Review ~ "Hallowed" by Cynthia Hand

Title: "Hallowed"
Series: Unearthly, #2
Author: Cynthia Hand 
 
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Published: January 17, 2012
Publisher: HarperTeen
Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance
Pages: 416
Format: eBook
Source: Overdrive

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For months Clara Gardner trained to face the fire from her visions, but she wasn't prepared for the choice she had to make that day. And in the aftermath, she discovered that nothing about being part angel is as straightforward as she thought.

Now, torn between her love for Tucker and her complicated feelings about the roles she and Christian seem destined to play in a world that is both dangerous and beautiful, Clara struggles with a shocking revelation: Someone she loves 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.

In this compelling sequel to Unearthly, Cynthia Hand captures the joy of first love, the anguish of loss, and the confusion of becoming who you are.

Even though I didn’t connect with Unearthly too much, I still loved it. But I connected with Hallowed and then it punched me in the heart. As in, I was nearly a sobbing, snotty mess when finishing. When I started the book, I had a feeling that there would be some heart-breaking stuff, but I didn’t expect it to that extent.

After the events of Unearthly, Clara thinks that everything should be OK. But she worries since she didn’t fulfill her purpose. Instead of saving Christen, who is also an angel, she saves Tucker, her human boyfriend. Clara’s worried. Although the fire, what her purpose was all about, has passed, the dreams keep coming. Christian’s still there. But this time they’re in a cemetery. And Clara has no clue why. All she knows is that someone she loves is going to die.

Most of the book is really Clara trying to people please. She wants her relationship with Tucker to work out, so she’s working really hard to keep it strong when so many things seem to be working against them. She’s also scared to tell him all of her angel stuff, so she’s really conflicted. He knows most things about her being an angel, but not everything. He's been accepting, however, some new things she learns about angels and herself could possibly change his feelings about her. But Tucker is an absolute sweetheart and is perfect. Sure, this whole angel thing is new to him, but he's taking it in pretty well, so you gotta give the boy some credit!

She tries to make Christian happy by talking to him, but that's hard to do as he wants more than a friendship and doesn't know boundaries. Since he has angel blood too, he feels that he's better for Clara than Tucker. I didn't like him in Unearthly, and I still didn't really like him here. Maybe I disliked him a little less, but he just seemed to enjoy making Tucker unhappy, which made Clara unhappy. Dude, I know you want to be with her, but egging on and insulting the girl you like's boyfriend isn't going to get you on her good side.
   
As I said before, I connected with this book much more than I did with Unearthly. Maybe it was because I now knew these characters, or maybe it was because of some of the events that happened. And some of the things that happened are super sad, like they punched you in the heart, pulled it out, stomped on it in dirt and gravel, and then shoved it back into your chest sad. I was blinking back tears while driving in the back roads of Ohio. Maybe I can blame my watery eyes on the nasty water that smelled really bad?

Overall, this book was a great follow-up to Unearthly. It delves more into the world of angels and their history. I can definitely say that if you didn't feel much of a connection with the first book, you will with this one. The ending is completely heartbreaking and will leave you desperate for the third book, where I can only hope things get better!