The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

You know, most of the time Angela and I will do a joint review when we read the same book at the same time. Every so often, we read a book that is so epic, so mind blowing that we each have to write our own thoughts because it was just that good. This is what happened with The Retribution of Mara Dyer.

I think I am not over exaggerating when I say this is one of the most highly anticipated books this year (for us anyway). Michelle Hodkin sucked us into her world of Mara Dyer and made us fall in love with Noah Shaw and then left us hanging on a massive cliffhanger at the end of book two.

FINALLY, I was able to get my hands on my precious. I was actually out of town the day the book was released, so I reserved a copy at like three different book stores because I didn't know which one I was going to be able to get to first.

The book opens a few weeks after the last one left off. Mara is still at the Horizons facility on No Name Island, but she wakes up drugged and with no memory of what has happened in the time that has passed. Dr. Kells and her assistant Wayne are major parts of the first part of the book. Dr. Kells reveals a little why she everything has happened the way it has gone down. The book gets pretty intense pretty quickly, especially when our favorite villain Jude makes a reprise a la SAW style.

Mara finds Jamie and Stella in the facility, but Noah is still MIA. They have to figure out how to get out of this facility and off of No Name Island. Along the way they are finding more and more clues on why they are there and what they are. Once they uncover some pretty important information, they all decide that they need go to NYC. Along the way, we meet some other characters. Some good, some not so good. Between the three of them and their powers they are able to difuse and handle some pretty ridiculous situations. I won't reveal much, but I will say this book is a lot darker than I was expecting. Mara really has to deal with her crazy and she is also dealing with the fact that Noah may or may not be alive. You really feel her pain and your heart breaks for her right along the way (all I'm going to say is marashaw and when that scene happened I was ready to just go ahead and throw myself off a bridge).

"An angel sat on one shoulder, a devil on the other. Both of them wore my face."

Once they finally make it to NYC, crazy stuff stars happening left and right. All I'm going to say that several scenes left my jaw literally hanging open on the floor. The best thing about this book is we get answers. We FINALLY get ALL of our questions answers. Why is this happening? Why did Dr. Kells do this? Who all is involved? All of it gets answered.

The best part of the book happens over three hundred pages in and that is when my booboo Noah FINALLY reappears. Though he isn't in the whole book, the last ~150pgs that he is apart of is absolutely amazing. What he has to go through was so heart wrenching. He if faced with some crazy hard choices that involve Mara, his dad, Mara's brother, Jamie, and even Jude. I read the last part of the book in an hour because I was on the edge of my seat the entire time freaking out. It is truly freak out worthy and you will be going back and forth between wanting to cry your eyes out to wanting to rip someone's throat out.

But the ending is worth it. Oh my gosh, is it worth it. The way Michelle Hodkin wrote the last handful of chapters is so romantic and so beautiful. She makes you feel the feels without directly saying what is going on, but it still makes you feel uncomfortable in all the write ways. Let's just say that Noah Shaw earned his reputation for good reason.

"I know what I can do to a girl with a word, a look, a touch. And I want to do them all to her."

The ending reminded me a lot of the ending of the Shatter Me series. You get closure. Like for real closure. You're not sitting there wondering WTF just happened. The ending leaves it open enough that you don't know what the future will hold but you know that all the characters are going to be ok, at least for now. SPOILER (don't highlight if you haven't read the book because it will spoil the ending!!!)- You don't know if Noah and Mara will live a long life together, but you know the option is there that they could possibly live forever (since her grandma hopefully broke the curse) or Noah could die any time. You get enough closure to be okay with those questions not being answered because you know that right now Mara and Noah are together and they have chosen each other no matter what. 

sSo needless to say this book absolutely rocked my world. I didn't know what to expect going into this, but all of my expectations were blown out of the water. I'm sad this book series is over, but I am adding it to my top series of all time list. If I could give this book a million stars, I would.

"I will love you to ruins."

5/5 stars

The Retribution of Mara Dyer: Michelle Hodkins

The Retribution of Mara Dyer: Michelle Hodkins
Mara Dyer wants to believe there's more to the lies she’s been told.
There is. She doesn’t stop to think about where her quest for the truth might lead.
She should. She never had to imagine how far she would go for vengeance.
She will now.Loyalties are betrayed, guilt and innocence tangle, and fate and chance collide in this shocking conclusion to Mara Dyer’s story.
Retribution has arrived. [book discretion taken from Good reads]

THE END IS FINALLY HERE!!! AND MRS. HODKIN DOESN'T DISAPPOINT. I had to drive like Tokyo drift and almost got in 4 accidents on the way to get this bad boy, but it was so worth it! From the moment I picked it up I knew it would be jaw dropping. I was actually D-reading it right after purchasing it... D-reading is a word I invented to explain when someone reads between stoplights. But man-o-man was that an emotional roller coaster. I'm going to break everything down for you, but try not to give out any spoils (or as little as possible)  away in the mean time. 

Everything about this book was perfect. From the book covers of this series to the unique writing style at the very end! Just perfect.

The Retribution picks up right where book two left off. Mara is still on No Name island being experimented on, Noah is still MIA, and most of the world is clueless to what is really going on. Basically someone made a sandwich and spread a whole bunch of cray-poupon all over it. This book is insane, but most importantly WE FINALLY GET ANSWERS. So I guess I should start the break-down. The characters in this book are amazing. Jamie her best friend is so much more loveable in this book. He is witty and funny and what you would hope for in a best friend. He continues to try to keep Mara in check, but still lets her run wild at the same time. We discover more about his powers (mind control), and I love that he plays a more active roll in this book. 

"taste the rainbow, bitch"  

Seriously loved Jamie's character so much. Daniel, Mara's brother is also a bigger deal in this book. He is still sweet, wise, and has his sisters back. Stella on the other hand is the character I very much disliked. Okay, I just flat out hated her. She's just too sensible for my taste. She can read minds, but refuses to really use the power especially to do evil. Stella get out of here no one wants you here!  Noah's dad of course is finally introduce as well... And that's all I'll be saying about him... Then there's Jude, DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THAT BIPOLAR FREAK! He is up and down left and right in this book. (side-bar: does anyone else think that Jude sounds kind of scary hot?!?! or is it just me... because ya boy despite being a freak sounds hot!)But on to the important characters MARA AND NOAH... before you say anything we all knew that Noah wasn't dead, so don't even try to say that I gave something away...

Mara has to be one of my all time favorite leading ladies. She is the definition of what people wouldn't normally like in a LL... She isn't a good girl, she isn't a hero, she isn't a nice person. She's selfish, needy, and is heavy on the insane side. I mean she actually gets off on doing what is wrong. These things are what make me love her.  Mara isn't going down without a fight and is far from scared of getting her hands dirty. She will cut your throat and not thing twice about it. 

Her character development in this book is spot on. She really comes to terms with what she is and the fact that she can't change that. She's not even sure she wants to. For those of you who are a little behind on the series, Mara is able to torture people, and make them kill themselves by just thinking it. I was so happy that Mara is finally let run wild in this book. I felt in the last two she was always being held back and we only got to see some of what she is capable of... but not in this book, you will get everything you want from her in this one.

Now on to her polar opposite MR. NOAH SHAW!!! BE STILL ME BEATING HEART!!!! Noah Shaw without a doubt is one of the all time book boyfriends. Noah isn't in this book as much as he was in previous, and that was my only complaint... THERE WASN'T ENOUGH NOAH! Then again I don't think there ever could be. Noah is still able to heal people and produce good in the world. Plus he is super super sexy in this book... Like WHOA THANK YOU BRITISH BABY JESUS HE IS FINE. He could speak french to me anytime. Like I said though it does take his character a lot longer than I would have wanted to come back into the story, but when he arrives, whoosh just grab some tissues because it gets emotional.

Noah and Mara's relationship in this book is pushed to the limits. I don't think I've ever text "OMG!!!!" so many times to Leah before. That's what I was saying 99.9% of this book. I continue to adore their love and how far they are both willing to go to be together. Michelle Hodkins take the phrase "opposites attract" to a new level.

"Do not find peace. Find passion. Find something you want to die for more than something you want to live for. "

As far as the plot/location goes it's all over the place. The characters travel from Flo-rid-a to the big apple. The story line is well written and never has you confused. I was crazy about how they didn't just stay in one spot. Every question you had from book one and two WILL be answered, and every emotion WILL be felt. The plot of this book is insane, and is very very dark. The beginning of this book had me screaming "OH MY LORD THIS BOOK IS LIKE THE MOVIE SAW!" I wont go into super details, but at one spot there's a tape recorder with a note that says "play me" and someone has to cut out another person's eye....

The story only gets crazier from there. I can't talk to much on the middle-end of this story, because it was just AMAZING! BUT AS FAR AS THE ENDING GOES... ITS ONE OF THE BEST ENDINGS TO A SERIES EVER!!! I couldn't have asked for anything better!!! The way she wrote the last few chapters was probably one of the most amazing ways possible to do so! The short poetic style paragraphs caught the mood and did so with such little words that you have no idea why you are feeling the way you do... because sometimes less is more and Hodkins captures that perfectly at the end.

I didn't think it was physically possible to die from a book but here I am typing to you from my grave! The Retribution of Mara Dyer came, saw, conquered, and lived up to it's hype. This book will have me gasping for the breath for a very long time. I'll probably have an extreme book hang over till after the new year. This book will hands down will be on the top of everyone's favorite reads for 2014/2015. 

"My name is not Mara Dyer, but my lawyer told me I had to choose something."

10/10 SEXY NOAH SHAW STARS!!!

-Angela 

Audible provided us with an audio clip for this book.
Click the link below to give a listen. 

The Retribution of Mara Dyer Audio