#noah shaw

[kyrara22]

I actually need more people to be introduced to the Mara Dyer trilogy IMMEDIATELY because those books are genuinely so hauntingly beautiful, dreamy and tragic, I’ve literally never read anything like it. Mara and Noah are also so devastatingly perfect I’m so obsessed. That series is basically what I thought dark romance was all about

[the-tig-essay-writer]

The Mara Dyer trilogy deserves the hype that Shatter Me gets.

Someone asked me what would I recommend instead of the shatter me series since I highly criticised it and it got me thinking about the Mara Dyer trilogy! This is a very underrated YA paranormal series with a romance subplot and I wanted to bring more attention to it because it has a lot of elements of shatter be that were better executed. There will be spoilers on the trilogy.

Mara Dyer, an unusual YA FMC:

Mara is a very traumatised character, who struggles with PTSD and Amnesia due to an accident that killer her friends and boyfriend. She is severely mentally ill but tries to be normal for the sake of her parents, mainly her mother, and has a great relationship with her brothers. Her amnesia is slightly cured when she starts getting flashbacks of the accident and realises that she was assaulted by her boyfriend which triggered something in her leading to the accident. The trigger is alluded to be her ability to kill people with her mind. The story focuses on Mara's development and relationship with her new ability. The first book is about her discovering it, the second book is about her understanding/controlling it, the third book is about what she ultimately decides to do with it. By the end of the series, Mara is an Anti hero who does use her ability. The ending really stood out to me because Mara didn't follow the cliche of the girl deciding she wants to be good despite people treating her like garbage. Mara's story is people gaslighting her, lying to her, hiding things from her, forcing her to take medication she doesn't want to, putting her in a mental asylum against her will and Mara deciding that she's not going to forgive it and reacting with rage to it. This characterisation made her stand out as a FMC, it forces readers to understand how female characters are treated and that they don't need to be forgiving when severely mistreated.

Mental health:

Michelle Hodkins, the author of the series never shies away from the mental health aspect of Mara's character. Mara suffers from PTSD, anxiety, nightmares, hallucinations and paranoia. All of these issues are addressed and Mara has to face them time and time again. She is forced to take medication and be in a mental asylum against her will, which she fights against. Due to all of this she is heavily gaslit at times by the people around her and struggles to get people to believe her when something happens. All these things become the reason as to why she turns into an anti hero by the end.

Romance subplot:

Our romance sub-plot starts off very shallow and high - school like but develops into a deep bond. Noah shaw has the ability to heal people and sense their senses, it's the complete opposite of Mara's ability. Mara and Noah face a lot of obstacles but face them together, which they reap the benefits of at the end. Noah is not ignorant of Mara's mental problems, but he doesn't baby her at all, he's more so a guiding hand. At all times, he it the only one to believe her when something happens. My favourite scene from the series is when Mara is put in the mental asylum and Noah does something crazy to get himself put there with her. Guess romance isn't dead after all! The only criticism I have of Noah shaw is that he says that Mara is "Not like other girls" in the first book, but since it was published in 2011, I think he can be forgiven.

Overall, if you didn't like Shatter me but you want to read about a girl who has a dangerous power and the book explores her power, read the Mara dyer trilogy!

[yourdeargatsby]

Live reaction when someone says Mara Dyer is a copy of Shatter me

[masasinsanity]

𑣿 “ ”If i wanted to kill you, you would be dead” ” Stella said “ that’s what she’s thinking ”

𑣿 Mara’s smile gleams like the edge of a razor “Guilty”

[whimsygirlsworld]

Okay if ANYONE knows ANYTHING about where Michelle Hodkin went please comment! I just finished the 2nd Noah Shaw book and found out that the third is not out????? And nobody knows what happened? And if anyone has info on the real girl who Mara was inspired by I would love to know literally anything. I am invested!!! The Noah books weren’t as good as the Mara trilogy but I NEED the Last Confessions. Or just any info on what happened.

If you like the Mara/Noah series give me a follow! I love to chat about it :)

I would also LOVE any recs for books similar to this series. 🩵💌🫶🏼

[noshelterbutme]

currently re-reading Mara Dyer

and good lord, it’s still a masterpiece

p.s. every time Mara and Noah speak, I giggle like a sixteen-year-old

[mzradyer]

destroyer x healer

mara dyer and noah shaw from the unbecoming of mara dyer by michelle hodkin

[stargirlie25]

Here to remind everybody that Noah Shaw came before Aaron Warner therefore Noah walked so Aaron could run.