!  He is just the first of the many characters that I loved in this book (although the only one I have a crush on).  I just knew that he was going to turn out to be a jerk (with his past and his yumminess and all).  But I was so wrong and so glad that I was wrong!  And Mara.  I loved her!   She was so full of spunk and has such sarcastic thoughts and things to say!  And her chemistry with Noah was perfect!  I loved how she gave him such a hard time at the beginning and didn't just immediate fall into him.  And their banter just made for such a great read!  Then you add Jamie into the mix...such a great friend.  I just wish his character didn't disappear about halfway through.  I enjoyed him.  And don't forget Mara's brother's: Daniel and Joseph.  I've always wanted an older brother to take care of me like Daniel took care of Mara.  And Joseph was such a funny kid--wise beyond his years.  So all of the characters made the story that much more enjoyable for me.

I was instantly wrapped up in Mara's world.  What was real and what wasn't?  And why were the deaths happening?  And what happened on that awful night in the asylum?  I got so engrossed into the story. 

I do have to say that the last quarter or so of the book left me kind of confused.  I was left questioning a lot of things and I don't know if I missed somethings but I just didn't get some of it.  But that didn't make me enjoy it any less.  The ending has a 2 pretty big twists.  One I saw coming right before it happened.  But the one at the very, very end, I didn't see at all (although I think that maybe I should have).  Anyways, the book ended on a HUGE cliffhanger.  Which makes me crave the next book right away!

I gave this book a rating of 3.5/5.

This book fulfills items in the following challenges:
2011 100+ Reading Challenge: 105
2011 ARC Reading Challenge: 85
2011 Debut Author Challenge: 27
2011 Young Adult Reading Challenge: 85

*FTC Disclosure: I was given this book for free for an honest review as part of the Around the World Tours.