Early Review: Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Ed. note: The giveaway for an ARC of Cynthia Hand’s fantastic debut Unearthly is now closed. Thanks to all who entered!

Unearthly
Cynthia Hand
Published: Jan. 4, 2011 (Harper Teen)
Purchase at: Book Depository or Amazon

Rating (out of 5): 5 stars

Just go ahead and put Cynthia Hand on your auto-buy list now. Hit up Amazon and order Unearthly now, because — and we’ll put our rep on this one — the book is top-notch.

Clara is part angel. She’s still new to the whole thing, but when she begins having visions of a boy amid burning trees she knows something is up. Her mom (also part angel) is so excited, because her daughter is receiving her purpose. While Clara’s mom won’t reveal what her purpose is or was, she’ll work with her daughter to figure out what Clara is meant to do. First step: figure out where the vision is taking place.

It’s the second step that makes thing complicated for Clara and her family: move. Any teenager is going to hate picking up and moving away from their friends, but Clara has been assigned a task by God. You can’t really shirk that resposibility.

Clara quickly runs into the boy from her dreams, and he’s stunning. In addition to being gorgeous, Christian is also kind …and off limits. He has a girlfriend, and, you know, she’s an angel sent to probably save his life. Imagine meeting the boy of your dreams — to feel an amazing connection to him — only to continually be told there’s no hope and you should focus on your job. Frustrating doesn’t being to describe it.

Even as she begins to get closer to Christian, she finds another “not her type” guy grabbing her attention. What if her purpose is to be with Christian? Can can even want to be with someone else?

Add in a couple polar-opposite friends (one who knows way more about angels than Clara does), a resentful little brother, sometimes secretive mom and a popular girl who wants to rain hell down upon the girl catching Christian’s eye and you can see why being a part-angel teenager is complicated.

The beauty in Unearthly comes from choosing your destiny, learning to make the hard choices and knowing when your heart should rule those decisions.

I love an emotional ride. Good novels evoke genuine emotion in their readers. Great novels more often surprise readers by cultivating the unexpected response. Unearthly appears straightforward, but Hand’s writing so enamors the reader that one is confused, anxious and exhilarated as the plot coils tighter. At the end you’ll wonder how this delightful journey brought you here, and start begging for more.

The Contest for an ADVANCED COPY OF UNEARTHLY is now closed. The winner will be announced on Dec. 30.

CONTEST DETAILS AND RULES
1. Fill out the entry form.
2. This contest is only open to residents of the U.S. and Canada.
3. Contest is closes at 11:59 p.m. CST on Tuesday, Dec. 28.
4. Winners will be selected using Random.org and announced on Dec. 30. Then they will be contacted via email and given 48 hours to claim their prizes. If we do not hear from the winner(s) within that time, new winner(s) will be selected.
6. Entrants must be at least 13 years old, or have their parent’s permission to enter this contest. Please review our privacy policy, if you have any questions as to how Vampire Book Club uses your information. (Short version: we’ll only use it to contact you for this contest.)
7. Though unlikely, Vampire Book Club has the right to change or cancel any giveaway at any time without prior notice.
8. A big thank you to Harper Teen for providing this ARC.