Boundless (Unearthly, #3)

by Cynthia Hand

'A PAGE-TURNING AND GRIPPING STORY, FILLED WITH GOOD VERSUS EVIL DRAMA, AS WELL AS ROMANCE. I LOVED IT!'

--Alexandra Adornetto, author of New York Times bestseller Halo on Unearthly

The past few years held more surprises than part angel Clara Gardner ever could have anticipated. Yet, through the dizzyingly high of falling in love for the first time to the agonizing low of losing someone close to her, one thing that remained constant was the knowledge that she was never meant to have a normal life.

Now Clara is finally ready to fulfill her destiny, as the battle against the Black Wings and their minions looms on the horizon. And part of that destiny is being with Christian, even if her heart still aches for Tucker. When one of the people Clara trusts most betrays her, she finds herself fighting for her life - and the safety of the ones she loves.

In the electrifying conclusion to the Unearthly series Clara will gain new insight into the true meaning of her purpose, and decide once and for all whether she should be with Christian or Tucker.

MORE PRAISE FOR THE UNEARTHLY SERIES'Utterly captivating. Cynthia Hand has brilliantly spun the magic of angel mythology into a modern world of romance and suspense, creating one of the most addictive books I've read in a while. Unearthly had me lying awake at night, wondering what would happen next'-- Richelle Mead, #1 bestselling author of the Vampire Academy series on Unearthly

• ISBN10: 0062103466
• ISBN13: 9780062103468
• Publish Date: 22 January 2013
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: Collins
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 448
• Language: English

Reviews

[KitsuneBae]

Actual: 2.5 stars

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

Everything just happened so fast. Considering the gravity of Clara's situation, it was so hard to believe that everything got resolved so easily. The matter with Samjeeza, Asael, and Tucker. Here are my concerns:

*The stuff that went down in Hell and what happened afterwards in the Lazy Dog barn were so laughable. As what this book has shown, defeating Asael, believed to be one of the most despicable Fallen after Lucifer himself, was, afterall, just a walk in the park. The way the buildup was done, I assumed that an epic battle was going to happen between Clara's team and that of Asael's, instead, it was over before you even realized it.

* At this point, Clara's romance with Tucker was even weird taking into account all that has happened. It was more probable for her to end up with Christian.

*Another thing that really irked me was Clara's relationship with her brother, Jeffrey. Their relationship felt so superficial that it was easier to believe that instead of a brother, Clara actually had a sister in the person of Angela.


The only thing that I can truly praise about this book is that it's not as bad as that horrible ending of the Mortal Instruments, City of Heavenly Fire.

I was a little disappointed by the ending of this series, especially as I loved the first book of this series so much.

[girlinthepages]

I had this book waiting on my desk to read for a while, thinking, this will be a fantastic, enjoyable read, no problem. I had read the two previous novels in the series and had really liked them (as I've mentioned before, I'm a total sucker for angel/fallen angel books. And while this book does deliver at the ends, the first half was a real slough to get through.

Since the first half of the book was relatively disappointing (at least for the standards I had for this series) and the second half was much more interesting, I will break my review into two parts:

The Bad: I literally thought the beginning of the book was a dream sequence or something, because in what world do literally almost all of the same group of friends go to the same college and move their little circle perfectly to Stanford? Yes, maybe I'm being too harsh- they're all following their intertwined "purpose" and whatnot- but it was so cliché I could barely read it. And reading all about Clara going to classes and experiencing college, etc., felt like a really displaced, jarring aspect of the narrative. Not that it's not a valid experience to explore but because this is the third book in a series and yet it felt like the first, with Clara being so innocent and having so many new experiences when it's like hello, you have so many other major things going on, so many loose ends from the previous books. ALSO, a MAJOR pet peeve of mine was that it mentions one of the characters going to school in California at UC Santa Clara.

....

As a native Californian I wanted to pull my hair out reading this. There is a Santa Clara University which is a private, Jesuit, catholic university but it is in NO WAY part of the University of California public school system along with Berkeley, UCLA, etc. I was super disappointed by this oversight considering the author herself is a professor at Pepperdine University, which is also in California, and I don't understand how this oversight possibly occurred. It really feels like lazy editing.

There was also some cheesy and really random time travel that went on but I won't elaborate for those who haven't read it yet.

The Good: About halfway through, when winter break hits, things start to pick up. The author did a really good job incorporating everyone's purpose into the plot and entwining them all together. I also didn't think the author would kill off characters but it happened more than I expected, and I appreciate an author who is willing to take risks and sacrifice their characters. I like how their is a distinction between true "fallen" angels who are aligned with hell and those who are in the in-between space like Phen, whose allegiance is tricky. And though it's not new to this book in particular I loved loved loved the idea that the fallen (like Samjeeza) carry around this crippling Sorrow that literally radiates off of them, and is usually concentrated to one particular person/incident/experience. It's a new take on the fallen angel theme and I always appreciate when an author brings something original to the table.

This is a potential spoiler, though I would consider it minor, but I really loved the following dialogue exchange regarding the concept of hell in this series:
"Not trapped but kept. Most of them do not realize they're in hell. They have willed themselves here. They could leave at any time they choose, but they will never choose to."
"Why not?"
"Because they will not let go of what it is that brought them here to begin with." -Boundless, 369

This is the most interesting notion of hell I have come across so far- that it's completely self-inflicted. It's a horrifying thought, but it makes sense with a frightening clarity, that we, as humans, damn ourselves. I thought this was a delightfully insightful aspect of the book.

The novel also sees a lot of character development, especially with Christian, which I appreciated because we've already seen so much with Tucker. The author did a great job evening out the playing field and developing both love interests well enough that I would have been upset no matter who Clara ended up with, and making two likeable male protagonists is definitely nothing to sneeze at.

Overall I'm glad I didn't give up on this book the way I wanted too after the first 100 pages or so. The tediousness of the first half is definitely made up by a ton of action in the second half, with multiple plot twists that aren't at all obvious, and multiple climactic moments- literally you think you've hit the climax of the plot and then it just gets topped again throughout the last 50 pages. This book is a sufficient end to a good series and doesn't leave the reader with a lingering feeling of having wanted more than they were given.

Also, does anyone else love Samjeeza as much as I do?

[Kim Deister]

Boundless begins not long after Clara and Angela have returned from Italy. They are enrolled as freshman at Stanford University, strangely normal for two angel girls. So much has changed for Clara... in love, life, and for her divine purpose. I think this was my favorite book of the series. It was a perfect finale to a wonderful series!

Like the others, the writing is beautiful, sweeping you right along with our beloved characters. They have changed and have grown and are dealing with very adult problems. There is so much depth in these books, and in this one in particular. There is so much emotion mixed with sadness and unexpected moments of joy and humor. There were a lot of heart-stopping moments in this book: fear, happiness, sadness, romance.

The love triangle really came to a head in Boundless, with so much back and forth by Clara that at times, I got a little annoyed with it. Because of that, it was a little hard to celebrate the choice she makes because with that choice came pain. And, loving both Christian and Tucker, that made it difficult to be as satisfied with the ending as I think I should have been. There was also some predictability in the "bad guy" but getting there was still just as much fun!

It's hard to say goodbye to some series, after getting to know the characters and falling in love with them. This was definitely one of those series. There was such a wide range of emotions that came with the series as a whole and, as a reader, I became connected to the characters. Unearthly was mysterious as we were introduced to the angels. Hallowed was more than a little depressing (but in a good way, if that's possible). Radiant gave us insight into Angela and left us wondering. This one, for much of it, was rather grim. There were times when I wondered just how Angela or Clara would find their way out of their own personal pits of hell. But these are the things that kept me reading!

Things to love about Boundless...

--The tone of the writing. The author does a great job capturing the voice of teenagers, without that stilted quality that can come with adults writing YA.
--The twisting, turning plot lines. There was a lot more to this book, both in Clara's own stories and those of the other characters.
--Angela's part in it all. She had so much more to do with it all than I ever expected and I liked that twist.

Things I wanted more of...

--Jeffrey. I wanted to understand his divine purpose and I just didn't get it.

My recommendation: A fantastic end to a great series, so read, read, READ!

[anne]

Wish we could give half stars. Would have been 3.5 for me. All resolved conveniently, though Christian is rather extraordinairily patient...

[ladygrey]

This was a really good end to this trilogy with, what I felt was an unsatisfying ending. And yes I'll explain why. But not yet.

The thing I really liked about this story was that the vision wasn't the climax. I liked that it was a turning point but that the whole narrative wasn't building up to just that one moment. It made the story feel like it had great dimension and depth.

I also really liked the characters. Their interactions were deeper and stronger for having known each other for a few years now. They made mistakes which momentarily bothered me, but you could also see that they've learned and grown so it didn't infuriate me. There was one moment where I felt like I'd been stuck in Clara's head for too long and was desperate for some dialog or some sort of interaction with someone. But it was just the one time and only for a few pages.

Mostly I really liked the story and really liked the plot and totally thought about giving it four stars. I probably should. It probably deserves it. I liked a lot of the casual ways [a:Cynthia Hand|3290920|Cynthia Hand|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1278596541p2/3290920.jpg] worked in different principles and subjects of faith and different parallels she drew.

What I didn't like was the ending because it felt like a betrayal. Not because I was invested in either Christian or Tucker. I'd liked one for half of one book then another for a while then back to the first so I didn't really have a solid allegiance as to who she'd end up with. In fact, I was curious and kind of excited to see how it'd all play out. But what I felt happened was that Hand betrayed her own narrative in the way she told the story. And I can't explain that better with out spoilers...

Truly, I didn't really care which one she ended up with. The first book was split pretty evenly. The second weighed heavily with Tucker and even though I liked Christian I kind of felt like Clara was betraying Tucker by her growing relationship with Christian. But this book builds on that relationship so by the end I was kind of leaning towards Christian.

But the book goes wrong - not in who she ends up with but in how it tells the story. Throughout this novel, Clara talks about how much she can't get over Tucker. How her thoughts keep coming back to him. Even, eventually, that he is home for her.
And she says that Christian makes her stronger, helps her focus on who she truly is, grounds her.

How do you pick between guys like that? How can either be a bad choice? Clara, at one point, tells her mother, "Maybe you shouldn't look at it in terms of whether or not you'll be happy as this guy's wife, but if being his wife is true to the kind of person you want to be."

So, the real question is, whether Tucker or Christian fits that description for her. Based on this novel. Because I know Tucker challenged her and really helped her be more true to herself in previous books. But even in series you can't relay on previous books to tell your story. In this novel, Tucker isn't that guy.

Which makes it feel unsatisfying when she ends up with him. Not because I liked the other guy that much more. But because everything this book is telling me reinforces one point of view love and then doesn't end that way. It's not exactly a bait and switch, because I don't think Hand was pushing Clara in one direction and then pushed her into another. I think she knew all along how it was going to end but the things she said in the narrative, the way she described those relationships, didn't reinforce that ending.

[Kelsenator]

For more reviews make sure to visit my blog Kelsey's Cluttered Bookshelf!

This series is by far one of the best when it comes to angels, that I’ve ever read. It’s just a combination of the characters, their trials and all the excitement that goes on, while not sounding too religious or preachy.

Clara starts this one off going to University, and even the simplicity of that draws you in at first, especially when Angela and Christian are there too. In the last book some things happened with Tucker, so in this book she’s finding herself drawn to Christian a bit. She’s worried though that their being together is simply based on a higher up purpose, and not really for themselves. So while I won’t say who she ends up with, I wasn't expecting the choice but I definitely think it was the best one she could get!

Not only was the romance and tension great, but the whole visions and possible danger coming really kept me wanting to read on. I mean, the ending of the book was just epic and one part almost had me crying and ready to curse the author! But I think everything worked out for the best, and I wouldn't have changed any of it.

I really recommend picking up this series, whether you’re a fan of books with angels in it or not. I wasn’t really thinking I’d like it when I started but I can say now that this series was awesome!

[Angie]

Boundless is the much anticipated finale to the Unearthly series, and it mostly doesn't disappoint. Clara, Angela, and Christian have all started their first year at Stanford where Angela's vision has led them. Little do they know just how dangerous her vision turns out to be, and how little of it actually takes place on campus. Things almost immediately get really intense, and I don't mean their course loads! Angela finds herself in a predicament that will change all of their lives forever.

As I said in my review for Radiant, Angela's role is definitely larger. I loved seeing more of her, even though she's not her usual upbeat, snarky self. She has some huge life changes coming up, and I could only hope that it ended well for her. Of course, there is a happy ending, but it takes a lot of pain and struggle to get there even with the help of her two best friends.

Clara is continuing to rework her sense of identity throughout Boundless from learning to live without her mom, choosing a major and career path, and reevaluating her purpose. It turns out that is has nothing to do with what she original though, and I enjoyed that twist. It was definitely unexpected, but it makes sense given everything that has happened. She also grows as a person and comes into her angelic powers. I really enjoyed learning more about all she can do, despite not being the biggest angel fan.

The romance takes a back seat to the action in this one. You may think that Clara and Christian will be all over each other now that they're in college together, but nope. Everything keeps getting in the way of their budding romance, and then of course, there's Tucker. Clara is obviously not over him, much to Christians disappointment. I think the author did an amazing job with the love triangle. It didn't dominate the larger plot, and it felt natural, not forced.

All in all, I really enjoyed this ending to the series. I did get teary eyed near the end, but it didn't bring the water works like Hallowed did. I also found some of the resolutions a little cheesy and convenient. I was hoping for a heart stopping finish, but things were a little too neatly tied up. The epilogue was really cute though, and even though it was a little disappointing, I think it was the right ending.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[Linda]

I need to get my thoughts together, as a lot of things happened in Boundless.

This and other reviews can also be found on my blog (un)Conventional Bookviews

Boundless is kind of without bounds, and in some ways it could have been better if it had some boundaries. Clara, Christian and Angela leave for Standford at the very beginning of Boundless, and the readers follow them through information as they arrive. The first night, they are taken out of their rooms by the older students for a run around campus in the dark, and Clara gets to know one of Angela’s roommates, as well as the PHE who’s part of her dorm. She also manages to use just a tiny bit of glory to heal a girl’s broken ankle – without anybody noticing that something is up.

[Kelly]

4.5 Stars.
Ramblings of a Diva Booknerd


Wow. Without sounding completely incoherent, I thought the story was being taken towards the obvious, then it ended up taking a detour and a twist, then a few things that I didn't see coming, but now I'm totally stoked. The epilogue was a beautiful touch. Disappointed at the empty seat at the table... A spin off series perhaps?