Road Trip Wednesday #1 (155):

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing-or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

This Week's Topic is: What was the best book you read in October?


The best book I read in October was:

The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin.

 

 Summary from Amazon.com:

The truth about Mara Dyer’s dangerous and mysterious abilities continues to unravel in this gripping 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.

- SPOILERS AHEAD -

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer had been on my Amazon wishlist for quite some time before I finally decided to order it. And when I did: Best. Decision. Ever. The first book was chilling, suspenseful, beautiful, and well-written, with extremely likeable (and hot—wait, what?), well-rounded characters. It pulled me in immediately, and I loathed the 5 month wait between reading the first book and the release of the second. I am not a very patient person. Suffice to say, I scoured my local bookstores for Evolution the day that it came out, and when they came up short, I immediately went home and ordered it from Amazon. When I finally got my hands on the little monster, I devoured it within a day and was left wanting more (and now I have to wait a year for Retribution. Woe is me).

Evolution picks up a day after the first lets off. Mara Dyer wakes up in a Psychiatric Unit, her parents convinced that she has gone crazy. She claims to be responsible for the deaths of her friends, is seeing the ghost of her ex-boyfriend, and seems to think she has the ability to kill people just by thinking ill thoughts about them. What the doctors don't know, however; is that she is telling the truth. Only sarcastic, skirt-chasing, beautiful Noah Shaw believes her, and together they must work to uncover the truth regarding what they are, and why they can do what they do, all whilst avoiding Mara's murderous, and very much alive, ex-boyfriend.

Usually the second book of a trilogy (or the middle book in a series) is the slowest of the three. Most of the plot development has already happened, or will happen, and there is not much going on/to look forward to. Evolution was not like that. We were given copious amounts of plot development. We learned that Mara's ability (as well as Noah's) could very well be genetic. We were given glimpses of the past in the form of (what we are lead to believe) is Mara's grandmother, and we learned that maybe Mara and Noah aren't alone in this after all. Jamie, who has been a reappearing character since book one, could very well possess some sort of ability of his own. We received an insight into the situation from Noah's POV (without his consent. Oops). And even though no one actually died this time around, the stuff that was happening was suspenseful enough that I did not feel the need to rant and rave to my poor, defenseless rabbit during the less-than-24-hour excursion (which I am sure she appreciates). Throughout book one, as Mara struggles to keep her footing in a world that is crumbling down around her (Like the asylum. See what I did there?), the doctors and psychologists are seen as a way back to a "normal life" — a way for Mara to make sense of the things happening to her—despite the fact that their theories turn out to be wrong. Now, in Evolution, they are the enemy and the reason for the majority of the occurring problems. And that ending! Oh, my aching heart.

Evolution was spectacular, and a must read if you are into paranormal, Sci Fi-ish, teen romance, thrillers. I would recommend it to anyone and everyone looking for a nail-biting read. Hell, I even recommended it to my Psychology professor! Definitely worth the heartache.





Also, I am in love with Noah.