Dawn and Winnie Book Reviews: Unearthly Series by Cynthia Hand

Thursday, January 19

Unearthly Series by Cynthia Hand

9:40 AM | Posted by Dawn & Winnie Book Reviews

Title: Unearthly

Author: Cynthia Hand

Series: Unearthly # 1

Publisher: Harper Teen

Paperback: 403

Publication Date: January 4^th 2011

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? Unearthly is a moving tale of love and fate, and the struggle between following the rules and following your heart.

Cynthia Hand is a different kind of writer. She has a great imagination and I do like this book. I am definitely hooked however I don’t know if I really enjoyed the book or just looking forward to the next book in the series simply because of the cliffhanger or out shear curiosity or what??? Or because???? The ending was confusing and I didn’t get it.

1. What’s with her brother and his wings??? What was his Purpose? Why was he coming out of the bushes in the end!

2. In the end... Was she with Christian or Tucker??? Is she a fallen now due to her choices? Did she deify God??? If she chooses Tucker, then why was she restless in the end???

3. How come her mom didn't recognize Christian as Angel Blood?

I don’t understand where she is going with this! Yet I still recommend this book.

well done!

Unearthly is a bit different from previous angel genre books I have read. In this story there are different levels of angels ranging from pure to quarter type angels. We start of with Clara; a teen with a somewhat sarcastic humorous personality who lives with her mom and brother in California, getting a vision basically and the story follows here trying to fulfill this vision she had also known as a purpose. Along the road to doing this she makes friends with a few people Angela- (one of my favorites) she is a somewhat loner Goth type, and Wendy- fun, upbeat personality. As usual there will always be haters in the game, we have Kay and Tucker, somewhat the kill joys in Clara's life. There is also the mysterious guy/ purpose- Christian. But as we continue to read we see that destiny is not always as easy as it seems to fulfill. Our character is faced with hard choices. How can you choose between love and duty. Sometimes it the choice seems so clear up until the last second where your heart may make you change your mind. Some people have picked teams, I cannot, both sides of this story I truly understand and I do not envy Clara her choices. There are twists and secrets revealed that keep this story a true page-turner. After finishing this it just leaves me to question myself, what is my purpose?

Title: Hallowed

Author: Cynthia Hand

Series: Unearthly # 2

Publisher: Harper Teen

Paperback: 403

Publication Date: January 17th 2012

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.

WARNING… THIS was not my favorite book…. It contains major Spoilers and Author trashing…. So please read at your own risk.

Hallowed is the second book in the series and let me say, that I have a lot to say about this book! In book one, Clara didn’t fulfill her purpose; she chose to save tucker, her boyfriend because she couldn’t let him die! (Yet she blames Christian for driving “Kay” home on prom night, knowing fully well Kay was upset and heart broken)! How is that different from Clara choosing to save tucker? How. Sweet!

In book two, Clara is having new dreams; she didn’t know what it meant… soon she finds out that her dream is trying to tell her that someone she loves is going to die. Clara concludes that its Tucker and she will fight her purpose by saving Tucker again. So she started stalking tucker by hanging out on his window and playing bodyguard. She chose not to tell her mother about this dream because she didn’t want to see the look in her mother’s eyes, which led to little white lies to her mom. She is still avoiding Christian not wanting to talk about the fire! (Coward!)Worst she is oblivious to anything around how but Tucker!

Meanwhile Clara’s mother is getting sick and very weak, but Clara doesn’t see this, she is focused on Tucker.

As for Christian he just supports Clara, wanting to be friends letting her set the pace. They haven’t really had a chance to get to know each other. They are drawn together yes, but what else is there?

Then Clara finds out that her mother is the one dying not Tucker! How she deals with it? She got upset at her mother for keeping it a secret, then and blames God for taking her mommy’s life. (Isn’t 120years enough? How long does humans live? Isn’t she keeping secrets from her mother, by not telling her mom about the dream?)

Jeffrey on the other hand is taking it harder than his sister, plus for some reason he hates Clara now! Why? Wait for it… secrets time!

Lots of secrets were spilled in this book

Clara should have gone to Christian, but she chose to save Tucker Avery in book 1… the ripple effect?
Tucker was Jeffrey’s purpose not Clara’s Jeffrey was supposed to save Tucker from the fire! But by Clara’s interference she not only ruined her purpose, but she messed up Jeffery’s and Christian’s as well! (Stupid isn’t it)?
Clara’s dad is a full angel not human making Clara and Jeffery More Angelic than the human. Which means Clara and Jeffery are supposed to be super powerful!!! Christian and Clara are the same, meaning they have the same amount of angel blood in them! They are more angelic than human. Which means that they are supposed to be perfect for each other.
Clara’s mother fought her purpose too just like Clara for about 60 years.

Conclusions?

Even though Cynthia Hand is a good writer she is inconsistent and her heroine is just selfish and dumb! Not an attractive quality you want in a Human or an angel!

1st off, there are times to be stubborn and there are times to take a step back and think! Clara is not logical, she is impulsive and thoughtless worst off all she is very judgmental. Case in point? In book 1, Clara chose to go after tucker, choosing to save tucker. How is that different from Christian when he chose to take ” Kay” home on prom night, yet Clara condemns Christian for a choice that she might have made! After all she did choose to save Tuck, didn’t she? Worst Tucker, wasn’t hers to save. It was Jeffery’s! Clara also hates her mother for keeping secrets, yet she keeps secrets of her own. Plus Clara tells everything! She can’t seem to shut up! Spilling angel business to Tucker, even secrets that isn’t hers to tell! If she likes to be that open, be open to Wendy too… not just tucker! Hypocrisy? Roger that! (And Christian thought her brave? He must be blind or Daft!) Seriously!

In book 2, Clara chose to let talk go because she believes he deserves to have a normal human life, yet this is the same girl who is trying to fight Purpose and still fighting her purpose because she wants to choose! (Is my life) she says, all the time, yet she chose for Tuck! Deciding for him (How inconsistent is that?). WOW! What was Cynthia Hand thinking? I mean I know people like conflict, but there is a difference between conflict and page feelers and this writing, this book is the epitome of Plain Rubbish! I continued reading this book because I thought Clara might become sensible, but she gets dumber and self absorb by the second! The deal breaker for me was the parts were Clara was considering giving up college to stay with Tucker. It doesn’t fit; the message is confusing! What is Cynthia Hand trying to convey? Free will? Choices? Love wins all? What’s is meant to be will be? Because I CAN point out all the inconsistencies with all four from her writing so far! What else is there? What am I missing? And a waste of my time.

I MUST START OF BY SAYING THAT I TOTALLY DISAGREE WITH WINNIE ON THIS ONE.HALLOWED IS A GREAT FOLLOW UP TO UNEARTHLY. In this second novel to the series we continue where book one left of. Clara has not completed her purpose and she is still trying to hold on to the love that she has sacrificed all for. Tucker remains devoted to her, but at some points it seems as if the angel may be a bit overwhelming for her. As Clara tries to figure out her next step- seeing she defied the almighty and all- she is given another vision, possibly a funeral. With this new revelation Clara tries to figure out whom the funeral is for and how to possibly stop it. If she does this will she be defying her purpose once more? She is also forced to choose between love and duty. The Dark Wings are still annoyingly around and make things harder for Clara as well. Jeffrey is acting strange a no one can figure out why- is he going through that rebellious teen stage- or could it be more. We meet new characters and loose some of our most beloved ones as well. I don't have a vision to see wheel this story is taking us but I will blindly follow on, as this story was great. It brought both tears and laughs to me.