Unearthly (Unearthly #1) by Cynthia Hand

Dec 7, 2010 by Peeptastic

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 it 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?

I surprised myself when I decided that I liked Unearthly by Cynthia Hand. See, it’s a series, and I don’t care. And there are some things that won’t be answered until the next book, and I don’t care. And guess what? Love triangle (sorta), and I don’t care!! How crazy is that.

Clara was a good girl. She got a little annoying for a bit because she was so determined to get the one guy, and she was kind of mean to her friends to get what she want. Yeah, I know she was just doing her job, but still. And I do get annoyed when the new girl goes for the popular guy (Bella!). It’s so cheesy. But even still, I liked this one. Clara had troubles just like a normal teen girl would. And I liked how she didn’t excel at everything. She still messed up and she didn’t get everything right on the first try. And she wasn’t even the best angel with all the powers that no one has ever seen in a million years (because that gets old fast). And when things with boys didn’t go as planned, I liked how she took a stand about it and even questioned why she felt upset (even when she couldn’t help it).

Tucker was adorable, wasn’t he? A cowboy! Who’da thought a cowboy would’ve worked in a YA book? And this isn’t even that Miley Cyrus movie where no one can tell she’s the pop star because she wore a wig. He was adventurous, sweet, and chivalrous. I’d like to thank his parents! And Christian wasn’t so bad. He was nice. He didn’t always make the right decisions but to be honest, I’d already had my mind made up on which guy I would have chose.

Wendy was nice as well. She was a good friend even though she wasn’t being treated the best. Though Clara couldn’t help that. Angela and her worked together to learn all that they could. I liked how at times the girls got snippy with each other (like real friends do) but they made up (like real friends should).

The only weird thing I would say is that at times the book just seemed to skip time. It wasn’t a problem for me, but I could see how it could throw other readers off. For example, she might be sharing lunch with her friends and the next sentence she’s laying on her bed. And I don’t know who that is supposed to be in the hardcover book cover of the book (the first pic), because it’s certainly not Clara!

And I want to know what’s the deal with Angela because I know she’s up to something.

I can’t remember if I’ve ever read a book about angels and liked them, but I will say I liked this one. It was good and had a lot of things that happened so it wasn’t boring. And the creepy guy was creepy and was actually bad. I thought it was hilarious what Clara said she’d do if the bad guy got her. That’s right girl, never give up!

So read this one if you get the chance, ok?

Final Verdict: 4 out of 5 rarrs!

I’m not sure how many books are supposed to be in this series. I do know that the author is finishing up book 2. If you’re really itching to get your hands on a copy, Goodreads is giving away 5 of them.

Hardcover, 448 pages
Published January 4th 2011 by HarperTeen