Review: The Evolution of Mara Dyer

Yes, 18 days after its release, book 2 in the Mara Dyer trilogy came in the post! Yes! Then I read it in about six hours. Damn.
 Mara's family are even more worried about her mental health, but that's not Mara's biggest problem. Or at least, she doesn't think it is. That's before she's a prisoner in her own home, a home that is no longer safe. At least she still has Noah...
Hmm. This is a hard book to review without spoilers of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. It's hard to say what it's about without ruining the mystery.
 So this might be a short and vague review. The long and the short of what you need to know:

• If you've read the first and are waiting for the second (this one) of the Mara Dyer trilogy, like I was, when it comes you will squeal like a girl on helium. Helium.
• If you are reading it in a room on your own, with no risk of your family looking at you like you're crazy (maybe even if there is), you will jump up and down like a girl on a trampoline, a trampoline, before realising that you can't read it while doing that, and stop.
• When you've finished reading it, you will squeal like a girl on helium (helium!), jump up and down like a girl on a trampoline (a trampoline!) and clap your hands like a girl pretending to be a seal (a seal!).
• If cliffhangers make your heart skip a beat, you'll have to wait to read this trilogy until the final book comes out (The Retribution of Mara Dyer comes out in autumn 2013), as there is a high risk of heart attack if you read them individually.

Yes, I like this book. I like this series. Scratch that, I love it. It's beautiful and different and intriguing and I would kill for the finale to already be out. The cliffhanger...ah.... who is Mara Dyer? I'm afraid you get a hell of a lot more questions than answers in this book. In fact, at some point I will be googling psychological jargon for clues. That is how desperate I am.
 But enough of the ending, I know nobody wants to know about the ending yet. You want to know about the rest of the story.
 Well, it's as intense as ever. Mara now has, basically, a stalker, which adds to all the intense emotion a little bit more paranoia and creepiness that is shiver-worthy. Her dreams, also, are as perplexing as in book 1. Even more than the giant ending, I want to know about the dreams. They're beautiful and a little possession-esque, which is ironic since that's what Daniel thinks is up with Fictional Mara (you'll get it when you've read it). But for those of you who can't just do sad, exciting in a 'this will go wrong' way books without a bit of levity, there is something: Noah's relationship with Mara. It's a different kind of beautiful which is just enchanting. I had to hide a little 'aww' smile behind my hand a load of times while reading it (my parents were in the room watching Strictly Come Dancing), because they're just so cute together in a mundane way -- not that it's boring, but that they have cute moments that are normal, even within all the stuff that's going on between them and in Mara's life and --
 I'm gushing. Damn. I'm not cut out for this reviewing malarkey.

 The bottom line is, you HAVE to read the Mara Dyer trilogy. It is a MUST. If you never ever read any other book or series that I have reviewed or recommended, then read this one. Please. It's so good, it's not even five stars. I have actually created a new graphic for it (no, I am not just NaNo-procrastinating). Look:

 

Yes, I am feeling melodramatic.

Gushing fan girl out!