Read. Write. Love.: Review: Hallowed by Cynthia Hand

Title: Hallowed
Author: Cynthia Hand
Pages: 403

Publisher: HarperTeen

Series: Unearthly #2

Released: January 17, 2012

First Line: "In the dream, there's sorrow."

From Goodreads: "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."

My Thoughts:

“Our purpose on this earth is not one single event, an accomplishment we can check off a list. There is no test. No passing or failing. There's only us, each moment shaping who we are, into what we will become.”

Oh goodness I loved this book! This is going to be a difficult book to review without giving anything away...

Hallowed was very emotional, and at times heart-wrenching. It made me cry, and it's not often that a book does that. I'm just going to say that Clara is put through a lot in this book, and I could both sympathize/empathize with her pain and struggle.

A huge part of Hallowed is Clara finding out that there is more to her purpose than just saving Christian from the fire, but what exactly that is she doesn't know yet. All she does know is that she believes her purpose might have something to do with Christian. Clara has to decide whether she will accept her purpose or fight it if it means giving up Tucker and choosing Christian. Clara wrestles with this throughout the book, not wanting to be controlled by her destiny and wanting to make her own decisions. I really liked the themes in this book about fate, free will, purpose, and our choices.

In Hallowed Clara is also trying to figure out her feelings for Christian. I'm not a big fan of love triangles, but this one worked for me though it wasn't the best love triangle I've seen. I love, love, Tucker, but I'm not as crazy over Christian. I feel that his character is a little too mysterious and needs more development. I can't really say much here without giving anything away, so I'm just going to shut up x]

While I'm on the topic of characters, Angela is easily one of the best characters in this book! She's smart and quirky, and she made me laugh which helped to balance out the emotional parts of the book. Clara is also a great heroine--she is strong but flawed. She is stubborn, she struggles, and she makes mistakes. There is also lots of character conflict in this book to keep things interesting--conflict between Clara and her mom, Clara and Jeffrey, and Clara, Christian, and Tucker.

In Hallowed we find out more about the angel-bloods, angels, and Black Wings, and there are also some surprising plot twists. Most of the plot is character driven, but there is a little bit of action too! The ending isn't a cliffhanger and it leaves you satisfied, but at the same time it leaves you anticipating the next book as well.

Recommendations:

Hallowed is well-written and further develops Cynthia's Hand interesting take on angels with their purposes. I'm very excited for Boundless, especially after the hint near the ending of where it will be set :] I would definitely recommend Hallowed to those who loved Unearthly or to those who love stories about angels!