Hallowed: An Unearthly Novel (Unearthly, #2)

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

For months part-angel Clara Gardner trained to face the fire from her visions, but nothing prepared her for the choice she was forced to make that day. Now, torn between her love for tucker and her complicated feelings about the roles she and Christian seem destined to play in a world that is both dangerous and beautiful, Clara struggles with a shocking revelation: someone she loves will die in a matter of months.

With her future uncertain, the only thing Clara knows for sure is that the fire was just the beginning.

In the second book in this riveting series about angels, Clara is faced with a choice between love and duty as the world she knows starts to unravel.


PRAISE FOR THE UNEARTHLY SERIES

'Enchanting and exciting, romantic and believable - I wasn't able to tear myself away!' -- Melissa Marr, author of the bestselling Wicked Lovely series on Hallowed

'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: 006199619X
• ISBN13: 9780061996191
• Publish Date: 26 December 2012 (first published 1 January 2012)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: HarperCollins Publishers
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 432
• Language: English

Reviews

[kimbacaffeinate]

Hallowed book two in the Unearthly trilogy, took me on an emotional ride and left me wanting more. This novel picks up a few months after Unearthly ends. Hand’s writing style is unique and her character driven series is well on its way to becoming one of my favorites.

As the middle novel we do not see a lot of movement but we learn more about angels, black wings and Clara’s lineage. Clara struggles with a new vision and what it might mean. She realizes that someone close to her is going to die and with Christian's help she slowly puts the pieces together. The answer devastates her and she looks for a way to change the outcome. Her raw emotions had me reaching for the tissues. She is still concerned about her purpose and confused by her feelings for Tucker and Christian. The love triangle continues, but Hand has managed to make it difficult to really hate either guy. In this novel, Clara gets to know Christian more and we see her try to come to terms with her feelings for him. He is significant and she feels a strong bond and perhaps she even loves him. She is so in love with Tucker and doesn't want to give him up. Yet at the same time she begins to worry about their differences and the danger she puts him in. Can’t the three of them live happily ever after? Maybe Christian could patiently wait till Tucker’s life ends? (Tucker’s human after all.) We do see character growth in Clara as she deals with loss, and a realization that sometimes; loving someone isn't enough.


Jeffrey struggles with issues and is much darker in this novel. He distances himself from Clara and her Mom. It isn't until the end, that we begin to understand his struggle. We meet other half-bloods and new characters that I found delightful. Angela forms an Angel club and the four of them share information. While we get to know Angela a little better, I still have many questions. I also want to know more about her mystery man. I am also very curious about the black wing. Hand shares some of his back story and I am so intrigued. I am anxious to see how his role develops in the plot.


Hand’s wonderful prose and her first person narrative sent me on an emotional roller coaster and I frequently had to pause and savor her words. She allows things to unfold realistically and for me; it made it all the more poignant. While I have never been a fan of love triangles, I think Hand may have just written the most beautiful one.

The Unearthly trilogy is very character driven, and to me they are absolutely beautiful. I applaud Hand and her ability to capture my emotions and hold them hostage. I became Clara in Hallowed; I felt her emotions, her fear, her love and her heartache. I highly recommend this novel to fans of paranormal romances. The next book is yet untitled and is scheduled for release in 2013. Hallowed is currently available in paper and eBook format.

[Linda]

Hallowed was actually even more beautiful and touching than Unearthly was. It was so filled with joy, sadness, love, despair and hope. I smiled, I laughed and I cried.

Clara truly grew a lot in this book, and I actually understand a lot better why Meg was keeping things from her. A lot of the secrets made a lot of sense, she wanted Clara to figure things out on her own, without being swayed by what her mother had done about her own purpose.

Tucker is a great guy, but it really made sense to me that Clara broke things off with him in the end. He probably will be a lot happier with a normal, human girl down the road he is bright, true and honest. And his love is real.

He’s beautiful, I think, so crazy beautiful it almost hurts to look at him, and I close my eyes and lift my arms over my head and let him take my shirt off too.

I really liked that Angela, Jeffrey, Christian and Cara got together in their angel club to try to figure out more about what they were all about. Angela seems to be a great friend, but I am still thinking there might be more to her than meets the eye. I’m not sure if I’m able to trust her completely.

What if I can never find a way to control the glow? What if every time I feel happy in that particular way, I light up? This is a very real concern for Clara, as she has a little bit of trouble controlling her glory. And humans have a hard time dealing with it – as all they want to do is to kneel and worship the angel showing the glory. It certainly could become very, very awkward.

When Clara first started having the dream about the cemetery, I understood straight away that it would be Meg who would die, however, when Clara herself thought it would be Tucker, she took me around for a little drive in that belief. So I got sad all over again when it became clear that it truly was Meg *tear*

When Clara finally met her dad again, I was completely and utterly surprised, I never would have guessed, even if it made a lot of sense. Especially after some of the explanations we got in ‘Unearthly’ about how angel-bloods work.

”That’s the hardest part,” he says. “The absence of certainty.” This is true in a lot of situations, not only within this story. Sometimes, we all need to take a leap of faith, and my, Clara actually managed to do that in the end.

And I really felt most sorry of all for Jeffrey. He was so lost, and felt like no one could help him understand what he was supposed to do now. And I was both shocked and kind of not shocked that he had started part of the fire. As well as a little sad that Clara had actually done the opposite of helping him when she went against her own purpose.

A very satisfying book, that answered a lot of questions, but still leaves room for more of this beautiful world. The fact that all of the main characters grew and understood more about themselves was very rewarding, and I feel both happy and sad that the book is over. It resolved a lot, but I still wanted more. I guess that’s what a good book does.

Edited to add : I think that when Meg finally told Clara that she had fought against her purpose for the better part of 60 years, it also made Clara realize something else, that if Meg had 'only' fought her purpose for 10 years, she'd have had a lot more time with her children. She'd have had 67 years instead of only 17... This might have been one of the reasons why Clara (at least seemingly) has stopped fighting her purpose right now.

*My reviews are personal reflections of what I read and take notes of. It is in no way meant to dissuade a person from reading a book from authors who put a lot of work into their stories. I do not get paid for my reviews nor have I been asked to give my opinions concerning these books. This book, like most of the others I've read belongs to my kindle-collection*