Review: The Becoming of Noah Shaw by Michelle Hodkin (Spoiler Free)

Title: The Becoming of Noah Shaw (The Shaw Confessions #1)

Author: Michelle Hodkin

Genre: YA Paranormal

Publication Date: November 7, 2017

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

I received a copy of this book through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

Everyone thinks seventeen-year-old Noah Shaw has the world on a string.

They’re wrong.

Mara Dyer is the only one he trusts with his secrets and his future.

He shouldn’t.

And both are scared that uncovering the truth about themselves will force them apart.

They’re right.

First things first: trigger warning for self harm and suicide in this book. I won’t be talking about either of these things in my review, so feel free to continue reading.

With that said, I must now try and form some coherent thoughts on this book, though I’m not sure that I can. If you thought that the original Mara Dyer trilogy was dark, you’re in for a whole new world once you jump into Noah’s head. It’s dark, and gritty, even a bit disturbing at times, and it’s everything that I thought Noah’s mind would be. Noah is one of my all time favorite book boyfriends, so getting to know his thoughts in such an intimate and raw way was such a pleasure.

Michelle Hodkin’s writing style takes a bit to get used to. If you’ve read the Mara Dyer trilogy, which you need to read in order to pick up The Shaw Confessions, you’ll be familiar with it already. Since it’d been a while since I’d read the original Mara trilogy, it took me a bit to get re-accustomed to the general feel of her writing, but once I did, it was smooth sailing. I had to force myself to put this one down multiple times, otherwise I would have blown through it in one sitting. The story itself sneaks up on you. It’s a bit strange to describe. There were multiple times where I thought that not much was really happening, but then by the end I realized quite a bit had happened right under my nose. It was refreshing that I wasn’t spoon fed the plot.

I absolutely love dark humor, and if it’s also your thing, you’ll have several laugh out loud moments while reading. Since I read a proof, I won’t share any specific lines, but I do plan on sharing some of my all time favorite lines in an upcoming post, and I’ll share some there.

Overall, I can’t say that I was let down by The Becoming of Noah Shaw. This was one of my most anticipated releases of the year, and I’m so thankful that I was able to get my hands on an early copy. If you loved Mara Dyer, pick this up. Getting to see the world through Noah’s eyes is a real treat. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.