The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
Series: Mara Dyer #3
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Publication Date: November 6th 2014
Source: Bought

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.

PLEASE DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE RETRIBUTION OF MARA DYER. THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS.

The Retribution of Mara Dyer has to have been my most anticipated release ever. I first picked up The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer almost two years ago, and I've been in love with the series ever since. I've been waiting almost a year and a half for the conclusion to this fantastic trilogy, and I may have screamed a little when it got delivered to my kindle. I couldn't wait to dive in a find out what Hodkin had in store for Mara because I knew it would be epic.

After the soul destroying cliff hanger at the end of The Evolution of Mara Dyer I was desperate to find out what had happened to Mara and co. and find out whether Dr. Kells told Mara the truth (I was desperately hoping she hadn't). The Retribution of Mara Dyer is, in my opinion, the best book of the entire series. It was so dark and creepy, and had a real horror theme to it this time around. That first chapter could have been taken straight out of a horror movie, it was terrifying.

My heart was pounding all the way through this book. Hodkin never gave me a second to rest before something else was uncovered or thrown at us, and I was on edge the whole time. I was desperate for Mara to find out what was really going on; I wanted her to finally find out the truth about what was happening to her and I needed her to find out whether Noah was alive or not. Their journey from Horizons retreat to New York was extremely eventful. We got to see the extent of Jamie's power and see Mara go all psycho-killer crazy - which was totally awesome! 

Mara Dyer is probably my favourite female character ever now. In the previous two books, Mara has been desperate to separate herself from her power she isn't comfortable with who she is. But in Retribution, Mara finally learns to accept that side of herself and she becomes such an awesome character. She embraced her powers and grew into such a strong character. She was powerful, determined, intelligent and down right terrifying. I loved her split second mood changes, and even though she scares me to death, I love her.

Oh, Noah. Noah, Noah, Noah. I had no idea if Noah was alive or not for most of the book, and that killed me. Seriously killed me. Noah Shaw is one of the most swoon-worthy, sexy, intelligent, charming guys ever, and not having him there killed me. I've never been so desperate to find out what happened to a character in my life, until Noah.

Getting to know Jamie and Stella was one of my favourite parts of the book. I've always know that Jamie was a snarky and hilarious character, but I never realised just how funny he actually is until reading Retribution. Even in the middle of some of the darkest parts of the book, Jamie still managed to drag a laugh out of me. He was just what Mara needed. Stella seemed like such a nice, sweet and naive girl. There were times when she was willing to go to extreme lengths to save herself, and other times when she decided it wasn't right. She was constantly changing her mind and I didn't really get to know her very well. She was extremely closed off.

The flashbacks started to make a lot more sense in this one as well because we were going more in-depth and finding out about Mara's Grandmother. There we other characters introduced in the flashbacks and then everything started to fall into place. Lukumi, Noah's mother & Mara's grandmother were the three main characters present in the flashbacks, and when that was revealed, it was easy to start piecing everything together. Getting to hear the back story of how Mara, Noah, Jude, etc. all came about was fascinating. I loved all of the science, genetics and psychology of the explanation, especially Jung's archetypes. 

The build up to the climax was heart pounding, and I found myself clutching my kindle and frantically reading trying to figure out what was going to happen. The Mara and Noah reunion made me sob, but I couldn't spend too much time sobbing because I was finally getting some answers! I never guessed that Noah's dad would be the bad guy! That was a total surprise - he's a psycho! I couldn't believe he hired Dr. Kells to torture Mara, Noah and who knows how many other kids. When Noah's dad explained which archetype Noah and Mara embodied my stomach dropped because I knew what had to happen. The whole ending broke me, and when I thought Noah was lost for a second time I just broke down and sobbed. 

I never ever, ever thought I would say this but, I actually felt sorry for Jude. I felt it a bit at the beginning when he released Mara and completely dismissed it, because he's a psycho, but at the end my heart broke for him. I knew Mara had to kill him, and when he died I actually cried for him. I cried for the boy he never got to be, the boy he could have been. He never got a choice or a say in anything, and hearing how much it destroyed him broke my heart. 

I'm so happy that Mara found out she could actually do some good (even if the consequences were pretty dark). It gave her the boost she needed to realise that she isn't a bad omen. She can do good as well as bad. 

The ending was such a fantastic conclusion. I'm extremely happy with the way everything wrapped up nicely with a nice neat bow. We were finally given the answers we'd been dying for since Unbecoming and they lived up to my expectations. The Retribution of Mara Dyer was everything I could have asked for and more. It was a dark, terrifying, tense conclusion to the trilogy, and I loved every second of it. I'll treasure this series forever, and I know it's one I'll re-read over and over and over again.