Noah Shaw

The Becoming of Noah Shaw

by Michelle Hodkin

SPOILER FREE
The Becoming of Noah Shaw, while being as wonderfully written as The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer series, carries a slightly different tone to it. This series, at least this book, really dives into the mentality of Noah, who is much more grounded in his reality though that alone comes with it's own darkness. This creates a more stable narrator though. Because there is the Mara Dyer series before this one too, the reader (should they read this after the Mara Dyer series) already knows about what is going on with the group, which also changes the tone of the novel from the first series. The great thing that this book does though, is that even as the reader has gained so much knowledge from the previous series, the pace of the story is still engaging and intriguing. We all thought that the answers were solved with the end of The Retribution of Mara Dyer, but here we find that it was only the tip of the iceberg.

The plot of the novel picks up almost immediately after the The Retribution of Mara Dyer, and I am not entirely sure that you can read this one without having read the others (The Unbecoming, The Evolution, The Retribution... of Mara Dyer). All of these books are fantastic though so, trust me, you won't regret reading them. Unless you get freaked easily... then you might. Coming back to this novel though, I think the plot is really well created: it is not the same as the previous books- there is no way that it could have been- but instead builds on it in a way that smoothly transitions from the last book to this one. We find out in this story that there is still so much that we do not know; but the pieces start to come into place in this book.

Another thing that was different in this book was the narration. I already touched on this, but seeing the story through Noah's point of view is vastly different from Mara's. All of the characters are slightly different, yet the same, now that they are seen through Noah's perspective, and holy moley does it make a difference. For me, the biggest difference was seeing Mara and her actions and words as opposed to being in her head. Also, she has some insane character development that kinda freaks me out, but I'm also looking forward to seeing more of.


This book is a great start to what I really think is going to be a great series. It is not the same twisty, dark, and psychologically freaky story as The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer series, but The Becoming of Noah Shaw still very chilling and darkly themed, which I love. Plus, Noah Shaw is there the entire freaking time.

Thanks for reading!

Review of The Becoming of Noah Shaw by Michelle Hodkin

Be Prepared for the Roller Coaster that is 

The Becoming of Noah Shaw

By Michelle Hodkin

THERE IS LESS THAN A WEEK UNTIL THE RELEASE OF NOAH SHAW!!!!!

My rating: 

 

This is not an automatic rating because I love the Mara Dyer books. I am so so so so so happy and lucky to say that I got to read a copy of the book- yes, THE book!!!- before the release and it is absolutely incredible.

*THANK YOU to Simon & Schuster Books for a digital copy through Edelweiss+*

110% this book is going onto my favorites shelf and I'm giving it five stars. THERE WILL BE NO SPOILERS IN THIS POST. So for those of you who are just hunting for those, you will not find any here.


From Goodreads:
"In the first book of the Shaw Confessions, the companion series to the New York Times bestselling Mara Dyer novels, old skeletons are laid bare and new promises prove deadly. This is what happens after happily ever after.

Everyone thinks seventeen-year-old Noah Shaw has the world on a string.

They’re wrong.

Mara Dyer is the only one he trusts with his secrets and his future.

He shouldn’t.

And both are scared that uncovering the truth about themselves will force them apart.

They’re right."

Chances are, if you are reading this post you may have already seen this Goodreads page, but I just wanted to give you a refresher of what is going to be happening.

I absolutely loved the Mara Dyer series, and I really think that I am going to love this series as well if not more because I think that having it be a companion series allows there to be so much more depth, even just by nature of it being a companion to something that already exists. There are some new characters, but the main group is composed of people that we already know from the other books and the background to this novel is the Mara Dyer series; so it goes straight into the action of the plot and further development of these characters. 

One of the great things about the Mara Dyer series is the unreliable narration in my opinion. While that is not an element in this book, I still think that Noah was a strong narrator and that there is still a very creepy and Gothic vibe to the book that matches the others that have come before it. There is still a very strong and important theme running throughout the book of what these characters can do beyond the natural, but the tone of the novel takes a slightly different tune as the reader hears a story from Noah and his mind as opposed to Mara and her strange combination of PTSD and supernatural abilities. 

MADNESS: the real cause of excitement for most people I would imagine. Oh my. I think that is the most comprehensive and accurate summary of what I can say without spoiling anything. Good luck interpreting, but please for the sake of the fandom and myself READ THIS BOOK ASAP. Also, cover love. All of the Mara Dyer books have water on the covers and this one has like flames and embers and I am totally obsessed with the opposites here.

I'm honestly terrified to keep going because I don't want to accidentally spoil anything. The excitement and feels for this book though are SO strong and if I go on I may actually slip up on something. It is at that level of amazing to me. Michelle Hodkin's writing is just as beautiful and wonderfully intricate in this book and The Becoming of Noah Shaw is a phenomenal and strong start to the beginning of what I believe will be a great companion series.

ONLY 6 MORE DAYS AND THEN YOU CAN BUY THE BECOMING OF NOAH SHAW!!!!!

Thanks for reading and I cannot wait until I can share my full thoughts with you all!!!!!