Clouded Judgement

**some spoilers

Everyone makes poor decisions occasionally, not just adolescents. Most of the time, those poor decisions have consequences later on in life. This is exactly what happened in the book I finished titled  The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin. This book is the third and last in The Mara Dyer Trilogy. If this is your first time reading my blog, I would suggest you read my previous blog post to begin with. That post was responding to the second book in The Mara Dyer Trilogy titled The Evolution of Mara Dyer. The main character of The Retribution of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer),  is going through numerous situations. Many more than in the previous book. Yet, Michelle Hodkin wrote this book to make Mara seem naive. Mara would believe anything anyone told her because she was so desperate for answers. A young reader, like you, can learn from Mara that mixing your emotions with your situation affects your judgement.

In the beginning of the book, Mara’s feelings always affected her decisions. This alone made so many more problems for her that she had to handle. The decisions Mara made were never long term. Mara never thought about how her decisions could possibly affect her future. Depending on how she felt about the situation, she would make a different decision. Many people have the same problem as Mara and make poor decisions all the time. Something a young reader can learn from Mara is if you want to make a decision, you have to think about your future. You can’t only think about the way you feel because your feelings change. So in the end, you make more problems for yourself.  

By the end of the book, Mara’s friends and family help her handle all the problems that her poor decisions got her into. I don’t want to spoil the entire book for you, but by the very end of the book, Mara’s tale ends fairly well. A young reader can elaborate on what he or she learned in the beginning. If had you let your emotions get in the way of your judgement, would you be as fortunate with your situation as Mara was? Would you have been able to fix the mess you made or have been forced live with the consequences? That's why it's so important to not let your situation and emotions cloud your judgement because you never know if you'll be able to deal with the consequences.

To conclude this response, I would say that The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin is a young adult novel that not only adolescents, but anyone can learn from. In the book, when Mara made decisions, she would only use her heart. Always using how she felt to make decisions. Since your decision could affect your future, it is important use your mind as well. Think about how your decision will affect your future. Making poor decisions also come with consequences. Sometimes you can fix your mistakes but other times you have to live with them.