Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Summary/Cover Image from Publisher's Website:

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.

Review:

Ever since I first heard about Cynthia Hand's Unearthly, I've been looking forward to reading it because I love books about angels. Thankfully, Unearthly is a enchanting, fiery tale of one angel and her fight for love and freedom.

Unearthly tells the story of Clara Gardner, a girl who's as far from normal as you get. You see, she's part angel, and because of her angel blood, she's given a purpose just like every other angel out there. Though, her purpose leads her and her family to the snowy Wyoming outback and a path she couldn't have possibly ever imagined. Her path will include two boys who may or may not like her to a evil, conniving dark angel, to some friends who may just break or change her. One thing's for sure, though, this won't be an easy task at all.

One of my favorite parts of Unearthly were the characters simply because all of them were so interesting. For example, there's the main protagonist Clara. Clara is definitely not the typical fraidy cat lead. Instead she's brave and always follows her heart, no matter where it may lead her. One of my favorite parts of Clara's character was her relationships with Tucker and Christian. Christian is the typical popular guy, and while I definitely prefer the sweet, charming Tucker over him, I still thought Christian was a pretty decent guy. I also loved the side characters of Angela, Clara's funny side-kick, and Wendy.

Moving on, the plot of this was also made of pure awesome. As mentioned before, I love books about angels, and thankfully, Unearthly didn't let down in that area one bit. I loved the characteristics and back story Cynthia gave her angels because it always lead to new twists and turns I wasn't expecting at all. I also loved the romance sub-plots Cynthia had because they forever had me guessing about who Clara would end up with and I'm sure other readers will be the same.

The only aspect I truly didn't like about Unearthly was how long it took to get to the really good stuff, but besides that I had no problems what so bit with Unearthly.

In all, Unearthly proves to give readers a brand new look on angels and their lives, a look that will leave them simply breathless for the next addiction this this fast paced, addicting trilogy.

Grade: A-

Unearthly will be released January 4, 2011.

Source: Netgalley