Book Review: Hallowed by Cynthia Hand.

Product details:
Publisher:
Paperback, 403 pages.
Release date: January 2nd 2012.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Ages: 12+
Series: Unearthly #2.
Other Books in Series: Unearthly.
Source: Received from publisher for review.

For months part-angel Clara Gardner trained to face the raging forest fire from her visions and rescue the alluring and mysterious Christian Prescott from the blaze. But nothing could prepare her for the fateful decisions she would be forced to make that day, or the startling revelation that her purpose—the task she was put on earth to accomplish—is not as straightforward as she thought. 

Now, torn between her increasingly complicated feelings for Christian and her love for her boyfriend, Tucker, Clara struggles to make sense of what she was supposed to do the day of the fire. And, as she is drawn further into the world of part angels and the growing conflict between White Wings and Black Wings, Clara learns of the terrifying new reality that she must face: Someone close to her will die in a matter of months. With her future uncertain, the only thing Clara knows for sure is that the fire was just the beginning.

 Please note: This is a review of a second-in-a-series book. There may be spoiler for the previous book in the series in this review.

In Unearthly angel-blood Clara Gardner had to choose between her heart or her destiny.  Now in Hallowed, the highly anticipated second installment in Cynthia Hand’s captivating angel trilogy, Clara not only has to deal with the consequences of her choice and the impact it has on the lives of those around her, she also has to deal with something much worse when her visions show that she’s going to lose someone she loves, and soon.

If Unearthly made you swoon, then Hallowed may just make you cry. Don’t worry, there are still lots of swoony moments, Tucker fangirls, but essentially Hallowed is an emotional read that sees Clara dealing with a whole lot of heartbreak as her vision plays out.  She’s conflicted in matters of the heart too, and drawn towards Christian, who in this book understands her better than anybody. He’s the one that there for her through all her hardships, the one who never leaves her side.  In Unearthly Clara couldn’t deny that her heart belonged to Tucker, but she’s known all along that her purpose and her destiny lies with Christian, and this makes for some very interesting reading when it becomes clear that Christian isn’t going to give up on her without a fight.

I think a lot of people wrote Christian off in Unearthly as being ‘just another perfectly pretty YA boy’ but I knew he was so much more than that, and now I feel totally vindicated. So, has anyone else joined Team Christian now, or are you all still on the side of the hot cowboy? Clara has a difficult choice to make. I wouldn’t want to be in her shoes. Actually, maybe I would…!

So there’s relationship drama, but there’s a lot of serious stuff in this book too, with dark themes and family drama that will leave your heart feeling a little heavy at times.  You will feel for Clara in this book, and for what she has to suffer through. There are still plenty of light-hearted moments, and Clara’s snark and witty dialogue are ever-present, but this is a book with sadness at its heart, and not everything or everyone has a happy ending.

As always Hand’s beautiful prose is a joy to read, and with plenty of unexpected plot twists and surprising revelations here she successfully avoids the dreaded second book slump which so many YA series seem to suffer from.  Hallowed is a wonderful follow up to Unearthly and I can’t wait to see how things turn out for Clara and her love triangle situation, her brother Jeremy who has all sorts of stuff going on, and her friend Angela, who I still don’t trust 100%, when the third and final book in the series releases next year.