Review: The Becoming of Noah Shaw

The Becoming of Noah Shaw by Michelle Hodkin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

So...I'm actually gonna confess that as a Michelle Hodkin stan till my dying day, this book, her long-awaited return after three years, actually kinda disappointed me. I mean, I love Mara Dyer's trilogy, and even after rereading and noting a few problematic aspects, they're still terrific for me, especially as secret influences on my own work. And kudos, of course, to Hodkin for making me love Noah Shaw even though he's a character who, by rights, I shouldn't.

Unfortunately, giving Noah his own book to follow up from the original trilogy actually isn't the best idea. Not that this isn't a good book - it's Michelle Hodkin, how could it not be? It just pales in comparison to Hodkin's previous work, not only because Noah's a less layered and nuanced protagonist than Mara, but also because this book, by virtue of its very existence, undoes a lot of the goodwill left by the ending of The Retribution of Mara Dyer, especially when it comes to some certain Happy Ending Overrides which leave me feeling more than a bit dismayed. And it's somehow even darker than the original trilogy, focusing as it does on a spate of suicides among the carriers - which of course opens up old wounds for Noah, literally and figuratively, and it's very disheartening to watch his struggles so up close and personal.

But while the story itself isn't the best follow-up to the original trilogy, The Becoming of Noah Shaw is no less compulsively readable, and that, for me, is the reason why I'm still giving it a decent rating of four stars. Really more of a 3.5, but I'll round up to a 4 because of the ending cliffhangers, in particular.

Whenever the second Noah Shaw book comes along, you'll be damned right I'm going to pick it up as soon as possible. Just maybe with a tad bit more trepidation this time.

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