When I first came across this book I was reluctant to pick it up because it looked like any other YA paranormal book, and I was reluctant to read another angel book after Hush, Hush. I came across a review for another angel book (that the original reviewer hadn’t liked), and I expressed my difficulty in finding a good angel book and she recommended Unearthly. I put off reading it for awhile but when I did pick it up I flew through it. I immensely enjoyed it for the characters, and especially the love story. I’m not usually in the mood for romance-centered books because they usually hit the mark for me because the characters are too perfect, or it’s the insta-love connection (which I loathe). I was initially worried about the insta-love connection between Clara and Christian (blech), and I was so not a fan of Christian because he was too perfect, and all the flashbacks they had together were super cheesy and way to romantic, liked they “belonged” with each other. However, I knew the instant that Tucker entered the scene that he was going to be a romantic interest. I thought that maybe Cynthia Hand was going to prolong Clara’s feelings for him until the end of the novel, but they hit off their romance fairly quickly. What I really enjoyed about them being together was that Clara initially couldn’t stand him and just dismissed him because she was too busy mooning over Christian, who was such a snooze button. The whole time I agreed with Wendy with her whole stance on Christian: “You like Christian Prescott,” she finishes for me, arching an eyebrow. “Yeah, I could tell. But he’s like a god. You worship the gods but you don’t go out with them. You only like guys like that from a distance.” (quote) Mostly I wouldn’t go out with Christian because his only defining feature in this book is his apparently gorgeous appearance. Tucker, on the other hand, had a personality, was still good-looking but in a natural, approachable way, and his and Clara’s banter was much more likeable and entertaining than the few times Clara talked with Christian. Plus, the only other times she talked to the “god” was when she was texting him. Boo. I think it’s pretty clear that I am Team Tucker all the way, and I will continue to be so. I don’t care if Clara and Christian “belong” to each other, Tucker is a much more reliable, interesting, and unique person (even if he’s fictional), and I LOVED LOVED LOVED the way their relationship developed. It was the perfect amount of tension, slow-burn, and getting to know each other well-enough. It wasn’t the two of them jumping into some sort of crazy intense relationship, the type that is WAY too common in YA books and is entirely unrealistic. I was just all feels the entire book. Another reason I really liked this book was the location. It felt very laid back, relaxed, and wintery in a good way, with ski lodges and plaid shirts and wildnerness trekking. Whenever I read descriptions my mind when to Banff in Alberta, which is right in the Rockies. Those kinds of places in the mountains just take your breath away and I could clearly visualize the location in my head. The way Cynthia Hand wove in the angelic parts was well-done as well. They were featured enough to be interesting and had a fresh quality, but they weren’t overdone, and the plot was very personal rather than mythological. There were some instances where Clara’s two worlds collided with negative consequences but they meshed well with the story and her regular life as a teenager. My one problem with the book was the ending. I won’t give away anything but it was too anti-climactic, unresolved, confusing, and convenient all at the same time. I think it could be handled a lot better. There was all this build up, some stuff happened, but it wasn’t explained enough to really get through to me. It’s hard to explain without giving too much away. I’ll just conclude by saying while some things were explained (that suddenly made sense, and I slapped myself for being such an idiot and not picking up on it), they weren’t the right things to explain. The consequences of Clara’s actions weren’t explained enough for me, but I guess they’ll be revealed in the next book (which I will definitely be reading). Overall I loved this book because of the romance, which was cute, realistic, and didn’t have focus on an insta-love connection. I’m really excited to see what will happen with Clara, Tucker, and Christian, but there are something people I’m a little anxious about and what Cynthia Hand will do to them in the next installment.

Again, a fail in my "Let's try some popular supernatural YA fiction" movement. I will surely go back to books that I like after this. Clara is a snobby character that immediately got on my nerve. "I am not that pretty but I don't need to wear make up. My hair is long and wavy. I am skinny and tall." WHERE IS YOUR HUMILITY, GURL? After a whole chapter of her spazzing about her angel visions and the same old description of the boy in her vision, I gave up. Hey Cynthia Hand! Get some new vocabulary in your writing tool box please. I told myself: "Just give it try. Come on." And it took me over 45 mins to finish 25 pages. That's when I knew this book was not for me.

Unearthly was an amazing book that kept me reading until I finished!!! Utterly captivating!! I finished it in a day!!! I cannot wait to read the sequel!!!!

Unearthly is a magnificent young-adult paranormal fantasy book that brings the genre of angels to life. Cynthia Hand is a brilliant storyteller that weaves a beautiful complicated storyline that will leave you guessing what will happen next until the very last word. Unearthly tells the story of sixteen year-old Clara Gardner who is ¼ angel blood and ¾ human descent. She has just received a purpose, something that she must do involving a boy that is surrounded by a raging fire, in her dreams. Clara thinks it’s her duty to save him, so she and her family move to Wyoming from California. When she meets Christian who is –literally- the boy of her dreams, she tries to get to know him and has a bit of a crush on him. However, Tucker, another boy that she meets at school also captures her attention. Christian and Tucker both have to battle for Clara’s heart and when time is counting down to the moment of Clara’s destiny, who will truly have her heart? Unearthly is a well-paced story that will never get boring. The mystery surrounding Clara’s purpose creates a nice tension and will keep you on your toes throughout the book. The angel mythology unfolds at a good rate as well. Ms. Hand carefully explains the role of angels and the role they play in the war when they are cast out of Heaven when siding with Lucifer. Unearthly is a breath of fresh air and definitely a great read when you’re in need of one.

This is the first book I have read that has an Angel as the main character. I have read about airies, vampires, witches and were wolves. I was pleasently surprised and left wanting more. Clara is made to feel so real. Her emotions and struggles were brought to life perfectly. This is definatly one of my new favorite stories. This book absolutely left me wanting more!!!

** spoiler alert ** Angels exist. In Clara Gardner's case, she's one quarter Angel born of a human father and a half-blood Angel mother. She and her brother are being raised by their mother while their father is in New York City. Her mother isn't very forthcoming with information about Angels beyond what she thinks her children need to know. Clara starts having visions of a boy in a forest fire. Her visions are a clue to her Purpose, the thing she's been put on Earth to do, so the family packs up from California and moves to Wyoming to follow Clara's Purpose. At school she sees Christian, the boy from her visions, and tries to get closer to him to be in a position to complete her Purpose. Clara is a strong and relatable character. She has flaws and makes mistakes and we see her grow throughout the book as she gets more confident. Christian is mysterious and always seems to be hiding something but remains likeable even in the times Clara doesn't like him. Her two friends, Wendy and Angela, couldn't be more different but they both offer Clara friendship, insight, and hard truths when she needs them. Tucker, Wendy's twin brother, creates a love triangle with Christian and Clara and he's the guy I'm rooting for. At first he's mean to Clara and she can't understand why but it quickly becomes obvious it's a 'boy pulling on the pigtails of a girl he likes' situation. I really liked the ending even though nothing was really resolved. It seemed to set up for a sequel perfectly, with no really big cliffhanger that leaves an angry taste in the reader's mouth but a lot of little things to think about going forward. What will happen between Clara and Tucker? Clara and Christian? What happened in her mother's past? What's going on with Jeremy? Are Clara and Christian really destined to be together? So many questions that can only be answered by picking up the next book.

(In the event the Chapters-Indigo website elects to delete my rating, I mention here that I gave this book 2 out of 5 stars/leaves.) (I will also state that I have trouble understanding *why* Chapters-Indigo insist on treating us like children: it refused to post my review until I removed certain so-called 'objectionable' words... Are you *serious*? I'm considering removing my reviews and posting them elsewhere, honestly.) All in all I found this book to be disappointing. I do think this author has potential, but I do not think this was fully realized in this novel. Let me detail the reasons why. Good points: The character building was well quite well done. The main character was quite likeable (which is not always the case in YA fiction), as were the secondary characters. The world building was relatively well done (until the end of the novel at least) although perhaps a bit on the simplistic side (i.e. we are told that there are angels, demi-angels and so on, as well as a few more details, and that is mostly it other than the fact that the main character has some divine mission to fulfill). Bad points: While not *badly* written per se, I have read YA novels that made a more sophisticated use of language (I will also say that there were one or two grammatical mistakes). I couldn't help but feel that the writing felt just a little too 'simplified'. I can't help but feel that younger readers need not imply a general lack of vocabulary (which may be why part of me cringes whenever a reviewer states that a "teenager wouldn't speak that way!" in a YA novel). I will heartily admit that I am not a teenager, nor have I been one in a while. OTOH I do not see why writing for teens and young adults should be equated with 'dumbing down' a text. It has been a while, but I had a pretty good vocabulary and linguistic capacity when I was in the YA demographic. (Of course, this is JMHO and your mileage may vary.) The biggest problem with this novel however and the main aspect which brought this novel down as a whole for me, was the fact that *nothing* was resolved by the end. I can accept an underlying arc in a series of novels. It does seem to me however that this needs to be done in such a way that certain fundamental and more immediate story elements get resolved within each installment -otherwise this tends to leave the reader with the feeling that things have been intentionally left hanging so as to rope them into reading the next book. I speak of the difference between having an underlying continuing story and having the end of the story essentially truncated. Unfortunately, the end of this novel fell into the latter category, IMHO. Spoiler space... * * * * * Nothing much is explained regarding why the main character needed to save some boy. Nothing much is explained as to why he turned out to be supernatural as well (I'm trying not to give *too* much away here). Nothing much is explained regarding why the main character's mother could tell her so little about her supernatural nature. Nothing much is explained about the origins of or the war between angels (Or is angels vs. demons? This wasn't clear either). Nothing is explained regarding why the main character's mother is attacked. Nothing much is explained as to why angels would decide to procreate with humans and how this fits into the overall scheme of things. Any consequences of defying the so-called 'purpose' of her life (i.e. I speak of the main character here) is also not explained at all. No explanation whatsoever is provided regarding the fact that the main character seems to have an unexpected level of angelic power at the end of the novel. Er. Do you begin to see my point? There were also some overused cliches of YA literature: in particular, the 'evil/insert your insult here' girlfriend of the guy the main character was crushing on. I really don't see why novels aimed at youth and which will be read by many young women can't feature female characters who are actually mature enough to realize that not everything in life is related to one's ovaries. It seems to me that women, no matter their age, are as complex and multihued as any male segment of the population and are occasionally quite capable of (i) forming and maintaining friendships with other women despite having fully functional males in the room, (ii) working through biological imperatives to realize that certain labels can be infinitely hurtful and damaging to another worman. While this novel used the trope of the 'nasty girlfriend' less than others, the fact is that it was there. And it ANNOYS me. So overall this was enjoyable, but not memorable. I do understand where the author was going with this (i.e. the power of self-determination is perhaps one somewhat 'crude' way for me to describe it), but I did not think this novel was successful, in large part because of its failure to resolve basic and key issues in the story. So: a two star rating.

You can view all my reviews at http://www.alluringreads.blogspot.com I LOVED this book! It had a great flow to it, it built up well and the climax was awesome. Yes, it's another love triangle book (seems that's the template most YA authors run to now) but I feel it's very well executed. I fell in love with Tucker and at the same time I really liked Christian! That's never happened to me before, I always pick a side. I also really appreciated the way Cynthia treaded lightly around all the God talk. This is a book essentially about the beings of Heaven and Earth, but it didn't feel preachy at all (even the angels don't go to church!). Our protagonist Clara Gardner also won me over throughout the book. She's a heroine with a head on her shoulders and I really appreciated that. She had her purpose in life but she was going to stay true to herself no matter what the cost. So often we see girls in these books that have no mind of their own, so it was so exciting to read a character and be able to respect her for her decisions. This is a perfectly paced book that leaves you ecstatic for the sequel. I definitely recommend Unearthly to anyone looking for an Alluring Read.

I loved this book. It was sooooooooo good! I can't believe how this book turned out! :D I was glued to this book for less than a week! I really loved the plot and really loved the characters! I think the author did a really great job! :D Loved this book!

It's always harder to praise a book than to knock it down. Unearthly was a book I pined for before I got it for my birthday. It was getting fantastic reviews and I expected to be blown away. And I was. What a change from YA PNR's that I've read in the past. This book puts Hush, Hush and Fallen to shame. THIS is what angel books should be like. The romance shouldn't be instant (my biggest pet peeve, aside from moping excessively), it should develop healthily, the love interest also shouldn't be over-protective, needy, or creepy (Sorry Edward, but you're really all of the above). I'm not going to go into the specifics of the romance because it will spoil the book, but I will say this: You will love the guy, too. I understand why Clara falls for him. Also, the angel mythology makes sense. It's explained well, without using info-dumping, and it slowly given to the reader throughout the book. It's easy to expect a book about a part-angel to be preachy, but it's not. Some aspects about God are mentioned, but not talked about on any deep level. This is a book for a lot of people. The only problem was the very slow beginning when Clara is trying to figure out her "purpose". Other than that, I wouldn't complain about a thing.