BOOK REVIEW - UNEARTHLY BY CYNTHIA HAND

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.

Spoilers ahoy! You've been warned.

I went into this book not really sure if I like it. Why? Angels. I'm not a big fan of angel books but I thought I'd give it a go. I was able to get hold of a copy of the audiobook and listened at work. I went through it so quick and before I knew it, it was over and I was desperate for book two.

This book is fantastic!

I can't get over how much I loved this book! It was a great take on angels and I didn't find it too much to try and grasp. Some books go a bit too over the top and make it really complicated. This one, for me, was a great starter into stories about angels. Maybe this will get me going into more fantasy because, honestly, I don't read that many. I'm a contemporary girl.

The plot was interesting, it flowed really well and it was constantly entertaining. I loved how quick it got into the story, no hanging around and wasting time, it was start to finish excitement. The way Hand described the angels were so beautiful - the wings were majestic, the 'glory' and the elegance of them flying, I absolutely loved it. The elegance of angels have been brought back. Sometimes in books like these they can get a bit more violent than expected and have a more harsh view of how they usually are imagined. Ms Hand brought the magnificence of them forward and reminded us of how graceful they are. Especially in the calm and strong nature of Clara's mother, Maggie.

And speaking of characters, what a great handful of different people! Clara, the main character, was a great protagonist. We were learning along with her, informed on how to fly, how the "glory" works, the 'black wings' and even about love and friendships. We grow with her and she's a great companion through it all, relatable in every way. Of course, she's still a teenage girl so she will be swooning over boys and disliking the school bitch, but it worked fine. The boy drama was quite mixed with the angel part of the plot as one of the boys is seen in one of Clara's 'prophecies', so it's not just put in there for the hell of it.

I'm very pleased that our Clara has Tucker in her life and the joyous time of when they finally kissed - which we waited so long for - and she was able to finally tell him about her secret life. Well, not like she had a choice, considering he found out anyway with her glowing hair. And their relationship just got stronger and stronger after a very shaky start of the classic pigtail pulling relationship they had at the start. I ship these two and I can't wait to see where they end up in book two, and as much as I love Christian, I don't want him cockblocking. (I loved finding out that he's an angel. More angels for the win!)

Moving on to another angel, Angela was wonderful! She's this tough girl who keeps herself to herself and for good reason - she's also an angel. I had a feeling since the first time she's introduced that she was one and I was pleased to find out that I'm right. Having a companion while going through the changes of being an angel, as well as still learning a lot of it, it was good for her to have her in her life. She was funny, sarcastic and smart, I like her a lot.

The friendships were admirable in this book, her and Wendy were great together too, as she certainly kept the normality in Clara's life. Wendy is a friend she really needed also, and the jealousy that she had towards Angela is perfect because it's all so accurate. Of course she's going to feel this way, it was her and Wendy all the time, she took her under her wing (haha not literally, as Wendy isn't an angel...) and it's strictly been just them at first and then, upon finding out about Angela, she tags a long. They have secrets and bonds that Wendy won't understand and she doesn't like it. Very realistic.

The family part was also favourable, her relationship with her brother and mother were well written and authentic, and I'm looking forward to seeing them become a lot closer in the next books, especially from Maggie as I know there's so much more to her and she's not telling us everything. We need more!

I also hope that Jeffrey has a bigger role in the future books!

I'm anticipating for some amazing action in Hallowed, it has a lot of live up to as Unearthly was such an incredible book. The writing was done really well, and although sometimes people aren't always happy with high-school drama, it's not so bad. I liked it, this girl is young, she's going to school, of course it's going to happen. School isn't easy and it's not a smooth road so it blends in well. Ms Hand mixes reality with fantasy, and it was very well done.

I can't wait to read Hallowed - and I'm hoping my ship won't sink! (In case you weren't sure, I'm team Tucker. And I can't believe I used the word 'team' but....yeah)

A new favourite for me.