Unearthly
Author: Cynthia Hand
Series: Unearthly #1
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy
Release Date: January 4, 2011
Publisher: HarperTeen
Summary:
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 – 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.
First Sentence: The first time, November 6 to be exact, I wake up at two a.m. with a tingling in my head like tiny fireflies dancing behind my eyes.
My Review:
Unearthly was one of the many books I read before I started blogging. Back then, I wasn’t impressed with Unearthly; I thought it was plain okay and gave it a rating of three stars. Flash forward a little more than two years later and Cynthia Hand was coming to my area for a book signing. I was preparing all the books I wanted to get signed by her and the other authors attending when I saw Unearthly on my shelves and thought, hey, why not give it a reread? Maybe I’ll like it more this time around and it’s about time I finish reading the entire series.
When I close my eyes, I can still see the boy. Standing there waiting. For me…He’s waiting for me. (4)
I barely remembered anything from the first time I read Unearthly besides the love triangle, who Clara ended up with at the end of the book, and how the book ends because the ending caught me really off guard the first time that I read it. I didn’t remember anything else about Unearthly and found myself getting surprised by the same things that shocked me the first time.
The first time I read Unearthly, I didn’t feel any of the romance at all. Not only was I not a fan of love triangles (I still don’t like them even now), but I was also not on Team Christian or Team Tucker. I didn’t get the appeal of either guy and was strictly on Team Nobody. This time around, I was shocked to find myself swooning over Tucker. That guy just inspired so many hearts out of me as I was reading – I would find myself with a huge goofy grin on my face when I was reading parts of the book involving Tucker and wishing I had a guy like that in my life. Tucker is now officially my #2 book boyfriend, my number one book boyfriend still being Frank Porter from Since You’ve Been Gone of course. Nobody can beat Frank Porter in my eyes. Christian, meanwhile, was so hot and cold with Clara that I just side-eye him and will continue to do so when I read Hallowed and Boundless.
“I better go,” says Christian.
…
“Okay,” I say. “Nice to-”
But he’s already gone, tearing his way down the hill, leaving me once again to make it the rest of the way down the mountain by myself. (156)
After reading more than five hundred books these past three years, Unearthly is still one of the most unique angel books I’ve ever read. With more than fifty different young adult angel books out there, that’s saying a lot. Unearthly is the only angel book I’ve read where angels have a purpose and spend part of their life trying to figure out what their purpose is. Yes, the good angel, bad angel concept that Unearthly also has has been done before, but I’ve never read another young adult angel book where angels have a purpose.
Even though I really enjoyed this time around, I still thought that something was missing from Unearthly. There was just something that kept me from giving this book a full five star rating even though I want to. Maybe it’s because of this slight disconnect I feel with the book sometimes, a disconnect that I can’t put my finger upon. Hopefully Hallowed and Boundless won’t have this problem for me.
Overall, I definitely enjoyed my reread of Unearthly (Tucker! <3<3<3<3) and can't wait to start Hallowed and Boundless once I’m done reading other books I have to read asap. I can’t wait to see what happens next!
YAYYYYY!!! I’m so glad that you enjoyed Unearthly like I did! =) To this day, it’s still one of my favorite angel books. I actually got decently attached to Christian, just because I always felt like he sacrificed so much for her! I was actually MAD about everything that happened, but I could understand it. The life that Clara chooses doesn’t surprise me because it’s the exact same life, love, and appeal that makes me wish for the same future. I mean, I already have the mountain man boyfriend who goes for hikes, right?! Haha, but honestly, I loved your review! I’m so glad you reread this book and gave it a second shot because I absolutely adore it. <3
Kelly Peterson recently posted…Readers Helping Teachers – Andi’s Story
I remember enjoying this a lot. I’m glad you seem to have too :) Isn’t funny how, when you re-read a book, you can end up feeling vastly different about it? It’s a conundrum :)
Ramona recently posted…Zen Monday: Serenity
I am glad you gave this a second chance and liked it! :)
Lola recently posted…You Are Mine (Mine #1) by Janeal Falor
Yay, I’m glad you gave Unearthly another try. It’s one of my favorite paranormal books; Cynthia Hand is such a great author! Although I’ve never been fond of choosing sides in a love triangle, I always preferred Christian over Tucker (but that’s just my opinion).
Precious @ Clockwork Desires recently posted…Review: The Calling by James Frey and Nils Johnson Shelton
Everyone seems to love this one! Have you read Angelfall? If not, it’s my favorite angel book.
Tucker’s the kind of boy we all wish was real! “Unearthly” is one of my favorite books, and I am so happy that you liked it!
OMG!!! I’m so happy you liked Unearthly A LOT MORE this time around! And I’m sorry to say this, but Tucker was my book boyfriend first lol. I also read this around the time you did and fell head over heels for him….hehe :P But I totally get what you mean about Christian. Well, actually I liked/hated him throughout the whole series. Sometimes he would do something that made me wish I could strangle him and other times he would do something that made me like him so much I would get confused on which guy I liked more since Tucker was always there too. Though in book 3 it gets kind of lonely for a while… :( Hope you like the rest of the series too and can’t wait to read the reviews for them too! :D
This is the second good review I have read of this book. Its not the type of book Id normally read but Im trying to branch out a bit so maybe Ill give it a try! <3 Bee @ Bee Reads Books
Bee recently posted…Book Review: Vitro
not a fan of triangles; interesting you weren’t for either guy
I have read Unearthly years ago…truthfully i am not a usual fan of angel/human pairing in books…most of the ones i have read are not just clicking with me. But i remember liking Tucker better than Christian. I like that there were some twists in this book that i didn’t see coming. However, by the end of the book it didn’t inspire me enough to pick up the rest of the series immediately. But just maybe i need to reread this. Like I did with the Raven Cycle, the first time i’ve read The Raven Boys it did’t impressed me much because i had a different expectations out from it but i was convinced to the series another try and i find that i do love it and now i am waiting for book 4 to come out.
Well, for the mean time i hope the rest of the Unearthly series will continue to give you a pleasant surprise Kelly :)
Aw, yay :D Gorgeous review Kelly. <3 I'm so glad you loved this book when you read it a second time. I do own these books. And I am curious about reading them :D Just really angry that there is a love triangle :( soobs. But the rest do sound pretty good :) I'm so glad you liked it.
Carina Olsen recently posted…Cover Reveal: Winter by Marissa Meyer
so glad you enjoyed it, this trilogy is one of my favorites
I haven’t read that many angel books cause the synopsis wasn’t that appealing but I definitely don’t regret picking up this one
I remember reading Unearthly a long time ago and I was very disappointed with it. I think I expected to love it, YA paranormal wasn’t exactly my favourite genre and I didn’t really like when romance seemed to overshadow the plot which seemed to occur quite a bit but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the relationship between Tucker and Clara. Tucker is such a good guy, I really liked him and that was rare for me to actually connect with the love interest. Its one of my favourite aspects of the book. I didn’t really enjoy the sequel but I’m still curious as to how the series wraps up.
Isa recently posted…Top Ten Books Recently Added To My To-Be-Read List
I absolutely loved Unearthly when I first read it, and I loved the second book in the series as well. But during book 2, Christian made a huge impact on me, and as much as I love Tucker, (who inspired my dogs name!), Christian took top spot with me. When I heard through an unexpected spoiler what went down with the ending, I just kind of waited to read book 3, and I still haven’t gone back to it. But it is one that I think about rereading all of the time, and I think your review just inspired me to go ahead and reread it, and see if the ending is as bad as it was made to sound!
Jaime Lester recently posted…Becoming Jinn by Lori Goldstein ~ Blog Tour Review & Giveaway ~ By Jaime!
Good review! I loved this book mainly because of Tucker!! I love him. :)