Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Sentence Sneak Peek - The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

The first sentence from each chapter of The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, it's a mini summary of what you can expect to read.

* All first sentences are from an ARC I read via Around The World ARC Tours

* Book will be released on September 27, 2011
* Spoilers are highlighted like this :)


tHE ORNATE SCRIPT ON THE BOARD TWISTED in the candlelight, making the letters and num-bers dance in my head.”

I OPENED MY EYES.”

tHE SUN REFLECTED OFF THE POLISHED mahogany of Rachel’s coffin, blinding me.”

YOU’RE KILLING ME, MARA.”

SMILING AT ME LIKE HE KNEW ME.”

IT WAS CLAIRE.”

BY SOME STOKE OF LUCK, I FLUNG OPEN THE door to the closest classroom, 213, and it turned out to be Spanish.”

I MANAGED TO SURVIVE THE REST OF THE DAY without being hospitalized or committed, and, after school ended, Mom was waiting for me at the cul-de-sac exactly as Daniel said she would be.”

HONEY?”

THAT SAME CREEPING, WATCHFUL FEELING escorted me to school the next day.”

I WOKE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT WITH A scream in my throat and an anchor on my chest, soaked in sweat and terror.”

SWEATY AND BREATHLESS, I ROUNDED THE parking lot by the school entrance and checked my watch.”

tHE TREES, SIDEWALK, AND THE FLASHING lights spun around me as I felt it: the first unmis-takable snarl in the delicate fabric of my sanity.”

I SETTLED INTO THE SEAT, ACUTELY AWARE OF MY proximity to him.”

I MUSTERED UP EVERY OUNCE OF FREE WILL I HAD and extracted myself from his car.”

WE PULLED INTO A LONG DRIVEWAY guarded by a rusting iron gate.”

I KNEW RACHEL WANTED TO GO TO THE ASYLUM.”

I HEARD HE E-MAILED HER A PICTURE OF HIS—OH.”

tHE SEA OF REPORTERS PARTED FOR DANIEL’S car as he pulled into the driveway.”

I SHOT OUT OF MY BATHROOM AND SAT ON MY BED, my mouth dry and my hands trembling.”

BY THE TIME I ARRIVED BACK AT THE HOUSE, I’d composed myself.”

MARA DYER?”

I DIDN’T KNOW HOW TO REACT TO NOAH IN CLASS the next day.”

AFTER SCHOOL, I FOUND DANIEL WAITING for me at the back gate.”

MY ALARM SHOCKED ME AWAKE SUNDAY morning.”

I WAITED FOR NOAH TO LIGHT A CIGARETTE ONCE he started to drive.”

ROWS OF PALM TREES SPRUNG UP FROM THE sides of the narrow street, and the ocean peeked out from the spaces in between homes.”

NOAH’S ROOM WAS STARTLING.”

MY BODY WARMED AT THE CONTACT AS Noah led the way into the bustling restau-rant.”

A HALF-HOUR LATER, NOAH DROVE UP TO the front entrance of the Miami Beach Con-vention Center and parked next to the curb.”

RACHEL HELD OUT THE MAP SHE’D PULLED from the Internet, which showed a detailed blueprint of the facility.”

I TRIED TO OPEN MY EYES.”

I EXPECTED SEVERAL DIFFERENT SCENARIOS AFTER my little freak-out.”

tHE TEACHER STOOD A FEW FEET AWAY.”

NOAH’S LIPS PRESSED LIGHTLY ON THE SKIN of my cheek and lingered there.”

EXAMS WERE BRUTAL, AS EXPECTED.”

I WAITED FOR JAMIE UNTIL THE EXAM WAS OVER.”

NOAH PICKED ME UP THE NEXT MORNING, but I was unsettled and silent on the way to school.”

I STOOD THERE, COMPLETELY DAZED AND STARING at the empty campus.”

NOT HAVING AN ITCHY, SWEAT-COLLECTING bandage under my sleeve was the only bright spot in the next two days.”

tHE NEXT DAY BEGAN ABNORMALLY.”

tHE NEXT FIVE SECONDS FELT LIKE FIVE hours.”

WHEN DANIEL AND I ARRIVED BACK AT the house, my father’s open accordion files were uncharacteristically strewn all over the dining room table.”

HE WORE A RATTY BASEBALL CAP WITH THE brim pulled low over his eyes, and I couldn’t see much of his face except to tell that he looked exhausted.”

tANGLED ROOTS OF MANGROVE TREES SANK unseen into the black liquid, and on the opposite side, grass stretched in front of us for infinity.”

WE EXPLODED INTO FLIGHT, OUR FEET beating down the muck beneath us.”

I WOKE UP THE NEXT DAY IN A SKELETAL, INSTITU-tional bed inside the Tamerlane State Lunatic Asylum.

tHE SOUND OF MY MOTHER’S VOICE SHOCKED me awake.”

tHERE WAS NO STREET PARKING NEXT TO THE Botanica, so we parked three blocks away.”

WHEN I AWOKE, I FACED A WALL OF books.”

SITTING NEXT TO NOAH WHILE HE DROVE ME home the next morning was the worst kind of tor-ture.”

I MUST SAY, I THINK RATHER LIKE THIS SLEEPING arrangement.”

tHE NEXT MORNING, I WOKE UP NEXT TO Noah.”

MY SENSE OF DREAD INCREASED EXPONEN-tially as we drove down the dark, palm-tree lined driveway to the zoo.”

tHE STENCH OF ROT FILLED MY NOSTRILS, AND a voice buzzed in my ear.”

I WRAPPED MY ARMS AROUND NOAH’S NECK AND buried myself in him.”

I COULDN’T GO TO SCHOOL THE NEXT DAY, EITHER—that much was obvious.”

I WAS BREATHLESS BY THE TIME WE REACHED THE wide glass front doors.”

A MACHINE BEEPED TO THE LEFT OF MY father’s hospital bed as another on his right hissed.

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