Review of The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Review of Michelle Hodkin's The Retribution of Mara Dyer

Release Date: November 4th, 2014

Synopsis as found on Amazon.com:

It had to end sometime, but Mara had no idea it would end like this. Experience the mind-blowing conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Mara Dyer trilogy.

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.

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Quote from The Retribution of Mara Dyer:

It has been said that there must be a villain for every hero, a demon for every angel, a monster for every god. Despite what we are, I do not believe this. I have seen the villainous act heroic, and men called heroes act villainous. The ability to heal does not make one good any more than the ability to kill makes one evil. Kill the right people, and you become a hero. Heal the wrong ones, and you become a villain. It is our choices that define us, not our abilities.

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Another ending to another series... this is how it has been almost all of 2014. Michelle Hodkin has written an incredible story that has kept me on the edge of my seat, holding on for dear life, wondering what will happen to a character that you don't know whether she is good or evil.

Everyone believes Mara has had a psychotic break brought on by her PTSD from the death of her friends in a building collapse in which she was the only survivor. She is only now beginning to understand what is happening to her, when her family has had her committed to a rehab called Horizons, because they do not think they can help her any longer. But unbeknownst to them, they have really sent her to a research facility where a scientist named Dr. Kells is studying teenagers with abilities... abilities her family doesn't even know she has. Had Mara told them any of what was going on with her, they would have only thought she was crazy...er.

Book 3 begins with Mara being tied down to a gurney and experimented on. They have injected her with some sort of medicine to stop her from using her powers. If they hadn't, they would already be dead. All she has to do is wish them dead and they would be dead. She keeps wishing, but nothing is happening. She has been told that her boyfriend Noah died in the crash of Horizons building that they were formerly staying in. The building that her family saw when they dropped her off. The same building where her ex-boyfriend, Jude, captured and tortured her friends... killing one.

When Jude shows up to save her, telling her that Noah is alive, can she believe him? He has done nothing but manipulate, stalk, and ruin her life. But what choice does she have? It is either be experimented on & lose her ability or trust the one person she hates above all others and escape. Finding two of her friends, Jamie & Stella, Mara begins her escape from captivity, leaving behind a trail of bodies.

Where will they go? Who do they trust? They can't go to their families... they are the people who committed them in the first place. Following a trail of clues to New York, they attempt to find out who is behind Horizons, as well as why they have abilities in the first place.

I have been in love with this story since book 1, so when book 3 started unfolding, I felt a little disappointed. At times, I found myself wondering if it was written by the same person as the first 2 books. It felt disjointed from the original story and the unfolding of the plot seemed a little unbelievable. It is the job of the author to make me believe that this could actually happen.

Spoiler Alert: When Noah is standing with the gun in his hand trying to decide who to shoot and chooses himself, instead of shooting his father who was behind the whole thing in the first place, I felt super confused. How did we get to this place? Why, if Lukumi could see different futures, did he write Mara a letter telling her to basically kill herself for the greater good of mankind when he was actually her Grandfather? There were a LOT of holes left open that I thought could have been better filled in. In my opinion, the ending was no where as good as the rest of the series.