Whoa... Not What I Was Expecting
340438
I really didn't care for this book. I'd give it 2.5 stars... and I debated a while on whether it was worth rounding up. I decided against that obviously.

I had really been looking forward to this book, I thought it was going to be A LOT better than it ended up being. The story was extremely fast paced, set in this `Steford' type society, just with supernaturals, including a vampire, Parker, cursed to be a vegetarian. Go figure he finds a dryad, Amara, that solves that exact problem. Anyways, the crazy ex-girlfriend that put the curse on Parker is still trying to come after him and cause problems, and that's the story in a nutshell.

The relationship between Parker and Amara was a bit irritating... I have read plenty of novels where the characters fall madly in love almost immediately, but these two were married by date number two. Not only that, but there was no real connection between the two other than the fact that Parker wanted to suck her dry. It reminded me a lot of the relationship between Diana and Matthew in A Discovery of Witches, but not in the best way.
Unfortunately I don't think this is a series that I will be continuing.
4016171
What. The. Heck....

**There may be Spoilers, I'm not sure**

My first intake on this book,
It felt like I was reading or listening to the inner dialogue of a psychotic.

There is ALOT going on in this short story.
The chapters were divided like 1a and 1b, etc..
I read / listened to this book in a nice quiet setting, however, I still don't really know what it was about?
It sounds weird but its true.
A psychiatrist was mentioned, a cop was mentioned, and even a girlfriend who wanted to take the relationship to the next level was mentioned but it was all kinda.. chaotic.

I don't even know the character's names. I thought that I had just missed it but when reading the
brief yet vague synopsis, the author states that he left the names out on purpose...
um, ok.
There really wasn't any character distinction,  it was "he" or "she" alternating between
past and present tense so fast that it almost gave me Whiplash.

The story picks up, "slightly", towards the end and the Fast Food Worker's dialogue or rather "mental" musings were a bit funny:
"Welcome to Quick Burgers, How can We Help.. You!?"

Multiple murders? Multiple Killers?

I'm not sure why the author wanted his book to be so confusing and vague.
I'm sure he had a point but it went over my head.
The Author's writing style just isn't my reading style.

* I Read for Relaxation and this book had the opposite effect and almost gave me a brain freeze.

- Julie Hoverson did an Excellent Job on the narration considering what she was working with, and frankly, I don't even know "how" she was able to read it?
If it weren't for her reading / narrating skills, I would not have known when a different "character" was speaking.

Note:
"This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased Review ( posted on Audible, Amazon, and Good Reads ) courtesy of Audiobook Blast."
2486857
I don't know what I was expecting. I guess other people LOVE this type of "out there" book. Just not for me.
1219223
This short book was a lot different than I thought it would be.  The blurb let me know there was an insta-love situation going on and normally that isn't my cup of tea but I figured I'd give it a try.  Try to suspend my disbelief at their love-at-first-sight.  I was able to choke that down (even though it didn't really come across that way to me) but I really couldn't get past the fact that Madden was the President of a motorcycle club AND a merman.  Huh.  Even though the cover of the book shows a mermaid I didn't see that one coming.  I also didn't expect Hali to turn out to be a mermaid.  Or for Hali to be the daughter of a merman who was king of the merpeople.  (If merpeople is even the correct word!)  Or for Hali's father to expect her to marry a merman who was going to be king next.  OR for Madden to actually be that dude's long-lost older brother and the TRUE heir to the kingdom!  Please don't even get me started on the description of their mersex!!!
1836726
I dunno. Maybe I was expecting a magic formula. I read all the 5 star reviews and perhaps set myself up for a bit of a disappointment. There's nothing specifically wrong with this book, and it does have some great observations that I will use in my writing. Overall though, I just come away with a sense that some people sat around in a room with a bottle of wine and held a brain-storming session. Okay -- how about "confused" ... and then just riffed until they ran out of ideas. I suppose that is what I was expecting, but I just can help shake the feeling of "that's it?" (envision me vigorously shaking book trying to get pocket change to fall out). I probably could have provided a better example. Where's that book, again???
3010532
not what I expected, but still a good read.
1628121
That's it... it's ok but not what I was expecting
3128259
Not really what I was expecting.....kinda boring actually....
2469790
This was not what I was expecting at all.

Twenty-Eight and a half wishes is funny and a bit quirky and a true mystery book.

And I love the tiny bit of paranormal to it as well.
The thing is though I hardly liked any of the characters.
At All.

They best thing I liked at all about this was good ole tootin Muffy.

The whole town was twofaced and hateful most of the time.
Even her sister, who had said over and over she needed to start being her own person, didn't like it when she did. She freaked out.

And while I sorta liked Joe, He annoyed the crap out of me. And was sorta creepy at times. lol

Another  thing was I didn't  know that it was a part of a series with a spinoff too.
**facepalm**

I hate when that happens. lol.

I write weird reviews.
2718967
Not what I expected...a little boring foe me.
1439046
I was a little disappointed in this book, not what I was expecting.
2490466
This was a difficult book to review. First i did not like the fact that the script seemed to have odd twists that felt off for me. I loved Levi and Kendall for the majority of the book. By the end i was extremely disappointed because it was so different from what i expected. The first letter written that opens the book got me super freaking excited and then it just felt wrong. A lot of inconsistencies. I love Isabella's writing and it was all there but i just feel maybe this story changed so much and then jumbled and was a little rushed. I definitely did not like Amanda and towards the end i just started skim reading because i was disappointed with the direction of the characters. I didn't know this was a menage or id have read with caution because really i was not expecting that. I will still read any of her books i just wasn't a real fan of this one.
1184599
My Thoughts:
Unfortunately, I wasn't into this book like I thought I would be. I love historical fiction and when I hear of new ones, I'm always quick to jump on reading them. So, when I saw this one become available, and read the blurb, I grabbed it.

Then, sitting down to read it, I was very, very disappointed. It was definitely not what I was expecting and often times, left me wondering what the author was doing with the story. Perhaps, if I had read book 1, it would be a lot easier to follow along. But, I didn't and now I'm left hanging. I want to embrace the characters but the author dragged their stories out. I lost interest two-thirds into the story.

That said, I still recommend you try this book. It's a 1 star rating from my personal opinion but  to others who have read book 1 will enjoy it. Even if you hadn't read book 1, grab a copy and try it. You may find that you love it. This will not persuade me to never try this author's work again. I am actually looking forward to trying her work again, as this may have been an off book.

*** Reviews By Molly received this book for free from Tyndale Blog Network in exchange for an honest review. No money has been exchanged for this review. This review reflects the opinion of the individual reviewer and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of any other RBM reviewer or this blogs owner, editor or administrator.***
1544936
Not what I expected.. Totally different than what it looks like on the site
90363
I recently finished The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer and I feel a little disappointed. I think a few of my "issues" with this book may be personal, so I don't expect everyone to share my opinions.

Going into this book I didn't know exactly what to expect, but my expectations were extremely high (based on numerous ratings and reviews on goodreads.com and amazon.com). I also went into this book with a confused mind. Have you read the synopsis? It is like a puzzle. I have a curious mind, so before I even started the book I spent a little bit of time trying to figure it out. (I didn't figure it out by the way!)

Once I began reading it took me a while to adjust to Hodkin's writing style and the layout of the book (I don't know if I was just having a blonde moment that day or what, but it took me a lot longer than usual to just get into the flow of things!) My curious mind is also partly to blame for this. I think a big reason it took me so long to adjust to everything was because I was trying to figure out what the heck was going on with Mara Dyer. It was a little distracting. I was so wrapped up in trying to discover the "big secret" that I couldn't just relax and enjoy the story.

I also had a hard time connecting with the characters; their personalities and their humor weren't very relatable, in my opinion. There were quite a few references that I am sure were really funny, but I had no clue what they were talking about. (So that's another personal problem, but others might have this problem too). Now that I have finished the book, I can summarize the main characters personality traits, but I still don't understand the characters.

Mara, the main character, is neurotic. Other than that, I really don't know that much about her. Noah is supposedly a horrible man whore, but the second we meet him (when he meets Mara) he completely changes his ways. He is sexy, clever and compassionate. He was my favorite character. Then, there is Anna the stereotypical, nemesis. She is popular and a total biatch. I just didn't find anything that special about the characters.

The thing that hooked me...the reason I will read the next book in the series, is because I am extremely curious to see where this series goes. For one, I think this series has a lot of potential. Second, this book leaves off on a total cliffhanger, and I just can't walk away from that. I'm not completely on the Mara Dyer bandwagon yet, but I am willing to give the sequel a chance and see if this series gets any better. Hopefully now that I have a better understanding of what is actually going on, I will be able to enjoy the next book more.

I gave The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin 3 STARS (2.5 STARS). There are going to be a ton of people who love this book. Heck, there already are tons of people who love this series. I am still undecided. I look forward to reading the next book and reporting back.

-XOXO

READING, EATING AND DREAMING

FOR MORE REVIEWS CHECK OUT MY BLOG ON BLOGSPOT: READING, EATING & DREAMING I WAS BLAIR WALDORF
4151635
This was the first book I have read by this author and it was good enough to keep my attention to the end...but not what I was expecting from the title and the description.  I would most likely pick up something else by this author and see if it would be more to my likes.
3787447
Not what I was expecting...slow...just not working for me.