Unearthly
Unearthly (Book 1)by Cynthia Hand
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? (goodreads.com)
I don't like books about angels. I find most books about angels seem unoriginal and cliché. I'm just not an angel fan, like I'm not a fan of vampires or were-things.Yet something about this book caught my attention earlier this year and I added it to my 2011 DAC list. I never picked it up though, because, well, ANGEL. For a book about creatures of faith, I had very little faith in said creatures.But then, a sneaky sneaky person named Kristi sent me this book for Christmas. You'll note that my blog has been severely lacking in posts about books lately. I have not been able to read a book without putting it down after a few chapters for a month or so. Here was this angel book, on my DAC list and it was almost the end of 2011. I thought I'd give it a try.I loved this book.Seriously.I started it last night, fell asleep though dreamt about the book and then finished it today. I currently have a plague and I can't seem to focus on anything, yet this book HOOKED ME.This book actually made me laugh out loud a couple of times, which was a total surprise to me. Clara is a fun main character and has a sharp wit and occasionally makes fun of herself. The fact that Clara already knew she was an angel-blood made the book a lot better for me. The fact that Clara, her brother Jeffery and her mother could talk about the angel stuff was refreshing. Sure, the mom held back information and even at the end of the book you're all "JUST TELL US ALREADY, WOMAN! JEEZ!" but you know there's some set up there for the second book, but I could deal with that.I like that the obvious boy route wasn't exactly followed. I was a little shocked by the ending to that story, too. Wasn't what I was expecting.Tucker? Well he was a pretty cool guy and didn't annoy me. I have seen mentions that he changes in the sequel, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.Over all, I had my doubts about Unearthly and therefore was pleasantly surprised with each chapter in this book. There were some parts that felt glossed over (friendship with Wendy, the mean girl Kay) but I was too busy liking Clara as a protagonist to care too much about that. Even though I cringed a little at the "I love you" declarations, I didn't find it fell into the insta-love category, rather it landed somewhere outside that box, but not too far away.But here's the thing that really bothers me - publishers, I beg you, PLEASE PLEASE get more creative with series names. Really. I'm just getting cranky about this now. I HATE when a series has the same name as the FIRST BOOK. If you want to call the series Unearthly then call the first book something else. Or find another name for the series. It bugs me to no end! I can't be the only one. Tell me I'm not the only one.On the bright side, I waited so long to read this one that the sequel comes out in a handful of weeks. Woot! I am SO buying Hallowed when it comes out. Hardcover or not. This series is worth it!Thanks, Kristi, you sneaky Santa, you.Unearthly series