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!

My Rating:

Writing: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Plot: 5/5
Creativity/Originality: 5/5
Kept me interested: 5/5  

 

Review: Sweet Evil by Wendy Higgins

Title: Sweet Evil

Author: Wendy Higgins

Pages: 454

Publisher: Harper Teen

Series: The Sweet Trilogy #1

Released: May 1, 2012

From Goodreads: "Embrace the Forbidden

What if there were teens whose lives literally depended on being bad influences?

This is the reality for sons and daughters of fallen angels.

Tenderhearted Southern girl Anna Whitt was born with the sixth sense to see and feel emotions of other people. She’s aware of a struggle within herself, an inexplicable pull toward danger, but Anna, the ultimate good girl, has always had the advantage of her angel side to balance the darkness within. It isn’t until she turns sixteen and meets the alluring Kaidan Rowe that she discovers her terrifying heritage and her willpower is put to the test. He’s the boy your daddy warned you about. If only someone had warned Anna.

Forced to face her destiny, will Anna embrace her halo or her horns?"

My Thoughts:

There are a lot of angel/fallen angel books out there right now, and the concept is getting a little old. However, Wendy Higgins puts her own unique spin on fallen angels that keeps things interesting. I was very intrigued by her concept of the children of fallen angels (aka Nephilim) being raised to tempt other teens. Tempting others to sin is their 'job' and they are forced to 'work' by their fallen angel fathers. Some of the Nephilim like their work and others don't, but they have no choice but to obey their fathers or be killed. The Nephilim are treated like slaves by the fallen angels, and by the end of the book there are hints of a rebellion to come.

I enjoyed the characters, but I wish they had been developed more, especially Kaidan. The romance was alright, though I thought it moved much too quicky in the beginning. I'm not a big fan of the 'insta-love' plots, though I will give the author credit for further developing their relationship throughout the middle of the book. However, the beginning still felt weird and somewhat unbelieveable to me because Anna and her mom trusted Kaidan--a complete stranger--far too quickly based on Anna's gut instinct. Anna's mom then allows her to go on a cross-country road trip alone with Kaidan. What?? I don't think so. What responsible mother would allow this? The author could have handled this better to make it more believeable, at the least by developing their relationship BEFORE the trip so that they had a solid reason to trust Kaidan.

I was surprised by how biblically accurate this book was (well, as accurate as a fictional story can be anyway) compared to other angel books I've read. The author obviously did her research, which I appreciate. I think this book's biggest flaw was its plot. It was an alright plot, but I wish the author would've had more going on besides Kaidan and Anna's forbidden love drama. It would have been much better with more action and danger involving the fallen angels. I think the next book will be better though because it seems like the Nephilim are going to rebel, which is really what I want to read about!

Recommendations:

Sweet Evil was well-written with a fresh take on fallen angels. The book does have some flaws, but I still enjoyed the story despite them and I will definitely be reading the sequel. I would recommend this book to those who enjoy angels/fallen angels or forbidden romance.

My Rating:

Writing: 4/5

Characters: 4/5

Plot: 3/5

Creativity/Originality: 4/5

Kept me interested: 4/5