Review: Hallowed by Cynthia Hand

Hallowed

Author: Cynthia Hand
Series: Unearthly

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.

Review

I loved Hallowed, probably more than I loved Unearthly, and I'm not really even sure why because there was so much heartbreak within the pages that I was often setting the book down, catching my breath and keeping the tears that were threatening to roll down my cheeks from falling.

Hallowed begins a few days after Unearthly left off, and Clara is still struggling to understand her decision to save Tucker instead of following her purpose to save Christian from the burning flames. Not knowing what will happen to her now after not going through with her destiny, she's rather conflicted, and isn't getting any answers from her mother on what will happen. Clara doesn't understand why she still can't get the boy from her visions out of her head and that nagging voice saying, We belong together, is relentless, always popping up in her mind. And to top it off, she keeps having these dreams that she suspects are new visions. One where she's ascending a staircase in the middle of the woods while people are standing around with grave looks on their faces and Christian, not Tucker, takes her hand. When her vision finally reveals itself, it's almost more than she can bare. Everything in her life begins falling apart while other parts of her life come together and surprising revelations surface.

This entire book is just hauntingly beautiful. I can't say too much about it without giving out spoilers but I will say that my heart was completely broken by the end. I was in tears. My heart went out to them all: Clara, Jeremy, Tucker, Christian... all of the characters in this heart-wrenching tale. There were moments that were a complete shock to me, and some of them I suspected from the beginning. Every word within this story flowed together so eloquently, making for a truly wonderful read and my heart aches for the next installment, needing to know the answers to the questions that were left in the end. If you have read Unearthly, don't delay in reading Hallowed; it is just as amazing, if not better, than the first, and you will absolutely not regret it.

I rate this book: