Unearthly

Although I had heard a lot of praise for this series, at first, all I could think was, “gah, more angels in high school.” But this series is actually much better than that brief description would imply. The angelic nature of some of the characters is treated as just another teenage problem, in a way. And the charming protagonist, 16-year-old Clara Gardner, makes fun of the genre herself with gentle but effective humor which pulls the reader solidly into her orbit.

Clara found out she had angel blood (her mother is half-angel) two years previously. Since that time, she has been having visions or dreams that suggest what her purpose will be, since all angel-bloods have one, even if they don't know at first what it is. In her vision, show more there is always a boy by a fire, and Clara decides she is supposed to rescue him. With the help of the license plate on his truck and by identifying the trees in the fire, she ascertains that he is in Teton County, Wyoming. Clara’s mom takes Clara and her younger brother Jeffrey out of school in California and they move to Wyoming. Soon, Clara and Jeffrey are enrolled in Mountain View High School, and the very first day, Clara sees the boy from her vision.

The boy turns out to be named Christian Prescott, and he is gorgeous. But Christian does have a girlfriend, and pretty soon Clara has a boyfriend as well – Tucker - the twin brother of her best friend Wendy. But she keeps seeing Christian in her visions, and in those visions she always thinks - when she sees him, “We belong together.” This could be a problem….

Evaluation: This series is heads and shoulders above most of the other angel books in that it doesn’t take itself too seriously, it’s cute, and it evinces a good understanding of teenage patois and angst. I love the way Clara and her angel-blood friend, Angela, study angel lore along with English and math like they're all just different kinds of homework. There is much more talk about boys than religion, but there are sufficient intimations of trouble in angel-land to make the next installment seem like an essential follow-up read. show less

Clara is not only a teenage girl dealing with the usual teenage girl struggles, she's also a Quartarius--one quarter angel. Thankfully for Clara her mother is a half angel and there to help her through coming into her angel-yness (her father's not around or any part angel).

Clara has started to have visions--well a vision, multiple times. The vision is there to tell her her 'purpose'. Every angel or angel-blood has a 'purpose', something they were put on Earth to do. After a while Clara is able to piece together the clues in her vision and knows where the event is going to take place.

Soon, the family-Clara, her mother and her brother Jeffrey are moving to Jackson Hole, Wyoming to help Clara fulfill her purpose.

On the first day of show more school she meets Christian--the boy at the center of her vision and their lives become linked. There's also Angela, the girl who possibly gives Clara a strange look during the classes' '3 Unique Facts About Me' exercise, Wendy--one of the self professed Invisibles who pretty much instantly becomes Clara's friend, and Tucker, Wendy's infuriating twin brother.

And, of course, there's Clara's need to learn how to be a Quartarius, to learn what being an angel-blood entails and just how she's meant to fulfill her purpose. All while being the New Girl at the same time.


Unearthly being about angels automatically made it different than the other, current paranormal stories, but Cynthia Hand's writing and imagination made it a different worth reading. Each of the characters had their own thing (or things) going on that made them interesting to read about and great additions to the story. I really loved that the setting was so fully utilized in this story, they didn't just live in some town because, the location inspired events in the story and was used almost as a character itself.

And I can't say enough for my love of the romance in this book. It was not solely a romance but the romantic relationship in Unearthly was better written than most I've read in books where there was no supernatural element or other plotline. Hand created two characters I was rooting for from the beginning all the way through to the end. I loved both of them and I loved them together.

The first few chapters of the book had me thinking it was just a really good book, but then when I picked it up again and it really got going, the story sucked me in and I couldn't put it down. (I had a cold and I kept thinking, 'Just a few more pages,' until I got up to take my cold medicine but the only getting up I did until the ending was to turn on a light!

The development, pacing, characters, plot, and mythos of Uneartlhy are all brilliant. I really can't wait to read more from Cynthia Hand and I applaud her for this fantastic debut.

a glorious 10/10


(read this both via NetGalley egalley and a print ARC I won from PitchDarkBooks) show less

Really beautiful writing and storytelling for a first novel. This story shows how fickle life can be, no matter how much you plan for something things don't necessarily go as planned. And sometimes you have to make difficult decisions and still feel like crap or make a mess of things no matter what route you choose. This story was far different from any other paranormal books about angels I've read, it was probably the most interesting too. Clara is an angel with a purpose and her teenage life will be consumed with successfully completing that purpose. Destiny has Clara's life in the palm of her hand's and is playing a game of emotional ping pong with her life. And I will say that I am probably more pissed off than Clara is.

I really show more like the characters, there seems to be a mystery surrounding everyone, it's like everyone has a secret, and the fact that the book ended with most of their secrets intact is a good sign for what's to come in the next book. I was so captivated and engaged in Cynthia Hand's character and story building, can't wait to see where it goes.

This is not a fast paced story, but it was so interesting that the tempo was not a problem for me. I think it was more about what would you or could you give up to take the path your heart desires most. And about some angels and other stuff too. show less

Cynthia Hand's debut novel, Unearthly is full of unexpected surprises and delights. I'll be honest: It took me a while to pick up my ARC. First, the book was about angels, which isn't my genre du jour. Second, the cover wasn't anything inspirational--even online "finalized" copies. When I finally started reading this book, I was in for the shock of my life because I LOVED it. Seriously. I picked the book up the other night after work and didn't finish until almost two in the morning. I couldn't put it down!

The book was as surprising as physically seeing the cover. http://abackwardsstory.blogspot.com/2011/01/unearthly-by-cynthia-hand-debut-auth... shows the different ways of looking at this jacket. The first image is what you'll find if show more you go to order the book online from sites such as Amazon and B&N. The white was all filled in with silver. I tried scanning a picture of the actual book jacket for you guys (yes, I liked the book so much that I went out and bought a physical copy yesterday), and got the middle image. Very silvery and pretty, but still missing the way the book looks when you physically see it. So I tried a third time, this time using a camera. You've got some glare spots and some darkness where there shouldn't be, but you can really get a taste of how gorgeous the cover is. This is the same image as the one I use at the beginning of this post (I usually use final publisher images, but even publisher Harper Collins and author Cynthia Hand don't have a full-color rendering of this lovely cover).

I never expected to love this book so much, but I'm so glad I got a chance to read it. This is why I love ARCs: they allow me to read books I otherwise wouldn't. (Another case-in-point: Last year's Firelight by Sophie Jordan, which I also ended up loving.)

The best thing about Unearthly is the character description. I felt like I knew everyone by the end of the book. The main character, Clara, is trying to balance life as a teenager with the fact that she's 1/4th angel and slowly coming into her powers. Unlike other supernatural reads where the MC is perfect and powerful, Clara struggles with life in a way we can all relate to. She klutzes out, gets red-faced in front of the boy she likes, has to learn how to be good at something like flying, and is faced with tough, life-altering decisions. Her characterization is so well-done that readers will be consumed with reading about what happens next and make sure everything winds up okay. Even minor characters such as her mother, brother, and best friend Angela are well fleshed-out. I really hope Hand goes into more detail with these characters in the next two books. Then, you have the love triangle. At first, it was very typical: Girl falls for the unattainable high school superstar and is oblivious to the cute, adorable guy who really likes her. But it changes. Oh, how it changes. I can't even tell you more without spoiling this, but the rest of the trilogy will be very unpredictable. Who will Clara ultimately choose? I can absolutely see fans breaking into camps over which love interest she'll wind up with for this series. At the moment, I'm obsessed with Tucker, the brother of one of Clara's friends that she doesn't think twice about. He's such an amazing character. I seriously want a Tucker in my life. As for the unattainable boy, Christian, at first I was very ambivalent, but now he's captured me: What will happen next!?

Hand's writing style is gorgeous and draws readers right in. The book opens with gorgeous description. There are scenes so delicate and fragile and perfectly written that I needed to go back and re-read them...and will do so again. I also like the fact that the novel isn't all about angels. If it was, I don't think I'd like it nearly as much because I'm so over the paranormal romance thing. Hand has new ideas that she incorporates into the novel; there's a lot of intrigue, mystery, and unanswered questions that will carry over into the new book. You learn about angels right alongside Clara, but more importantly, you follow her struggle as a teenager who doesn't quite fit in at her new school. Who can't relate to that?

Fellow bookworms, this book is wonderful. I hope all my gushing makes you want to run out and grab a copy of this amazing book. It's the first in a trilogy, and this is one of those times where I'm already impatiently awaiting the rest of the series. The characters are unforgettable, and I really can't wait to see what happens to them next. show less

I'm on a roll with picking up really decent YA literature these days. Despite having sworn off Angel stories after a few.. really bad ones, I picked this up fully expecting to be disgusted with it within the first fifty pages. I was pleasantly surprised.

Cynthia Hand's treatment of angels doesn't stem out of any sort of religion, necessarily. She seems to take her information from mythology and refrains from putting any sort of religious slant on the book - which works. A lot of the issues I had with other books dealing with angelic beings stem from their connection to God (or a god of sorts) and usually involved a bunch of breaking of the rules in order for the story to "work". And then the story didn't work for me, no matter what the show more ending said was supposed to be happening.

So with just mythology backing up these angelic beings and a "purpose" being their reason for being on Earth, this story worked - and it worked well. Plus, there's a nice little twist in there that I didn't see coming and couldn't figure out how exactly it would work out. I'll be putting Unearthly on my list to watch for the sequel for and Cynthia Hand on my list of debut authors to watch. show less

So I've always been a bit leery about angel books. I'm worried the author will just remove vampires or werewolves and insert angels in the plot. Bleh. I have read a really good adult angel series, [b:Angel Time|6282915|Angel Time (The Songs of the Seraphim, #1)|Anne Rice|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320551003s/6282915.jpg|6466906] by Anne Rice and really enjoyed it so I knew it could be done. Then I saw a read a long with my fellow book blogger pals and was like, OK I'm in! So that's how I (finally) got myself to read Unearthly.

It didn't take long for me to be completely absorbed in the plot. Like by chapter 1 I was totally into it; and this happens pretty rarely for me. Clara is a charming girl with blonde hair who show more excels at everything. It's not her fault though, she's an angel-blood. Quartarius, meaning 1/4 angel (mom is Dimindius 1/2 angel). She's got wings and everything! Soon her and her brother Jeffrey are carted off to Wyoming to fulfill Clara's purpose. (It involves a dream with a cute guy and a fire).

Clara soon realizes her new school will be very interesting and there are two cute boys in the picture. Christian is literally the dream guy and Tucker the tan cutie who annoys the crap outta Clara. I don't really want to give much of the story away so I won't say much more except I loved the characters a lot. I could visualize everything in the book, due to Cynthia Hand's awesome writing. I'm a fan for life now.

The friendships are genuine and the setting is realistic and cool (who knew Wyoming was so perfect?) the boys are swoon worthy and Tucker is my newest literary boyfriend. There's plenty of mystery even up to the end and I can't wait to read the next book!

I recommend this book for lovers of paranormal YA stories with excellent characters. show less

I fall in the "not a fan of angel books" camp, but keep seeing that this series is enjoyed even by those of my ilk.

I grabbed a stack of books at the library the other day and started reading....and yep. I enjoyed this one. The explanations of the fantastic elements worked for me, I bonded with the characters, loved the scenery, and yes, I have some new book crushes.

Thankfully this first did not end on a cliffhanger, although the love triangle might end up being annoying. I'm withholding judgement on that point.

Now, to find the time to get to the library to get the rest of the series!