Thursday, September 29, 2011

Giveaway 35

Remember how I said I wasn't giving away books in September?

Well, Oops, I did it again.

Blame Beth Revis, author of ACROSS THE UNIVERSE. She said that Michelle Hodkin's THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER was unputdownable. Which made me curious, because books are rarely unputdownable when people say they are. And life is hectic right now, I just didn't have time to read the whole back. So I decided to check out a few chapters.

2.15 am, meet Claire. Claire, 2.15.


I will tell you the truth. I started following Michelle's blog a long time ago. Ether shortly before or shortly after her book deal was announced. And when the summary of MARA became available, it didn't do much for me.

It was so vague.

From Michelle's Blog:

Mara Dyer believes life can't get any stranger than waking up in a hospital 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 strangely unharmed.

There is.

She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love.

She's wrong.

Creepy, but vague.

And then, I heard her editor talk about it, and it was still creepy, but less vague, and I wanted to read it. But not in a "give it to us NOW, your horrible Hobbitses. We wants it it NOW" sort of way.

And then release day came, and Beth started gushing. And since the Kindle fairies had already deposited my pre-order (I read all new releases by bloggers I follow), I picked it up.

MY TAKE:

I understand now why summaries are vague. It's hard to explain MARA without telling the whole story.

There are elements of mystery, romance, and paranormal. And don't worry if you're not a fan of "teen paranormal romance". It's not that kind of book. It's more in the sense of "Holy Crap, my jewelry box just spoke to me in the voice of my dead grandmother! Time to up the meds, Doc!"

There's a creepy edge to the entire book. Something happened with Mara and her friends. They died, she didn't. And from that moment, things never quite add up. Her Mom, a psychiatrist, is convinced it's Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. But there's always a vibe that it could be more.

Also, the ending is a doozie. Beth warned that I wouldn't see it coming. So I was extra vigilant. Still blindsided.

And I loved the pop culture references to The Eye of Sauron and Gryffindor, etc.

I can't wait for the next book.

And I couldn't NOT give it away.

TO WIN:
Tell me: What paranormal thing/creature/experience would(or does) creep you out the most in your real life?
Open internationally, followers only.
Open until Wednesday 11.59 pm EST.

(PS, My bloggiversary's coming up. Get ready for INSANITY!)

13 comments:

Lori M. Lee said...

I would say malevolent ghosts, b/c I come from an extremely superstitious culture where stories of spirits and demons abound, and everything bad that happens is the result of harmful spirits lol.

I'm a GFC follower :)

Jon Paul said...

Sounds cool! Sorry I missed the deadline. Got stuck in Spain--which just broke my heart. :D

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll have to go check it out.

Jolene Perry said...

If I was dead and didn't realize it.
That would creep me out the most. Or if someone else I knew was dead and I didn't realize it.
That would freak me out the most.

Can't WAIT to read this one.

Sommer Leigh said...

I can't wait to get my hands on this book!

Closed hospitals creep me out a lot. Not that that has stopped me from doing abandoned hospital tours, because it hasn't, but they still really, really bother me. My favorite so far is the haunted TB hospital in Kentucky outside Louisville, and if a video game contains a horror level in a hospital, I can't play it, I have to call my husband to play through it for me.

I'm not a chicken, I'm just very very jumpy :-)

Kristin Lenz said...

This book sounded intriguing to me before, but now you've hooked me - thanks for the giveaway!

I'm creeped out by all kinds of things. The worst would be if I were trapped... I don't even want to think about it.

Marsha Sigman said...

I just finished it. It was AWESOME. And I didn't see the end coming. I mean part way through I entertained a suspicion but then it was like naawwww.

Oh, yeah.

LOL. I sound like an idiot but you know what I mean. And Noah might be the hottest YA dude I have read about in a long time.

jpetroroy said...

I think ghosts would creep me out. Particular because they're unseen.

jpetroroy at gmail dot com

Sophia Chang said...

Ghosts. Hands down. Can't even watch 'em on TV (thanks a lot Vampire Diaries, you suck for scaring me.)

BookBreather said...

I pretty much adore all things paranormal, but I guess psychics give me the heebiejeebies.

Awesome giveaway! GFC Follower :D

Shari Green said...

Hooray for unputdownable books! :)

I think I'd be pretty creeped out by any paranormal thing that seemed truly evil. I'm okay with benevolent weirdness, lol.

sharigreen.ya AT gmail.com

ArtemisG said...

I don't have any creepy experience so far and the truth is I don't afraid vampires, werewolves or ghosts etc. I believe so because I never have the luck to meet someone of them. But I'm absolutely afraid the insects. All of kind of insects, spiders, locusts, cockroaches. I think it will happen to me a heart attack if I'm near any of them.
Thanks for the giveaway!

MadGirl said...

(BTW I read the sample of Mara Dryer and it seems amazing :])

The scariest things to me are demons. I've never experienced one, but I've spoken to people who witnessed the possession and then exorcising of a friend/family member. I've even gone so far as to never say a demons name. There's just too much evidence out there that they exist. Plus Paranormal Activity is just NOT FAIR lol

Laura Pauling said...

This book does look terrific!

Any kind of sea creature swimming below the surface of the water - totally creeps me out!

laurapauling at yahoo dot com

Thanks for this giveaway!