Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

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? 

THOUGHTS:

Color me surprised. This book is not what I expected it would be. Upon checking out the book's blurb, I expected a wimpy, irritating and annoying Mary Sue as a heroine; I expected a sudden ohmygod-I-just-can't-live-without-you romantic relationship between the heroine and the boy of her dreams (quite literally) with the other human boy providing a bit of confusion to our heroine; and finally, I expected that the book would primarily be a love story with hints of angelogy (not really a word, but you get my drift) thrown in.

Obviously, I was wrong.

The blurb REALLY doesn't do this book justice. At all. This is not simply a fluffy romance set in the paranormal world - as a matter of fact, one of the things I liked the most about Unearthly was its world-building. The angel mythology and folklore in this book is amazing! I'm not going to go into detail to avoid spoilers, but trust me, the mythology in this book is unparalleled. The concept that every angel has an individual mission to fulfill is something that makes sense and yet hasn't been explored more, come to think of it. Moreover, the fact that this said mission is not revealed in one go is a great premise - as a result, we are privy to character growth as the book's heroine, Clara, tries to depict just what it is she has to do while simultaneously doing her best to live her life as normal as possible. I also loved the gradual build-up of the relationship between Clara and Tucker. It wasn't rushed, and was completely fleshed out.

Overall, Unearthly is a great read. The writing is beautiful, the plot was well thought out, and the characters are engaging. Oh, and it's pretty much a guarantee that you'll adore Tucker after reading the book! 

Rating: 4 Stars