Since it’s December, I thought I’d finish off at least just one more series before the end of the year and get that little last boost towards my 2016 resolution to finish some of the series I’d started.
And once again, that feeling seems to have hit where I’m going off SO many series/books this year. If you saw my reviews for the previous two books, you’ll know they have quite generous ratings. This one…well…
Let’s talk about The Retribution of Mara Dyer!
Title: The Retribution of Mara Dyer
Author: Michelle Hodkin
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Series Status: The 3rd book in the Mara Dyer trilogy
Genre: Young Adult, Psychological Thriller, Supernatural, Mystery
Number of Pages: 470
(Synopsis found on back cover & Goodreads)
Mara Dyer had no idea that it would end like this.
She desperately wants to believe that there’s more to the lies she’s been told and doesn’t stop to think about where her quest for the truth might lead.
She never gave much thought before to how far she would go for vengeance, but with loyalties betrayed, guilt and innocence tangle, and when fate and chance collide it seems the time for retribution has arrived.
I probably should have read this final book while I was still in awe of the first two books.
Ugh.
I don’t know what happened.
Actually, yes I do.
It turned so unbelievably ridiculous, I just couldn’t take the story seriously anymore.
As a weird psychological thriller mix with supernatural and mystery, this series definitely had a lot going for it. Although, the “psychological thriller” part I wouldn’t even apply to this last one maybe…it was much more like a paranormal romance. Admittedly, some of the mystery elements held it together with this final book. I still wanted to know how things ended. I wanted that explanation for EVERYTHING. I was intrigued enough to keep reading.
And yet…I just couldn’t take it seriously.
It’s so frustrating because I can’t even explain why. I summed up the first 200 pages to a couple of my friends, and trust me, it just sounded absurd. Obviously I can’t do that here because spoilers. But it really did seem like the author just tried to make the book as shocking as possible, with the characters having the worst and weirdest luck in the world.
Had I been younger, I feel like I’d have loved it. Right now, with the way I’ve been going off previously loved series recently, this one just didn’t cut it for me. I noticed things that I hadn’t before. Noah seemed way too possessive – and he was hardly even in it compared to the previous two! How I fell for him before, I’ve no idea. Jamie was basically a convenience character – he was just around because he made the plot easier to get out of. I got sick of hearing about how feral Mara was, how dangerous, how inhumane.
There was a random change in perspective halfway through to another character, which – if you think anything like me – is a book giving it’s own spoiler.
…But the mystery. Oh how I wanted to know what was going on. How all these ludicrous, outrageous, illogical things would be explained and fit together like a puzzle piece.
Come the end…
I had no freakin’ idea what actually happened.
And when the only reason you continued to read the book is to find out the explanation, not getting a decent one is mightily annoying, let me tell you my dear friends.
There’s a half attempt at one. But if anything it just confused me and gave me more questions, alongside the ones I already had throughout the three books. The ending itself did more to confuse me than anything, because just what?! I genuinely have no idea what happened.
Maybe it’s my fault. Maybe I left it too long. Like I said before, this year I seem to be disliking a lot of the series I used to love. So maybe I should have seen this coming and read the final book much closer to the first two. Maybe I forgot things, and so the explanation didn’t make sense to me because of that. I don’t know.
But all I can say is that I didn’t like this book. I can see why lots of people do. It’s definitely a popular one. And it’s definitely a series you get hooked into. I just wish I’d enjoyed this final book a little more, at least.
But oh well. No book is for everyone, I’m afraid.
Rated 1.5/5 stars
Amazon
Share your thoughts!
Have you read this book? What did you think? (hopefully you liked it more than I!)
Maybe you’ve read the previous two books?
If you haven’t read any of them, is the series on your TBR?
Let me know in the comments!
Until next time…
Come and visit me!
Snapchat: frolic_fiction
A frolic through fiction 
I really loved the first two as well, and felt let down by this one. I was really confused during the explanation, and I couldn’t decide if it was just me reading too fast, so it’s good to know I’m not alone! Trilogies are often too long, it’s frustrating
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Ah it’s a shame you didn’t enjoy it either. Though I do have to admit I’m also glad I’m not alone in being confused by the explanation 😆
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Great review! I’m (hopefully) just about to start this series (if I do get the first book for Christmas), so I’m looking forward to reading them and making my own judgements 🙂
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Thank you!
I did really like the first two books, so don’t be discouraged by this review. Hopefully you’ll love the series more than I did!
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Yep… this is exactly how I felt about it as well. The first two were pretty fun reads, if completely nonsensical (the whole second book? What relevance did that have??) but the ending was just so poor! I didn’t like Noah from the get go but he was SO MUCH WORSE in this I just wanted to shake Mara and save her from him. Even when I googled theories and answers I still didn’t have any answers and that’s such a shame because this had so much potential
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Glad it wasn’t just me!
Though the first two were kinda ridiculous too, I could sort of go along with them. But this one was just…no. And I can’t even remember anything from the second book, apart from the whole “camp” on an island thing. So that says a lot in itself.
I just remember shutting this book (as in the final one, not the 2nd) and thinking “yeah but what happened?”
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I read the first and wasn’t expecting the turns it took. I felt that one was already a bit unbelievable to be honest so it doesn’t really surprise me if she took it even further now..
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Yeah…the first one and even the second I could sort of go along with, despite them being unbelievable. But by this point it just became too much!
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Oh man, this makes me not want to continue with the trilogy. I was kind of meh when reading the first book. I thought it was good, but weird. I still wanted to finish the books just to see why people don’t like the ending but if you don’t even get an explaintion I don’t know if I even want to bother with it! :O Lovely review! So sorry you didn’t enjoy this book and sorry you wasted your time reading it. 😦 I hate when a trilogy get’s worse with every book.!
-Amber
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Sorry to have discouraged you even further! Though if you were already pretty meh about it, I can’t guarantee it ending well. I actually knew beforehand that people didn’t like the ending, but I have a weird intrigue when it comes to things like that. I want to see what’s so bad ahaha 😆
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Honest reviews as this should be brought to attention more in the blogging community.
I’m reading a book currently that’s bothering me, too. I’ll be writing a review for it and sending to the author, so I hope she understands.
1.5 stars deserves a laugh and a chuck of the book though 😂
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True. All my reviews are 100% honest, though it’s always more appreciated when they’re not so great reviews. It’s much easier to point out what people might not like when you don’t like the book yourself! 🙂
I’m sure the author will understand your review. No book is for everyone!
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Everything you said is right and I agree. I’ll try not to be too harsh on authors though, lol.
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Oh definitely! There’s a line between explaining why you didn’t like it and just being rude
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Had to skim bc I haven’t read yet, but not feeling too good about it now! Lol! 😳
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Yeah…it’s not the best in my opinion
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