Showing posts with label Unearthly. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Unearthly. Show all posts

Hallowed By Cynthia Hand

Monday, 17 September 2012

Hallowed (Unearthly, #2)
Series: Unearthly #2
GenreYoung Adult, Romance, Paranormal
Release DateJanuary 2nd 2012
Source: Bought
Overall Rating: 4/5 Stars
Cover Rating 3/5 Stars
Synopsis: For months Clara Gardner trained to face the fire from her visions, but she wasn't prepared for the choice she had to make that day. And in the aftermath, she discovered that nothing about being part angel is as straightforward as she thought. Now, torn between her love for Tucker and her complicated feelings about the roles she and Christian seem destined to play in a world that is both dangerous and beautiful, Clara struggles with a shocking revelation: Someone she loves will die in a matter of months. With her future uncertain, the only thing Clara knows for sure is that the fire was just the beginning.


I absolutely loved the first book in this series, Unearthly, and I had high hopes for this one. I have realized after many disappointments that my expectations are nearly impossible to meet, but this one got pretty close. I had the same problem with this one as Unearthly; it has a very slow start. Once you get into it though it speeds up tremendously. The book follows on from the previous one as Clara has failed her purpose - or at least she thinks she has. She's not all that sure to be honest. She has started to have a new vision. A new purpose maybe? She's not all that sure about that either. Not a very decisive girl. What she does know though is that someone she loves will die very soon. She doesn't know who, why or how they will die. But they will.

I don't remember if I liked Clara in the first book but right now I'm on the fence about her. She doesn't annoy me, but she doesn't entertain me either. She is a bit like a vessel that keeps the story going but doesn't leave a lasting impression. She's tolerable and acts the age she's supposed to be, which is more than I can say for a lot of young adult heroines. There is a love triangle in this book but wait before you put this on your 'stupid-teen-love-triangle shelf (and we all know you have one). This isn't the average love triangle, it's a triangle out of necessity. That may sound stupid but it actually is not. Clara has to decide whether to be with the one she loves or the one her purpose seems to be foretelling that she be with. The obvious answer is of course the one she loves but it's not all that simple. Christian, one of the guys in question, changed a lot since the last book. In the first I thought he was quite sweet and for a while preferred him to the other. In Hallowed, that all changed. Christian became a jerk going after a girl who was taken and being rather forceful about it. Sure he still had his sweet parts but I was never positive if there was a hidden motive behind it or not. Tucker on the other hand was as perfect as ever. He must be the only YA character I've come across who wants to be a farmer and goes to rodeo's. He is also one of the only characters who didn't  come to terms with something unbelievable within minutes.

Example:
Bella Swan: Your a vampire?
Edward Cullen: Yes I am, fear me little breakable human. I'm a monster!
Bella Swan: I don't mind. I love you! Vampires are like, so cool! *

* No disrespect to people who like Twilight, I actually don't hate it myself but it's just made to mock!

I may have misquoted that but it's something along those lines. Anyway overall the book although not as good as the last was one of my favorite Angel based books. The plot - yes it actually has a plot! Take that Fallen! - has many aspects intertwined. The whole idea of a 'purpose' is extremely original and I grab all the originality I can get when it comes to these kind of books. I would recommend this book to those who want a new twist on the over written angel genre.

My Favorite Quote's: 

“Before I moved here, I never got the whole love-triangle thing. You know, in movies or romance novels or whatnot, where there’s one chick that all the guys are drooling over, even though you can’t see anything particularly special about her. But oh, no, they both must have her. And she’s like, oh dear, however will I choose? William is so sensitive, he understands me, he swept me off my feet, oh misery, blubber, blubber, but how can I go on living without Rafe and his devil-may-care ways and his dark and only-a-little-abusive love? Upchuck.”

“Hi there," Tucker says brightly, like we're bumping into each other on the street.
"Uh, hi."
"Nice night for stalking," he observes.
"No, I was---"
"Get your butt in here, Carrots.”
---
“I sneaked out to his house a couple times in the middle of the night to watch over him while he slept, just in case, I dont know, his comic book collection decided to spontaneously combust. This was dumb and admittedly creepy in an Edward Cullen kind of way”
See even the book mock's it!

Email me at: confessionsofabookaholic@LIVE.CO.UK

Unearthly By Cynthia Hand

Sunday, 6 May 2012


Unearthly (Unearthly, #1)
Cover Rating: 2.5/5 Stars
Overall Rating: 4/5 Stars
Synopsis: In the beginning, there’s a boy standing in the trees . . .
Clara Gardner has recently learned that she’s part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn’t easy. Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place—and out of place at the same time. Because there’s another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara’s less angelic side. As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she’d have to make—between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny? 



From the start Unearthly grabbed me and pulled me into Clara's world, after Fallen I was hesitant about angel books but this most definitely changed my opinion. I love the story line - an angel trying to fulfill her purpose; Genius! I think Cynthia Hand has quickly become another of my favorite authors. I admit the book got slightly slow in the middle and the end got confusing but I still liked it. Clara was quite a good heroine and she hasn't done anything that makes me hate her - yet. Oh the boys. At the start I loved Christian, he seemed perfect but I slowly realized that he was so perfect it was kind of boring. So I turned to Tucker. My first opinion of him? A country hick. After I got to know him? A cute, sweet, awesome country hick. I must say the cowboy part of him put me off at first but I got over it.

The minor characters I didn't like as much; Angela was just annoying, Wendy boring and her mother I'm still undecided on. Her brother Jeffery was okay though there is something off about him, what it is I guess I will see in the second book. Cynthia Hand's writing was spellbinding and kept me entertained. I haven't had that much time to read this week so it took me a while to finish and the ending was definitely a shock. I would recommend this to angel/paranormal lovers. If you disliked Fallen or even Hush Hush don't be deterred. I can't decide if I liked this more than Hush Hush because I just love Patch! I would give this book 4/5 Stars; very nearly a 4.5.


My Favorite Quote:
“Insert the biggest, most awkward silence in the history of big awkward silences.”
 
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