Unearthly (Unearthly, #1)

by Cynthia Hand

[Linda]

A remarkable story! Outstanding, really, the characters all had a way of making me feel attached to them, the story moved forward easily, there was a sense of mystery and urgency until the very end of the book. Clara is an excellent female heroine, she is strong, capable, and really takes other people's feelings into consideration most of the time. At the same time, she feels very different, and a little excluded by her mother.

Clara's mom, Meg, was also attaching, but not the best mom-character I've ever read, she almost reminded me a little bit of Nora's (Hush, Hush) mother. She knew that Clara's purpose was coming up very soon, but she still left her alone with her brother for a good part of the summer. Even when she was around, she was absorbed in other things, and did not share nearly enough information with Clara. Then, when Clara made some mistakes (not serious mistakes imo) she got angry with her, and shut her out again. I do get that a lot of things has to be learned from experience, but somehow, I disagree that it ALL has to come from own experience. What good is it to have parents if they are not able to help their children on the way? Even when children have to take their responsibilities, and grow up and make hard choices, the parents really should be there to guide and help them. Especially in a situation where the children are part-angels, and seem to have a very important purpose in life, even if that purpose is not easy to figure out, as it first happens through visions.

I loved Clara and Tucker's relationship, very healthy and happy, and when she shared the truth with him, he thought about it, and was able to love her just the way she was. I don't think that he took her away from her purpose, I think the love they shared made her a lot stronger, and able to deal with the difficulties ahead of her. When she had to call on her glory when the black-wing Sam tried to kill Meg, she was able to do so when thinking of Tucker and the love she feels for him.

And it seems her purpose might not have been to save Christian after all, maybe they were simply supposed to know that they are both angel-bloods, so that they can fight the black-wings together?

I am not so sure about Angela though, she could be a lot older than she seems, and even if her wings are still white, that does not mean her Italian (angel?) bf isn't a black-wing, and she might want to fight the 'wrong' side.

And I also wonder what's up with Kay! Why did Christian think he couldn't be what she wanted? And how much does she know about the angels living around town?

I am (im)patiently waiting for the next book, I love this universe, and I love how the characters all came to life, and made me feel something for them.