Unearthly Review

TITLE: Unearthly
AUTHOR: Cynthia Hand
PAGES: 262 (ePub format)
RELEASE DATE: January 4, 2011
PUBLISHER: HarperTeen
READ: February 20, 2012
BUY THIS BOOK AT: Amazon / Kobo / Chapters.Indigo

In the beginning, there is 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.

I LOVED this book! It had a great flow to it, it built up well and the climax was awesome.  Yes, it's another love triangle book (seems that's the template most YA authors run to now) but I feel it's very well executed.  I fell in love with Tucker and at the same time I really liked Christian!  That's never happened to me before, I always pick a side.  I also really appreciated the way Cynthia treaded lightly around all the God talk.  This is a book essentially about the beings of Heaven and Earth, but it didn't feel preachy at all (even the angels don't go to church!).

Our protagonist Clara Gardner also won me over throughout the book.  She's a heroine with a head on her shoulders and I really appreciated that.  She had her purpose in life but she was going to stay true to herself no matter what the cost.  So often we see girls in these books that have no mind of their own, so it was so exciting to read a character and be able to respect her for her decisions.

This is a perfectly paced book that leaves you ecstatic for the sequel.  I definitely recommend Unearthly to anyone looking for an Alluring Read.