Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Review: Unearthly

Author: Cynthia Hand
Publish date: 2011
Source: Purchased
"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 apurpose, 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?
"

I'll be the first person to admit that I am very wary of paranormal novels. I think I am prejudiced partly because of my dislike of Twilight and partly because there is so much paranormal out there. However, I've been seeing love for Hallowed, Unearthly's sequel, lately, and since this one is only 99 cents for Kindle right now, I decided to give it a shot. Unearthly ended up being a quick, fun read and exceeded my expectations for paranormal.

One of the main things I liked about Unearthly was that for the majority of the novel, it didn't feel like a paranormal. The main character, Clara, deals with some very normal teenage girl things, along with becoming more mature as an angel, but the paranormal aspects weren't overwhelming and didn't detract from the main theme: following the rules vs. following your heart. It was also great to see a parent with a large role in the story, which is often overlooked in YA for convenience's sake. The setting was cool too; I'd love to take a vacation to Jackson Hole and ski down some mountains!

Another reason I liked the book is that there was no insta-love! between the main characters. Clara and her guys actually developed relationships and had to deal with conflicts within them. I feel like I see insta-love! way too often in books, especially YA, so it was nice to see something more realistic. I'll definitely be reading Hallowed when it comes out later this month. Looking forward to another fun read!

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