Unearthly (Unearthly #1)

I picked up “Unearthly” for the simple fact that Angels seemed to be an ongoing theme and I wanted to see what all the hub-bub was about. What better book series could I choose than one that toes the line between fantasy and religion. To be perfectly honest, I am not into books with a highly religious air to them that so many angel books can have. When I got into “Unearthly” it was with a resonated sigh and a thought process that was more so to the theme of “Well… I better be prepared for a healthy dose of the bible, the devil, and especially God.” This book was not what I expected at all.

Yes, God is mentioned. Yes, there are mentions of heaven, hell, God’s divine purpose, and, of course, angels. There is not however an overdose of it. It was just enough to show it was a book about angels without religion being thrust upon the readers.

I did not fall in love with Clara from the first pages of the book as some fictional characters I have read before. She seemed a little too uptight in the beginning. That how she was meant to feel, I surmise. As I read on and started watching Clara deviate slightly from her all-mighty purpose and start following her heart more and more, she started to grow on me. I watched her awkwardness that I always find so endearing in characters grow into a certainty and strength I wouldn’t have thought she would have been capable of early into the story.

When the love triangle started I groaned. I was so sick of all the “I love you! No… wait… I love you! No, I’m sorry I love…” blah blah blah. Sometimes love triangles to me are just too forced and uncomfortable. This love triangle was not as well developed as I would have thought. It was blatantly clear that Clara cared for one more than the other so her struggle wasn’t as believable as it could have been. At least not to me. Others may have found it completely believable and the stuff of dreams. I am a tough critic.

With any love triangle I have to give my siding of course. My choice is a bit bias I must confess. I am a southern girl and have grown up knowing country boys rather well. So, without a doubt when presented with a pretty boy jock or a down-to-earth country boy, it’s no surprise my heart skipped a beat when Tucker came onto the scene. He is so different from Clara that it is an interesting match. Throughout the book I didn’t know if Clara and Tucker were a good match or if I just found Tucker completely swoon-worthy for myself.

“Unearthly” is a story of a girl with angel-blood coursing through her veins who was taught to always follow her God given purpose that presents itself in visions. While realizing her visions of her purpose in bits and pieces she struggles with doing what is expected of her and what her heart tells her to. It really speaks to reality. Who hasn’t had to struggle with something they are supposed to do or something they feel is right for them personally? It is that connection that makes Clara’s struggle between head and heart so touching. This book gripped me from the very beginning and stuck with me. I hadn’t even reached the middle of the book before I was searching for the next installment feverishly. If you never feel the need to read a book on angels, read this series at least.

Review Posted on: http://www.ladybugliterature.blogspot.com

Finally an angel book that I really really enjoyed! It wasn’t cheesy, and the religious aspect wasn’t overdone, in fact it was barely mentioned, like angels are just another supernatural entity. Clara, our main character, is a quarter angel and she’s just received her purpose…kind of. She gets visions of who she’s suppose to be protecting, but no other details. Of course her purpose involves a beyond gorgeous teenage boy, but too bad he and Clara are in two completely different social circles. I actually really liked that despite being an angel, Clara isn’t completely irresistible to humans. She has to struggle for his attention just like any other girl, except maybe his bitchy girlfriend.

Another thing I really liked about Unearthly is that Clara’s mom is actually involved. There’s no “wait, and where are the parents?” moments during this book. Clara’s mom is present and involved with Clara’s life and is trying to help her as much as possible in her own secretive way. They have a great relationship and are completely hilarious together in the beginning. Especially when they’re trying to come up with worse names the mean kids can call her other than “Bozo.” Their relationship isn’t all sunshine and rainbows though; they have their fights, but Clara’s mom is always there. I am very curious about what she’s hiding though.

Now, back to the beyond gorgeous teenage boy. He’s suppose to be all business for Clara, but of course she tries to mix in a little bit of pleasure. Is that such a good idea? I didn’t think so, especially when there’s a perfectly nice boy who’s obviously genuinely interested in her. And she’s obviously genuinely interested in him. Gotta love love triangles! Although we don’t get to see much of her relationship developing with Christian (beyond gorgeous teenage boy), but it is there. We do get a whole lot of Clara and Tucker though. I loved how they did normal things, and just hung out, no pressure. It felt like they had a real connection, rather than the one with Christian, which is something else entirely.

I love Clara’s friends! This doesn’t seem to happen to often for me. I always tend to find at least one friend utterly irritating or flat, but not here. Wendy is a sweetheart and befriends Clara right away. Clara might not be able to be 100% honest with her, but I think they have a solid friendship. Plus she’s party responsible for pushing Clara and Tucker together, so yay Wendy! Then there’s Angela, whom I adore. She’s quirky and smart, and a little mysterious. I definitely need to learn more about her! Clara has a brother who I felt was just kind of…there, until about 3/4 through the book when I went “huh, I wonder what’s up with that?” Looking forward to finding out the answer to that, too.

The last 40ish pages, wow. Intense. I have no clue where this story is going, but I need to find out ASAP!

Paranormal romance has never been my genre. I don’t care for vampires, werewolves, shape-shifters, ghosts, demons or mythological figures. However, I’ve decided that 2012 is the year I step out of my comfort zone, so I decided to give an angel book a try. Plus, Unearthly was a 99 cent ebook.

Surprisingly, Unearthly was actually a very good book.The first thing that stood out to me was Hand’s writing; it was crisp and clean and effective. I was honestly expecting something less mature, less precise.

The main characters were excellent. Hand obviously worked hard to make the people in this book realistic, even though Clara isn’t a “normal” girl. Clara’s family was interesting and supportive, her friends Wendy and Angela were neither perfect nor terrible. One of the love interests was a likeable, down-to-earth guy, while the other I’m still a bit iffy on.
I also thought the actual “angel” aspect was handled well. It’s a tough topic, because angels, by necessity, bring a Christian element into a story intended for secular audiences. In order to “secularize” the Biblical concept of angels and angel-bloods, Hand somewhat had to tone things down. Granted, my views of Christianity and religion are different than most of Unearthly’s intended audience, so I imagine that Hand wished to avoid offending her readers. As it was, I was impressed by the way this author approached the subject.

From what I’ve read, some readers didn’t like the way this book wasn’t very action-intesive. Mostly, it was a build-up to the major conflict that’s going to take center stage in the second book. I didn’t actually mind that this book was mostly exposition, as it gave Hand a lot of time to develop characters, setting, and motivation, something that is greatly under-done in YA fiction.

From what I’ve read on the back of book covers, paranormal romance generally takes place in a high school setting. Now, I haven’t read many high school books, but if the high schools in those books are represented in the same way that Hand represented Jackson Hole High, we’re going to have an issue.To begin with, I did some research on Jackson Hole High—that’s the nice thing about picking a real school; I can fact-check you. While there is a class in aerodynamics, there is no British History class (which was a center-point of the story). Pictures of the exterior and interior show the school to be like a “typical” high school, not at all the ski resort/art museum Hand describes. Obviously, more research would have been good.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say this again: high school is not like Mean Girls. I’m not saying it’s rainbows and unicorns—everyone’s experience is different. But there’s not one “head popular girl” who rules the roost, and there’s not a “popular clique,” at least, not to the extent that media would have us believe. Popular people do talk to the “Invisibles,” and they do get along on occasion (revolutionary thought, right?)

That was my big complaint with this book. Sometimes when I read these books, I wonder if these authors actually remember what high school was like. Maybe they’ve been watching too much Glee?

I’m not saying high school isn’t a bad, unfair world. I’m just saying that you don’t need to blow things way out of proportion in order to portray that.

(Also: this has turned into quite a rant, and I’m sorry. But it’s aggravating when an otherwise good book fails where only a simple fix is needed.)

For my first foray into the world of “angel romance,” I was pleasantly surprised by Unearthly. The story is captivating and the characters well-rounded. Will I go out and actively seek more angel romance? No, not necessarily. But I’m glad I tried it.

If Halo was a hit and a miss for you, I strongly suggest you check out this angel book before you completely give up. Where did Halo go wrong? It didn’t make sense. Unearthly gives the main character a clear purpose of what she is supposed to be doing. Clara is a strong heroine. She makes bright decisions, but she is not so perfect to the point where the reader feels no connection. She constantly makes mistakes. There is a sort of love triangle going on, and it is not completely resolved in the book, but the reader can tell that Clara has a strong connection to both Christian and Tucker. The book does say that it is a trilogy, so we must all be on the lookout for the next in the series, because I feel that more things will be wrapped up. Questions the reader might be wondering: Black Wings, Angela, Christian and Clara’s purpose, and their new Purposes. Bravo Cynthia Hand

Let me just start by saying that I got so much more from this book than I expected. I've been starting to lose faith in angel books lately (pun unintended). It's always about how they're fallen but they want to be good and a war between good and evil and yadda yadda yadda. While there was a little of that in Unearthly, it didn't dominate the story line. And I love the bit about the wings, but I shan't spoil that for you.

And by golly, the descriptions! I, for one, hate the country and will proudly proclaim myself a city girl. The descriptions of Jackson Hole had me wanting to pack up and go enjoy the beauty of it all on the spot though. I have a feeling the next time I find myself in somewhere like Montana or the like I'll take a second look at my surroundings instead of moaning and groaning for a city.

To sum up, this book was fantastic. I was flipping pages like no other hungry for what was to come. It also kept me guessing a bit, surprising me with thing I didn't see coming. My one negative thing was synopsis made it seem as if Clara was somewhat of a bad-girl which I didn't get from her. That wasn't part of the actual book though, so it doesn't factor in much.

I wanted to love this book. I wanted to find a YA paranormal series about angels that didn't make me want to shake some sense into the female protagonist. Unearthly almost managed to accomplish both of these things...almost.

The premise caught my attention from page one. An angel with a purpose - yes! I was instantly intrigued, eager to learn more about Clara's purpose and how she might accomplish it. My excitement grew through the first few chapters while Clara and her mom deciphered clues from her visions to uncover the location where Clara would ultimately serve her purpose as an angel-blood (nephilim).

Once reaching this fateful destination however, the pacing of the novel started to stagnate slightly. Clara enrols in school, and quickly meets the subject of her visions and purpose - Christian Prescott. Seeing how her brother Jeremy foresaw her reaction (of fainting) to meeting Christian, I was able to laugh off her weakness and assumed, being now prepared, she would react better in future interactions. Unfortunately, Clara suffers from the same unnamed epidemic that afflicts many YA heroines, who's symptoms include weak knees, the inability to form coherent sentences, stalkerish tendencies and a general inability to function as a normal human being. Each time she meets Christian, Clara remarks often on catching herself staring at him and feeling dizzy in his presence - all because of how good-looking he is. We're subjected to countless re-tellings of the fall of his hair, the chisel of his cheekbones and the definition of shoulders - and are left feeling like Clara is completely unable to function because his beauty leaves her dumbstruck (thus leaving me feeling like she needs a good shake!)

Once Christian leaves for the summer, Clara returns to a functioning member of society, and begins training for her purpose - only to be completely derailed by golden-haired, blue-eyed, bronzed skin Tucker Avery. This led to my favourite part of Unearthly, and the reason I will be continuing with this series - the development of Clara and Tucker's relationship. Where I felt the tension between Clara and Christina was forced, the chemistry between Clara and Tucker was written with ease. It was easy to see the progression of playful banter and teasing turn into hidden compliments and the blushing beginnings of a crush. I was envious of their summer together, and completely taken by cowboy Tucker and his gentlemanly ways. The only thing that got in my way of enjoying this section was the nagging voice in the back of my head asking what had happened to Clara's all-important purpose, how suddenly Clara decided she was in love with Tucker, what had happened to her mother and the constant reminder to stay focused, and why had Christian been so easily forgotten?

Speaking of Clara's mother, I could not stand the woman! I hate being left in the dark without a valid reason, and I hate when there's conflict that could very easily have been avoided had certain conversations taken place. I'm going to assume that the reasons for her secrecy will be revealed in the next two books, but I really don't like feeling like she was intentionally vague just to create suspension - and since she was never able to give Clara a good reason for being so secretive, that's what I'm forced to conclude.

I enjoyed the ending, although I wasn't surprised by the twist, as I felt like it sufficiently tied up loose ends. We're still left with an inkling suspicion that Clara's purpose might not be completely fulfilled, and the twist opens up new doors for the rest of the series, but everything that had to be resolved was and I was left feeling satisfied. So while I didn't love Unearthly, I am walking away with a new-found hope for angels as credible content for a YA paranormal series.

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i liked this book but i think it is a little bit cliche

I have been wary of the angel genre of YA fiction for a variety of reasons. For one, I find many interpretations of angels to be rather lame. Weak, pretty, feathery... not much else. It's sort of noxious. UNEARTHLY was an excellent antidote to my hesitations. The first in an unfinished trilogy, it stands enough alone as a story to have you leaning in for more in book two. There are so many characters with so much potential, I feel like the series could be written by multiple points of view.

Clara tells this story, though. A quarter angel, her mother uproots her and her brother from their home in California to move to the mountains of Wyoming all because Clara's visions have indicated that that's where her purpose lies. Each angel is born into a purpose, and they must do everything in their power to complete it to the best of their abilities.

What follows is a familiar new-girl-in-a-small-high-school story with the addition of some angel wings, visions of a fast approaching if slightly vague destiny, and a perfectly perfect love triangle. Not an annoying love triangle, which is how many of them seem, but perfectly perfect. In every way.

I really enjoyed this story, from the beautiful writing to the amazing love triangle (a hard sell for me!), to the gorgeous scenery. UNEARTHLY was a solid win for me. I loved all the characters and wanted to know more about their lives. I can't wait for the sequel!