The Mara Dyer Trilogy is a series by Michelle Hodkin that will have your brain spinning for days. The third and final book just came out this November, so you can easily binge-read the series!
The first book in the series is called “The Umbecoming of Mara Dyer,” the second is called “The Evolution of Mara Dyer” and the third is called “The Retribution of Mara Dyer.” The final book of this trilogy was scheduled to come out last year but was pushed back several times. Finally, the epic finale to this mind-binding series is available to the public!
This series follows a high-school-aged girl named Mara Dyer who suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). At first, Mara remembers nothing of the event that led to her PTSD, only what others have told her. Apparently, she snuck into the abandoned asylum in her hometown with her best friend, boyfriend and boyfriend’s sister. However, Mara was the only one to leave the asylum alive after it collapsed.
Plagued with hallucinations of her dead friends, Mara struggles to convince her parents and two brothers that she is completely healthy and back to normal; however, it quickly becomes apparent that Mara is eons away from normal. Each night, Mara is tormented with nightmares that release pieces of her memory from the night in the asylum. As she remembers more, Mara becomes convinced that the collapse wasn’t an accident.
As if that weren’t enough stress, Mara’s parents decide it will be better for Mara if their family moves far away from their hometown. Already dealing with these dreams, memories and visions of her dead friends, Mara also has to cope with being the new girl in town. Her first day is disastrous — well almost disastrous. Mara bumps into a guy who is too good to be true — tall, gorgeous and British. She makes a complete fool out of herself in front of him, naturally. And to make matters worse, Mara’s hallucinations take a turn for the worse.
Walking to school one day, Mara finds a dog that has been cruelly abused by its owner. She wants to take the dog with her, but the owner snidely refuses. Mara envisions him dying for what he has done while continuing to school. Later, while walking home, she stumbles upon the abusive man, lying in the same dead heap she had imagined earlier. Did she somehow predict his death? Or is she responsible for it?
Filled with suspense, mystery and horror, this book series will have you immersed in no time. With her PTSD, Mara is an unreliable narrator, (something not typically seen in books). She cannot reliably relay information to the reader. What is real and what is a hallucination? Which dreams are memories and which are nightmares?
The constant feeling of barely hanging onto the edge of sanity is what makes this book series so good, and so creepy! I give this series 4.5 stars out of 5. Thank you for reading and remember: don’t knock it ‘til you read it!
