Hallowed (Unearthly #2)
Author: Cynthia Hand
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Synopsis: 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.
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.
Review: Upon finally being able to get a copy of Hallowed from my local library, I was
definitely excited to jump right in! I had really loved Unearthly and the characters so I was looking forward to seeing
where the story had progressed.
. . . Except Hallowed didn’t turn out to be nearly as
good as its predecessor.
That doesn’t
mean there weren’t aspects of the book that I really enjoyed and characters I still
love.
There was
definitely a lot of Tucker *swoon* time throughout the novel which was great.
He is still as sweet, charming and protective as in the first novel. Clara and
Tucker’s relationship seems like the type of relationship every girl would want
except for the whole love triangle with Christian. I have never been a fan of
love triangles or insta-love *sigh* With Hallowed, Clara spends most of the
book arguing with herself for the feelings she has started developing for
Christian which I didn’t really buy. Christian is sweet and caring, he is
gorgeous and has this mysterious factor all of which is just too cliché. Where
Tucker seemed more realistic as a character, flawed and opened, Christian is
just too angst ridden. Clara also spent the entire book angst ridden where in Unearthly she had seemed stronger and
more assured of herself.
The majority of
the plot is slow paced and nothing much happens. There are a few suspense
filled scenes and a few lackluster action scenes but nothing to really hook a
reader in. Although, the last few chapters and big revelation closer to the end
will keep readers wanting to know what will happen next.
Something that
bothered me was the direction Hand took with some of my other favorite
characters who came to play secondary roles in Hallowed to Clara’s constant
narration of her mixed feelings. Angela, who was spunky and blunt and bold in Unearthly, doesn’t get much screen time
and when she does she has lost her spark a bit. Jeffery is barely in the book
and when he is he’s basically sulking and angry. Part of his attitude is
understandable because of what happens in the book but Clara pays little
attention to her brother which seemed wrong. Wendy is pretty much nonexistent.
There are new
characters introduced in the story like Billy, who I liked and look forward to
getting to know better. I also liked the scenes in the cemetery and the way
Clara’s relationship with her mother was showcased more throughout the novel.
The Black Wing,
Samjeeza, was a lackluster villain. He came off more as a schizophrenic
sociopath than a powerful supernatural being. He was just as angst ridden as
Clara and I couldn’t take his character serious or feel bad for him when his
connection with Clara’s mother comes to light.
Hallowed was an okay read. I didn’t fall in love
with it anywhere near as much as I did with Unearthly.
But I am a fan of some of the characters and do want to know what will happen
next. I’m just hoping the author improves the storyline in Boundless (scheduled to come out in 2013).
About the Author: Cynthia Hand grew up in southeast Idaho (very near the Wyoming border). Currently she lives in southern California with her husband and two small children. She teaches courses in creative writing at Pepperdine University. She is the New York Times bestselling author of the Unearthly series with HarperTeen: UNEARTHLY, published in 2011, HALLOWED published January 17, 2012, and BOUNDLESS, due out in January 2013.
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