Book Review: Hallowed

Title: Hallowed by Cynthia Hand

Release Date: Jan. 17, 2012
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 403 pages
Genre: Paranormal
Source: Publisher through NetGalley

Goodreads Summary: 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.

In this compelling sequel to "Unearthly," Cynthia Hand captures the joy of first love, the anguish of loss, and the confusion of becoming who you are.

The idea of fallen angels (or angel/human relationships) has never seemed romantic to me, but rather creepy and demonic so I usually avoid angel books with very few exceptions, Cynthia Hand’s Unearthly, being one of them. I really enjoyed it and thought there was a clear delineation between good and evil in the story. The protagonists were descendants of fallen angels, part human and part angel, who had a purpose on Earth to do good and oppose the evil fallen angels, or blackwings. Hallowed, on the other hand, introduced new characters, blurred the lines a bit and romanticized full blooded angels in a way that I’m not sure that I liked.

Hallowed picks up right where Unearthly left off with Clara, Tucker and Christian about to start their senior year of high school. The first portion of the book is filled with a lot of angst as Clara agonizes if by going against her vision, she has ruined her life by not completing her purpose in life.

Clara’s angst is understandable. At 17, all she wants to do is to hang out with her boyfriend and not worry about destiny and the consequences of going against your given purpose. Of course, her life is more complicated than that. Clara has her moments where she throws a tantrum and contemplates changing her life to suit her boyfriend (all realistic for a girl her age), but she does get it together and her character experiences more growth and maturity than in book one.

I have to talk about the love triangle in Hallowed. I don’t like love triangles but if you are a writer and you are going to include one in your book, this is the way to do it. Clara does not go annoyingly back and forth about which boy she wants to be with. She loves one of them but feels like destiny is pushing her to another and she resents it. It’s also hard to be annoyed by this triangle when both boys are fantastically written and Clara would be good with either one.

My personal misgivings about human/angel relationships aside, this book is extremely well written. Hand easily side steps the second-book-in-a-series-slump by writing a book with a winning plot, adding interesting new characters while still engaging us with the old ones and throwing in relevant plot twists. Hallowed is an emotional book with rich relationships and did I say amazing writing? It would have been easy for Hand to cheapen certain situations in the book but she didn’t. I can’t get too spoilery but there is incredible love and loss and it is very well done.

There is no cliffhanger at the end of Hallowed but readers will definitely be chomping at the bit to find out what happens next. The next book in the series will be out next year.

Content: Kissing and violence

My Rating: Really Good!

In My Mailbox #4

In My Mailbox was created by Kristi at The Story Siren. I got some really great eARCs (thank you NetGalley!) this week for review and I am very, very excited about all of them:

For Review:
Obsidian by Jennifer Armentrout (thank you, Entangled Publishing!)
Everneath by Brodi Ashton (thank you, HarperTeen!)
Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi (thank you, HarperTeen!)
Hallowed by Cynthia Hand (thank you, HarperTeen!)

What did you get this week?

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine, and specifically spotlights upcoming novels we can't wait to read. This week’s choices are:

Title: Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publish Date: Feb. 7, 2012
Genre: Dystopia

Goodreads Summary: Exiled from her home, the enclosed city of Reverie, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland—nicknamed The Death Shop—are slim. If the cannibals don’t get her, the violent, electrified energy storms eventually will. In this dystopia, even the very air she breathes could kill her. Then Aria meets an Outsider named Perry. He’s wild, dangerous—a savage. He’s also her only hope. Perry needs Aria, too. She alone holds the key to his redemption. And their unlikely alliance will determine the fate of all who live under the never sky.

Title: Hallowed by Cynthia Hand
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publish Date: Jan. 24, 2012
Genre: Paranormal

Goodreads Summary: For months part-angel Clara Gardner trained to face the raging forest fire from her visions and rescue the alluring and mysterious Christian Prescott from the blaze. But nothing could prepare her for the fateful decisions she would be forced to make that day, or the startling revelation that her purpose—the task she was put on earth to accomplish—is not as straightforward as she thought. Now, torn between her increasingly complicated feelings for Christian and her love for her boyfriend, Tucker, Clara struggles to make sense of what she was supposed to do the day of the fire. And, as she is drawn further into the world of part angels and the growing conflict between White Wings and Black Wings, Clara learns of the terrifying new reality that she must face: Someone close to her 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.

Title: Slide by Jill Hathaway
Publisher: Blazer + Bray for HarperCollins
Publish Date: March 27, 2012
Genre: Thriller, Paranormal

Goodreads Summary: Vee Bell is certain of one irrefutable truth—her sister’s friend Sophie didn’t kill herself. She was murdered. Vee knows this because she was there. Everyone believes Vee is narcoleptic, but she doesn’t actually fall asleep during these episodes: When she passes out, she slides into somebody else’s mind and experiences the world through that person’s eyes. She’s slid into her sister as she cheated on a math test, into a teacher sneaking a drink before class. She learned the worst about a supposed “friend” when she slid into her during a school dance. But nothing could have prepared Vee for what happens one October night when she slides into the mind of someone holding a bloody knife, standing over Sophie’s slashed body. Vee desperately wishes she could share her secret, but who would believe her? It sounds so crazy that she can’t bring herself to tell her best friend, Rollins, let alone the police. Even if she could confide in Rollins, he has been acting off lately, more distant, especially now that she’s been spending more time with Zane. Enmeshed in a terrifying web of secrets, lies, and danger and with no one to turn to, Vee must find a way to unmask the killer before he or she strikes again.

HarperCollins released their Winter 2012 children’s catalog with some amazing books, these are just a few of them. Hallowed is the sequel to Unearthly, the only angel book that I have absolutely loved. Under the Never Sky and Slide sound and look awesome, can’t wait to read them. What books are you waiting on?

Review of Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Release Date: Jan. 4, 2011
Publisher: HarperTeen
Pages: 435 pages
Genre: Paranormal
Rating: 4.5 stars
Source: I got the copy that I read from the Library, and I also won my own copy from Yani at Secret Life of an Avid Reader. Thanks Yani!

Goodreads Summary: 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?

Review:  I usually don’t read angel books, just not my thing. Lately, however, I have seen great reviews of Unearthly and I decided to give this one a try. I was not disappointed. While it looks like the typical YA paranormal romance, it is much more than that with foreboding elements of good versus evil.

I love that Clara is the paranormal in this story. She is the one responsible for the saving, as opposed to the girl just waiting to get saved. She is not perfect but her character is very likable and relatable. Both Tucker and Christian are swoon worthy and even though there is a bit of a love triangle, it’s only an issue because Clara is being pushed to date one guy over the other. The actual romance between Clara and the guy she chooses is so sweet! I just love this kind of relationship, no love at first sight, but a love that is built over time by getting to know each other.

Almost all the secondary characters have secrets and their own mysteries going on which adds more dimension to the story. There are many subplots running through this book that were unresolved, leaving lots of material for the second book which will be titled Hallowed.

Unearthly is a well written and exciting novel. What didn’t I love about it? Some of those issues that were left unresolved and especially the cliffhanger ending. It was very unsatisfying! That being said, I cannot wait for Hallowed to come out, I will be running to the store to get it!

Content: A character is incapacitated and almost raped (thankfully, it does not happen), demons and a brief trip to hell.