Unearthly

Rating: 5 out of 5 Angel Wings

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.

I finished this book in about three days and that was only because I had a job that kept me away from it. It was so hard to put this one down. It starts off a little slow, but then Cynthia Hand's story pulls you right in and takes you for a spin.

At first I was a little offset by the casual way the main character, Clara, talked about being an angel-blood. But once I got used to it, I didn't care anymore.

If you have been reading my blog for awhile you know that my feelings about YA literature are somewhat torrential. I have issues with some of the popular YA stuff out there (namely Twilight but let's not even go there) because it seems to be all cut from the same mold. Girl meets mysterious guy, guy is a monster, girl falls in love with guy/monster, he saves her life in some way, and they live happily ever after as freaks.

This one breaks the mold. Clara is a stronger heroine who you actually root for. Yes, things happen to her that should make her feel like a victim (she goes to a new school with her hair dyed orange after a bad dye job to cover her magic angel hair) but she doesn't let it happen. She has some pity parties but Hand was very good at not dragging those out too long and slowing the pace of the novel.

Another aspect that breaks the mold is the love triangle. Not that it has a love triangle. Give me a break. Every YA novel out there probably has some sort of love triangle/square/pentagon in it. Love triangles are fun and intriguing to read about. I am pretty sure it sucks to be in one though. I wouldn't know. However, this book does have a love triangle but at the end it doesn't seem like an actual triangle. More like a square but not really. I don't want to spoil anything. I just wanted to make a note that the relationships in this play off nicely and are more believable than others. I was annoyed with how Clara thought that Christian was meant to be hers through the whole book practically. Christian is pretty dull and uninteresting for the most part so I was definitely not rooting for him.

I gave this book 5 out of 5 angel wings simply because it has been a long time since a book has had me sitting, literally, on the edge of my couch, leaning forward, with my hand over my wide open mouth as I speedily read through it so I can find out what is going to happen next. I can't even remember the last time a book has done that to me. Needless to say, but I am going to say it anyway, you must read this book!