Pip has known and liked Sal since childhood he’d supported her when she was being bullied in middle school. There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.Įveryone believes that Salil Singh killed his girlfriend, Andrea Bell, five years ago-except Pippa Fitz-Amobi.

Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.Īutumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart their mothers are still best friends. The book opens with a sarcastic “Caveat Emptor” listing its flashpoint elements and telling readers, “If you need a trigger warning for that, you’re reading the wrong book.” Recounting of events of the previous series unfolds at an excruciatingly tedious pace over the course of the book, so those who haven’t read that trilogy will feel utterly lost most of the way through.įans of the Mara Dyer series will likely look forward to Noah’s next adventure others need not apply. Noah, who narrates the story, is apparently supposed to be sardonically witty, but he merely comes off as dull and dry. As secrets unfold, Noah’s trust in Mara, who can wish people dead, begins to unravel. After Noah witnesses several Carrier suicides, he and Mara, along with her brother Daniel and their two bisexual friends-Jewish, black Jamie and blond, white Goose-join resources with others like them who might be able to help uncover the reason for the suicides. After the death of his estranged father, Noah uses his sizable inheritance to relocate with Indian-American Mara and their friends to New York. The white English 17-year-old possesses a gene that, when triggered, manifests as an extrasensory “gift” in the gene’s carrier: Noah can heal injuries and experience the pain of others like him as they die. “Gifted.” “Afflicted.” “Carrier.” Depending on one’s point of view, Noah Shaw could be any one of these. This first in a sequel series to the Mara Dyer trilogy brings Mara’s beloved Noah to the fore.

The unbecoming of mara dyer summary