Hallowed: An Unearthly Novel [Hardcover]

Cynthia Hand (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 17, 2012 | 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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Hand has crafted a captivating paranormal romance that will have readers eagerly awaiting the next book in the series. (Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) )

Enchanting and exciting, romantic and believable-I wasn’t able to tear myself away! (Melissa Marr, author of the New York Times bestselling Wicked Lovely series )

About the Author

Cynthia Hand is a native of southeastern Idaho and currently lives with her husband and two children in Southern California, where she teaches writing at Pepperdine University. She has graduate degrees in creative writing from Boise State University and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Instead of a muse, Cynthia has a guardian angel named Buster. He wears a Stetson in place of a halo, prefers a beat-up pickup truck to flying, and loves to correct Cynthia’s grammar.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 13 and up
  
• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: HarperTeen (January 17, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061996181
• ISBN-13: 978-0061996184
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.9 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (83 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,277 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Cynthia Hand grew up in southeast Idaho, just outside the town of Idaho Falls. From as far back as she can remember, she loved books and reading, and wrote her first short story (about a fairy being born in a tulip) when she was around six years old--pretty much as soon as she could write. Her second grade teacher, Mrs. Widdison, told Cynthia that she'd be an author some day, and Cynthia believed her. She kept writing stories all through grade school, most of them wildly fantastical musings on supernatural beings or creatures, none of which ever won the annual short story competition where the writer got to meet Kenneth Thomasma,the author of one of Cynthia's favorite books, Naya Nuki. Cynthia learned early on that if you wanted to win the writing contest, you should write stories about that time your parents got their car stuck in the snow on the side of a mountain just before dark. You should not write about a group of unicorns fighting to take over an island from an alien invasion. Cynthia kept writing about unicorns anyway.

In middle school and high school, she and her friends formed a writing group that wrote fan fiction about their favorite novels and movies. Each person in the group invented a new character in the decided-upon world (they wrote about Elfquest, Vampire Hunter D, X-Men, Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar series, Anne McCafferty's Pern series, Star Wars, and SeaQuest (anyone remember SeaQuest?) and wrote exclusively from that character's point of view, sharing their writing as they went, collectively shaping what happened to these characters. Early on Cynthia was appointed the "editor" of their work, meaning that she collected it all, typed it, and edited it. She loved and possibly abused her power with the red pen.

In middle school and high school Cynthia also, on top of all the fan-fic writing, took piano lessons, danced tap and ballet, raced on the Kelly Canyon ski team, acted or teched in every school play and several plays for the community theater, sang in the school choir, took AP classes, and somehow managed to find time to eat and sleep enough to stay alive. There was a period during her junior year when she arrived at school at 5:30 a.m. and didn't get home until around 10 p.m., five days a week. She took the words insanely busy to a whole new level.

Cynthia went to college at the College of Idaho, where she majored in English (because she still loved to read, dangit) with a pre-law emphasis. She kept writing, as a hobby, she told everybody (especially her dad, who wanted her to have a solid, well-paying job) but focused on classes in constitutional law and international politics. She kept this up until the beginning of her senior year, when one day, neck deep in the law section of the library, she had this thought: I don't want to be a lawyer. I want to be a writer. So she broke the news to her parents and her advisers, who were all dismayed but tried to be understanding (especially her dad), and started to work on applying to M.F.A. programs in creative writing. Cynthia was lucky enough to get on the wait list of Boise State University.

At Boise State, Cynthia was determined to become a "serious writer," to the point where she cut up pictures of her favorite literary authors (Hemingway, Virginia Woolf, Alice Walker, Jane Smiley, Harper Lee, Tobias Wolff, Andre Dubus, Rick Bass, Joyce Carol Oates and many others) and taped them to the edges of her computer screen, so that she'd be reminded of greatness every time she sat down to write. No pressure or anything. It was in Boise that Cynthia fell head over heels in love with literary fiction, which she wrote exclusively for the next nine years, and with teaching. Just when she thought she was finally figuring out how to be a writer, she got kicked out (okay, not kicked out, she graduated with an M.F.A. in fiction writing). She wanted to keep studying, so she applied for Ph.D.s around the country, settling eventually on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In Nebraska, three hugely important things happened: Cynthia met her future husband, the writer and poet John Struloeff, she published her first short story, which she submitted to try to impress John Struloeff, and she connected with her agent.

Fast forward five years. Cynthia and John have married, graduated with their Ph.D.s, and had a son named Will. John landed a fantastic job as the director of the Creative Writing department at Pepperdine University, where Cynthia also had the pleasure of teaching one or two classes a semester. She has settled into "real life," but something is missing: writing. She's just not feeling it. This goes on for a couple years until one fateful night, the night that Unearthly first started stirring in her mind.

It's been a wild ride since then. . .

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love, love, love!, January 17, 2012

By 

Stephanie "Cuddlebuggery Book Blog" (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hallowed: An Unearthly Novel (Hardcover)

Oh, Cynthia Hand, how could you do this to me? I feel like this book should come with at least a warning. Something along the lines of:

WARNING: This book may cause readers massive amounts of fangirling/fanboying. Do not be alarmed if you encounter symptoms of swooning, emotional instability, and immediate depression after reading.

Yeah...cause that's exactly what happened to me. Many of you may remember that I expressed in my Unearthly review how I was initially reluctant to read this series. Angel PRN books seem to be the worst of the worst in YA literature. So you can imagine my happiness when I come across this gem of a series. If there were ever a reason needed as to why I voted for Cynthia Hand's Unearthly as Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction, it would be Hallowed. If you were thinking that Hand couldn't do it again, you were wrong!

First off let get this off my chest because it's seriously bothering me:

"This beautifully woven tale will appeal to fans of Lauren Kate, Becca Fitzpatrick, and Aprilynne Pike."

Excuse me while I hurl. Are you kidding me? Stop it. Please. Do not lump this series in with those sorry books. Hallowed, for starters, has a plot. The characters have real depth. The love interests aren't trying to kill Clara. What it should have said was: "For fans of real YA PNR literature." *Breathes* Okay. /end mini rant.

I think it goes without saying that I loved this book. I stayed up past 4am to finish this it. Once again, I could not have predicted the outcome! There are so many plot twists and mysteries revealed and it's not what you would expect at all. And I have a sinking feeling that Hallowed is sure to upset quite a few fans...

If you think I'm going to sit here and feed you spoilers, sorry kids, not gonna happen. However, I can tell you some of the things I LOVED about Hallowed:

The character development:
Fans will be happy to know that we do indeed find out more about Christian, Clara's mom, Angela, Jeffery's purpose and last, but certainly not least, Tucker Avery. *Cues the swooning*

Clara's mother definitely sees more development. And at first I found myself really irritated with her for keeping secrets, but by the end of the book, I couldn't bring myself to be angry at her any longer. We were left with so many unanswered questions at the end of Unearthly, mostly thanks to Clara's mom, but rest assured, many are answered. And of course, with more answers we get even more questions.

The love triangle:
I'm sure you saw that coming, as did I, but here's the thing: I liked it. I usually hate love triangles because I find them a bit played out and predictable. But it worked so well in Hallowed. This probably has something to do with the fact that Hand wrote these characters so well. Their relationships are very believable and heartbreakingly realistic. We see a whole other side to Christian and Tucker. It's rather easy to love them both because they both care deeply for Clara and respect her. There are no semi-abusive love interests here. How about that? ;)

The prose, the pacing, and the plot:
I never thought I could come to love the use of present tense prose, but I felt it was so perfect. We are really able to connect with Clara on another level because of that, especially everything that she goes through in this book. And she goes through a lot. The simple sentences and Clara's ramblings really helped me feel everything Clara felt. The pacing was a bit slower in this book than the last, but again, it works so perfectly. Hand gives us the opportunity to let it really sink in. The pacing just goes hand in hand with the plot, which too is very subtle. At first you become eager to get to the end, but you will come to dread it. So beautifully written.

The dialog:
Cynthia Hand, you are so slick and I love you for it. Those Twilight burns you put in there? Oh, yeah, I think you know how brilliantly awesome that was.

"Before I moved here, I never got the whole love-triangle thing. You know, in movies or romance novels or whatnot, where there's one chick that all the guys are drooling over, even though you can't see anything particularly special about her. But oh, no, they both must have her. And she's like, oh dear, however will I choose? William is so sensitive, he understands me, he swept me off my feet, oh misery, blubber, blubber, but how can I go on living without Rafe and his devil-may-care ways and his dark and only-a-little-abusive love? Upchuck."

Yup, that's pure win right there.

The ending:
It was so heartbreaking. Clara just didn't get a break in this book and I felt for her so much. I just wanted to hug her. And at the end I felt like I needed a hug. Hand, you had me crying at 4am! I can't believe you went there in this book!! I mean, seriously, I was having a fit over here:

Shock: "I.CAN'T.EVEN."

Disbelief: "NOOOOO!! She did not just do that! NOOOO!"

Depression: "How will I survive until 2013? I'm doomed. Doomed, I tell ya."

Cynthia Hand tore my heart out and made me eat it...

...and I liked it...

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The end will leave you with a sense of yearning and loss that I myself have only experienced with a handful of books, January 18, 2012

By 

JJ iReads (Miami, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hallowed: An Unearthly Novel (Hardcover)

I picked up Hallowed right after listening to the Unearthly audiobook. Never in my life did I imagine I was going to be taken through such an emotional roller coaster. Major tissue paper alert with this book! You have been warned.

The story picks up right where Unearthly left off, right after the fire and Clara's uncertainty about what she was supposed to do on that day, save Christian (who didn't really need saving) or save Tucker, the guy she's in love with. Clara rightfully feels like destiny's playing a mean trick on her.

Clara suddenly begins to have a new vision, which she is at first unsure is actually a vision since she's having it during her sleep, like a dream. Her vision involves a funeral and seems to tell her that someone close to her will die. Judging by the people not present in her vision, she assumes this person is Tucker.

Meanwhile, Angela forms an "Angel Club" and recruits Clara, Christian, and Clara's brother as members. They begin to learn thins about each other and what they can do as angelbloods, as well as compare notes and opinions on what Clara's vision means. Eager to help her is Christian, who has developed an obsession with Clara, convinced that she is his purpose and destiny, while Clara refuses to reciprocate because she is in love with Tucker. Clara vows to watch over Tucker and prevent at all costs what she sees in her vision to come true, going against her purpose and causing a lot of friction between her and her mother.

We are suddenly thrown into the world of black wings, whom we were introduced to in book 1, and Clara struggles to find a way to battle them using Glory. Clara has sudden moments where she feels sorrow, a sign that a black wing is nearby, throwing an element of suspense throughout the book. Clara's mother reveals a bit more information to Clara, but always holding back, not giving more than she thinks is necessary, and irritating Clara to no end.

There is a big revelation towards 3/4 of the book that I will not mention in this review (you will have to read the book), but it's HUGE and it involves Clara's estranged father. We also find out more about Clara's vision and who is the person that the funeral is for. This is where the tissues will come in handy.

The end will leave you with a sense of yearning and loss that I myself have only experienced with a handful of books. I became so attached to all the characters in this book, and although this book is not the last in the series, it had an air of finality, like I'd lost a loved one myself. It moved me deeply and I may or may not have cried like a baby when I finished this book. I give it 4 stars. Excellent, EXCELLENT sequel. Can't wait to read the conclusion to this very moving story when the third book in the series comes out.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed Emotions, February 3, 2012

By 

Sarah Joseph "SJE" (New York) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hallowed (Unearthly) (Kindle Edition)

I have mixed feelings about Hallowed.

If you don't mind bawling your eyes out on the subway, on your way to work at 8 AM in the morning, proceed without caution.
If you don't mind hating the main character for a good portion of the book and then making up with her later, proceed without caution.
If you don't mind love stories, that are utterly predictable then proceed without caution.
If you don't mind bratty teenagers but enduring it throughout the story to witness the relationship between a mother and daughter grow, proceed without caution.

What I must be trying to say here is, I hated it, it annoyed me, and was fairly predictable. I am also saying that it was lovely, in the sense that it had the ability to reach out and grab your emotions and give them a hard jerk.

I wouldn't say that I would recommend this book, but I would definitely read the next installment.