The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

NOTE: The following blog post was originally posted in December 2011 (however due to the recent revamping of bookittothebookstore.blogspot.com, I am re-posting it), and since then the sequel, The Evolution of Mara Dyer, has been released (and devoured by myself). Perhaps a review shall grace the face of this blog in the future, however I highly recommend you sprint down to the nearest bookstore and own the beautiful thing for yourself.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin is quite honestly one of THE best books I have ever read. I devoured this book in 2 days, and immediately Google searched to see if there was a sequel (to my dismay, it won't be released until Fall 2012).

This is a captivating story of Mara Dyer, who wakes up in a hospital bed and was told she was in an accident. An accident she can't remember. An accident that killed her three closest friends, but let her seemingly unharmed. Her family moves her across the country, and enrolls her in psychiatric therapy immediately. Mara is haunted by hallucinations and nightmares of the night of the accident, and she slowly begins to remember the horrifying events of the night. They are being hidden from her by her family, but Mara begins to unravel the secrets of what truly happened the night that everything changed.

The following is the book description found on the inside cover of the book:

Mara Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital bed 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 has been through, she can fall in love.

She's wrong.

This book is amazing, and I highly recommend it.

The Host

The Host by Stephanie Meyer is a science-fiction/ romance novel that takes place in what seems to be the future, but could easily fit into a present-day setting.

In the universe that houses The Host, an alien race called Souls are transported to new planets and implanted into the habitants there, commonly known as their Hosts. At this time, Earth has become almost completely populated with souls, and very few humans remain in their own mindset.

The novel follows the human life of Wanderer, the soul that has lived on many more planets than is common. When she arrives on earth, she is placed inside Melanie, a Host who still lives within her, and has not been erased from her body. Wanderer can feel her emotions, hear her thoughts, and see what Melanie chooses to show her. She begins to fall in love with the people Melanie loves.Wanderer is scared, and feels like an abnormality. She considers requesting a new Host, but with Melanie living inside of her, Wanderer begins to see the human perspective of the invasion, and her view of Souls themselves begin to change... 

But what will become of the humans, and, in possesion of a secret only Wanderer knows, what will become of the Souls?

"I held you in my hands, Wanderer, and you were so beautiful." 

-Ian, The Host