"What kind of school was this?" (Pg. 77)

I kept on running into problems. So I decided to mark the pages where I saw them. I had 40 pages marked. Here's my reaction to the problems, organized by person;

MAYA:
• I hate how all the character say Maya's swearing is 'unbecoming' and the like. She swears. The end.
• You're having her take AP English?! When she's already having issues with life? People I know who have taken that class have suffered through it. Gimme a break.
• I have never heard of anyone who has enjoyed 'Lolita' like she does. She reads it FOR FUN. Wow. What a book for recreation. She abuses the spines too. The author said that she "cracked the spine" when she opened it. I can't tell if the spine cracking was on purpose or not but that got me irritated.
• She doesn't want to take time off of school so she can "graduate on time." But school is what's giving her problems. Who cares about graduating "on time" when you have a serious mental illness!!! Take care of your mental illness first. You can afford to do so!
• Maya hates it when detectives do their job. She doesn't like when they take notes on what they are saying.
• She just happened to draw a realistic portrait and just MINDLESSLY?!!! Teach me your ways. Then you can actually tell who it was and Noah was shocked at how he looks like. (I can't believe that she draws with charcoal in a sketchbook. Charcoal is famous for being one of the most messy mediums to draw in. You get it everywhere and you have your drawing smudged if you rub anything against it.)
• She actually reads her language textbook. Wow. What year is this placed in?

NOAH AND MAYA:
• She hates Noah but she is attracted to him? I'm confused and don't really approve of this ship. Because he doesn't accept no for an answer.
• He also kicks girls out of the girl's bathroom. Excuse me??? YOU aren't supposed to be in there.
• And then he has the audacity to MAKE her spend time with him.
• He's creepy and so possessive.
• She says no so many times and he ignores her.
• Of course he can charm her mother and family. Just of course...
• "How is it that you have friends, Noah?" "I ask myself that daily." Wait... He has friends? The way he's acting sure doesn't seem like it. He never is around them.
• He won't even tell her where she is going or who she is meeting. Creepy.
• Of course he has a tragic backstory. Of course.
• So he looks like a college student and so does she. Weird.
• And of course he knows languages because he's rich. "German, Spanish, Dutch, Mandarin, and of course, French."
• How dare she pay for her own food! -_-
• So she has this pretty dark and depressing backstory and her brother just told the boyfriend without telling her. Wow. At least Noah said he wasn't going to force it out of her. Hopefully.
• OF COURSE he was charmed by her the second he saw her.
• And then he wants to "fix her."
• Page 246 is a complete description of his outfit and look. I had to skip it.
• It was worth getting in a fight for her when she could have? The way he is it was gross. "That's what I get for defending your honor." I laughed. "That was NOT for me. That was you marking your territory," I said.
• Poor Jamie. Kicked to the curb because Maya found someone hotter and more interesting.
• I hate it when boys shut girls up by putting their finger on their lips. It is unrealistic and rude.

EVERYONE ELSE:
• Is this just a psychologist stereotype or is it real that they like to answer questions with questions? (pg 8)
• Can I get Jamie Roth's shirt? "I am a cliche." Poor guy really was one though.
• It says that Jamie learned Parseltongue. Ummmm I'm not sure that you can learn Parseltongue. The Harry Potter series has 0 instances where you can learn it from. So FALSE.
• Of course she lets her daughter take the priceless diamond earrings. Of course!! "Don't lose them" though. What BS.
• How could we even tell that Jamie got in a fight by his jaw clicking??? So confusing.
• What even is Ebola? And why would you keep your hallucinations to yourself when you need help?
• 'Can I change it [TV channel]?" I asked... "Might want to turn it off. Dinner's ready." Excuse me??? You can't imagine that your daughter would be freaked out about the TV program about her friend's DEATHS?!?!?! This mother....

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After an hour or so of marking every page I saw a problem on, I got tired of how many problems there were and just quickly read through it to get done. I was honestly tired of the problems, how people approached/reacted to them, and how they were 'resolved'.

The story is so cliche it HURTS. I would say the main genre of this would be high school romance, with a tiny sub-genre being psychological horror. (Possibly.) It was slow and really dragged. I was disappointed.

The characters are so problematic. Did not enjoy. MC was annoying. Love interest was a jerk. Everyone else was a mix of being annoying and a jerk. Except the little bro. He's chill. The characters are just so stereotypical!!
• So I was reading this and posted an update, saying that I saw this as similar to Twilight. Edward and Noah would be learning creepiness from each other. Bella and Maya would be in a mental institution together. It's just... Bad. They are just way too similar.

Writing was in its 3rd draft. It was not finalized.

A lot of people seemed to really enjoy this. I dunno. Too much shady stuff for me to enjoy this. Would not recommend.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer - Likewise Book Reviews

36 Reviews