Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Title: Unearthly

Author: Cynthia Hand

Pages: 435

Published: January 4, 2011

Publisher: HarperTeen

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?

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

Review:

The first thing that caught my attention about this book was the cover, no duh. The cover is SO absolutely gorgeous, and even though the image provided doesn't show it, the title is shiny, silver. When I read the synopsis, I KNEW I had to pick it up. I have been wanting to read this book for FOREVER, since I have a tiny, maybe huge obsession with angels. I was very satisfied with this baby.

Clara's sense of humor left me smiling to myself when I read through her thoughts. A typical (ish?) teenager, who is a quarter angel. AND sees visions of herself saving a boy (whom we later find out is Christian Prescott) from a forest fire. Hand really let us understand Clara's confusion on learning about angels, and her frustration. I just loved Clara as a character. Her friends that she makes at her new high school are lovable as well. Wendy, I loved her! And mmm mmm mmm.. Tucker, Wendy's twin brother. Boy is he a little Southern sweetheart! I LOVED TUCKER. Especially his little boyish ways of flirting with Clara. Angela was a very trustful angel friend and I loved her absolute quirkiness. I feel like every goth/loner girl ends up being best friends with the main character. :)

Christian.. I didn't like so much. At first he seemed like the perfect dream (literally) guy that every girl (including the reader?) would swoon over. But when he goes to prom with Clara and sort of rejects her for Kay (his ex), I didn't like him so much anymore. I mean I know he is nice to take a sad ex home, but leaving his prom date is also just rude. Since then I just saw him as a preppy hot guy that doesn't really have any feelings. Even when he comes over to Clara's house to apologize and hangout.

The whole angel concept was sort of a different twist on things, especially the "glory" part. I liked the concept of Black Wings, too. Hand describes them as evil angels, and they really creeped me out for sure. I have to say my favorite parts of the book was not of Clara's visions of her saving Christian, but her spending time with Tucker over the summer. He turns out to be a gentleman, and even in the beginning you can tell he makes fun of her because he's in love with her. IT'S SO ADORABLE. He's adorable. I personally loved Tucker+Clara, and hated Clara+Christian. He just wasn't right for me.

The ending was strange. Apparently Christian is an angel too? And if he new all along that HE was supposed to save Clara, why didn't he try to get to know her like she tried to get to know him? It bothered me. The scene with Sam (the black wing) and Clara and her mom is so intense! It was a bit random though. There were just a lot of parts of the book I liked, and some I didn't.

But overall I'm glad I read this one, since it's been on my must-read-pile for a while. I definitely think it is worth reading the next installment, Hallowed, and I cannot wait to find out what happens between Clara, Christian, and TUCKER!

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