Rowena’s review of Hallowed by Cynthia Hand.
Main Character: Clara
Love Interest: Tucker or Christian? Who knows.
Series: Unearthly, Book 2
Author: Facebook|Twitter|Goodreads
Clara Gardner knew that as a part angel she would one day have to fulfill her purpose, rescuing Christian from a forest fire…what she never considered was what might happen if she were to fail.
Now, torn between her increasingly complicated feelings for Christian and her love for her boyfriend Tucker, Clara must deal with the repercussions of what happened the day of the fire as the two boys vie for her heart. And, as she is drawn further into the world of angels and 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 after a shocking revelation, the only thing Clara knows for sure is that the fire was just the beginning…
Last year, Unearthly was one of the first books that I reviewed for the blog. I absolutely adored that book. I enjoyed getting to know Clara and Tucker and I enjoyed seeing them fall in love. Hand did a fabulous job of making me feel for her characters, the way that I would feel for my friends. They became my friends and I was totally Team Tucker by the end of the book.
Now that I’ve finished Hallowed, I’m not sure what team I’m on. In Unearthly, I didn’t think that there was a Team Christian but I was totally loving Christian in this book. A lot more than I remember loving Tucker in the last book.
In this book, Clara’s back and the fire is behind her. Her purpose is something of an issue in her life because she’s not sure what happens next. What happens if you don’t fulfill your purpose the way that you’re supposed to. Clara’s in love with Tucker but she can’t forget about Christian. Try as she might, she’s drawn to Christian in a way that she’s not drawn to anyone else. He understands what she’s going through because his purpose wasn’t fulfilled either since it was linked to hers and they’re both stuck in this weird place where they’re not sure if they’re supposed to move on or stick close. Clara wants to move on but it’s clear that Christian doesn’t share the sentiment.
Tucker and Christian continue to battle wills in this book and in this book, I found myself annoyed with Tucker, more than Christian even though Christian does a douchey thing. For me, Christian tototally won me over in this book (not that I didn’t like him in the other book) and after reading it, I found myself truly conflicted over who I wanted Clara to end up with.
Clara reminds me of Elena from the Vampire Diaries. She’s that martyr that is always so wrapped up in herself and how to save her loved ones that she doesn’t take the time to ask those people she’s always trying to save about the issues they’re facing. In this book, Clara is so wrapped up in keeping Tucker alive, in keeping her feelings for Christian under wraps that she doesn’t notice that Jeffrey is pissed off. What I liked about this part of the story line is the way that Hand handled it. There are so many things that could have happened that made Jeffrey as angry as he is but when we find out the real reason he’s so angry, it surprises you. Not surprised in the sense that it was unbelievable or anything but surprised, because it made sense.
There are a lot of things that pop off in this book and a lot of questions that are raised in this book. What happens next? What is going to happen next year? Where will the next book take place? What’s going to happen to Jeffrey? Where did he go? All of those things wrap around themselves until you’re anxious for the next book already. Kudos to Cynthia Hand for writing a book that has definitely hooked me in even more than I was before. I can’t wait for more. If you read Unearthly and enjoyed it then I’m positive that you’ll enjoy this book as well. So give it a go, Christian is a cutie patootie, so he’s reason enough. =)
..and that’s your scoop!
Buy the book: B&N|Amazon|Book Depository
Book cover and blurb credit: http://barnesandnoble.com
