Saturday, February 12, 2011

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Unearthly
Author: Cynthia Hand
Unearthly #1
My Rating: 5/5 stars
Summary: (From Goodreads)
 
 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.

My Rating:

 Good golly! My expectations were exceeded with Unearthly.

 I really have to draw on the beautiful setting of Wyoming in this book. Cynthia Hand did a beautiful job of describing the setting of Unearthly. It's set in Wyoming, and boy, do I ever want to live there now! It's described beautifully and there is; snowy, cold winters and hot summers! What's better than that? But seriously, it added the nicest touch to Unearthly.

 I also really enjoyed Cynthia's writing. Unearthly is written in first person, and Cynthia (or Clara, I guess) has a very lovely voice. The writing was not only descriptive, but also modest and lovely, and definitely showed ho much talent this writer has.

 Speaking of Clara's voice, what about her as a character? Well....she was awesome. I really enjoyed her as a character, for the reason of her honesty and her modest nature in her 1st person perspective, but also because she was so determined and strong, but very weak and vulnerable in other ways. For me, she was such a layered character, and I never knew what to expect from her!

 The other characters were just as engaging. If anybody's starting this.......I'm totally TEAM TUCKER! I enjoyed not only Tucker's hotness and his relationship with Clara, but also his personality. This book has great layered characters overall, and he's another one of them. But the other characters that are tangled in this story are just as awesome, too. I really was fascinated and intrigued by the character of Angela, one of Clara's friends. She was a very interesting character to read about, and I really hope there's more of her in the next book. Christian, Clara's mother, Wendy, Jeffrey were all great characters, and they each played a part that were each enjoyable in Unearthly, and I want to see them all back too!

 And, woah, the ending. Noooo! This was such a great book, very addicting, but it felt as if you only got a sliver of what was to come in the next book(s). At the same time, I am excited for what (I know) is going to be an awesome plot. The ending was so confusing, with a huge scoop of a cliff hanger, and now I am even more addicted! I guess the ending was bad, but in the best way. (If that makes sense!)

 Overall, keep watch for the sequel to Unearthly, and if you haven't read Unearthly yet, you should definitely pick it up! I hope you think it's truly, unearthly awesome, just like I did.

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