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Saturday, January 7, 2012

[Review] Hallowed by Cynthia Hand

Title: Hallowed
Author: Cynthia Hand
Published: January 1st 2012 by Harper Collins Australia
Series: Unearthly #2
Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads summary: 
Clara Gardner knew that as a part angel she would one day have to fulfill her purpose, rescuing Christian from a forest fire...what she never considered was what might happen if she were to fail.

Now, torn between her increasingly complicated feelings for Christian and her love for her boyfriend Tucker, Clara must deal with the repercussions of what happened the day of the fire as the two boys vie for her heart. And, as she is drawn further into the world of angels and 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 after a shocking revelation, the only thing Clara knows for sure is that the fire was just the beginning...
Emma's thoughts:
**SPOILERS FOR UNEARTHLY**
First of all, I have to say I love the Australian cover the most (not to be biased or anything :P). How pretty is the red hair against the dark trees? And I actually bothered to purchase a paperback version of this! I never, ever, ever, buy hard copies of books, ever... I did not regret buying this, because now I can actually feel the pages! 

I think Cynthia Hand is one of the most talented authors ever. Because even though Hallowed has a sad tone to it, I found myself laughing often throughout. Her characters are hilarious with seemingly no effort. And you know what I think is absolutely amazing? I always find so love triangles so unnecessarily annoying, but I loved it in Hallowed. It was realistic (as realistic as one could get in an angel's world) and Clara wasn't the only one having a hard time trying to choose.

When I started Hallowed, I was all for Team Tucker, but the little things Christian did... I just wanted Clara to hold him and let him fly her away into the sunset, because that's how it's supposed to be right? Christian is all kinds of awesomeness. He used to be the god that Clara would admire from afar, but now, they've got this undeniable connection which I want to hate, but I can't help to love. And then there's Tucker, and he's totally disadvantaged in this situation in pretty much every way. Still, he stays brave and so utterly cute! (it's true that he's not in the book a whole lot, which is devastating, but I'm not going to complain because it's perfect the way it is) I found it hilarious that Clara even mentioned how she never thought she'd be 'that girl' in a love triangle. 'Joke's on her.'

Another thing I usually hate Cynthia Hand made me love: secrecy. Okay, I despise it immensely when parents (or older, mature figures) feel the need to hide everything from the younger characters to 'protect' them... and then they all end up hurt anyways.

I admit, all the secrets at the beginning of Hallowed bothered me, but when I found out the truth, I was probably laughing in relief it wasn't something horrible, or gasping in utter shock. Everything just clicked in place. Hallowed is a great sequel, for it answers all the questions I asked at the end of Unearthly, but gave me a whole lot more for the last and final book. (Okay, I cannot believe this is only a trilogy! Unearthly should be an endless series! Hell heck, it should be made into a TV series, and then I'd be able to get a weekly dose of Tucker and Christian :D)

I loved learning more about angel-bloods and Cynthia Hand obviously has done a lot of research for this (admittedly I have read Genesis 6 quite a few times for my own stuff!). And this whole purpose thing! I had an inkling about Clara's mum's purpose and I was right :D But that just leaves a bajillion doors open. The third book needs to come out soon, because I'm dying trying to figure out the answers myself. The twists and turns were exciting and unexpected and I cannot wait to see where they lead!

Rating: 5 stars - Evoked all sorts of different emotions from me. All the good and even the bad, just the way I like it :)  


First line:
 In the dream, there's sorrow.
Favourite:
"This is isn't going to become one of those creepy situations where you show up at all hours of the night to watch me sleep, is it?"
Teaser:
Note to self: buy some nunchucks or something.

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