Book Review: Hallowed

 

Title: Hallowed (Unearthly #2)

 Author: Cynthia Hand

 Publisher: Harper Teen 2012

 Format: Ebook and Print

 Genre: Young adult fantasy

 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.

Described by Richelle Mead as “utterly captivating,” Unearthly received outstanding reviews, garnered accolades from New York Times bestselling authors, and was named an Indie Next Pick. In this heart-wrenching sequel, Cynthia Hand expertly captures the all-consuming joy of first love—and the agony of loss. This beautifully woven tale will appeal to fans of Lauren Kate, Becca Fitzpatrick, and Aprilynne Pike.

 

I had high expectations for this book because Unearthly was my top pick out of all the books I read last year. It was a really great book and not at all what I was expecting.

First let me say that Cynthia Hand is a gifted writer. Hallowed is a beautifully written book that the author must be incredibly proud of. The amount of emotion that it made me feel while I was reading it surprised me.

Clara is a very real character and I like that. Her mother’s secrecy is annoying a fact that was actually made more tolerable because Clara felt frustrated about it too. A lot of the time she voiced a lot of the feelings that I was feeling throughout the book. It made everything going on very credible. She grows throughout the novel as well. She makes decisions – hard ones – ones that hurt but in her heart she knows they are the right ones. He handles a lot of the things happening on around her with grace – I like that she doesn’t whine.

Her connection to Christian is something that gets harder and harder to ignore. And I really like Christian. I have to say that my favorite moments of the book were when he would fly up and sit on the eaves outside her bedroom window. A lot of times Clara never opened up the window, never spoke a word but his presence alone was more than enough. Just the fact that someone would do that – would sit in the snow – knowing they would be ignored and do it anyway really got to me.

I also think that the love triangle was well played in the book. When I read Unearthly I was firmly on team Tucker. Lol. I kind of got stuck in the middle as I was reading Hallowed. I love Tucker – I really do but I did start to wonder if him and Clara belong together. I was a little sad because Tucker wasn’t in the book as much as the first but I understood why. It’s the thing I like least about triangles someone always gets hurt. ;(

The setting and scenery in this book is something that I just really love. The snow, the mountains, the skiing and fishing… it’s so simple yet something that really adds to the story. A lot of times the settings in fantasy/paranormal books are over the top and this is a reminder that they don’t have to be.

I mentioned earlier that this book was very emotional. I usually don’t read emotional books (I’m a big chicken like that – lol) but I didn’t know this was going to be as emotional as it was. I have to say it was my least favorite thing. It doesn’t make sense and I am not really complaining about that because Ms. Hand did her job. She created an incredibly beautiful book that made me feel strong emotions. But, personally, I didn’t like the feelings it brought up. It was too sad and I really felt like the sad part (I’m not going to tell you what it is because it gives to much away) was drawn out… I felt like I spent most of the book (as Clara did, which was the point) waiting for something bad to happen. It just wasn’t pleasant for me, but that is probably because of my own personal experiences.

A part of this book I was slightly disappointed by was Jeffery. I came into this book really excited to learn more about him. To get a bigger glimpse into his head. That didn’t happen. We did find out a little bit toward the end but nothing like I was hoping. He was angry and sullen through the whole book which I actually thought was kind of immature even if I did understand his feelings. Maybe if I had been given a bigger look at him – what he was experiencing from his point of view I would have thought different. And why are his wings the color they are? We got no explanation for that and I want to know.

In all I am excited for the next book to see where Clara’s journey takes her next because I think it’s going to be a very interesting an exciting journey watching her come into herself.

So there you have it. My opinion.