Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Goodreads Description:

In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees . . . .

Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.

Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place—and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.

As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make—between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?

Unearthly is a moving tale of love and fate, and the struggle between following the rules and following your heart.

My Review:

Favourite Quote: "He seems to gaze right into me, like he's seeing me for who I truly am.  And in that moment, I want to tell him the truth. Crazy, I know. Stupid. Wrong.  I try to take a step back, but my foot slips and I almost go headfirst into the river but he catches me."

Wow! Surprisingly I loved it!  I have been having a bad run with angel books lately but this is exactly what I have been looking for.  Unearthly has an original plot, interesting characters, a swoon worthy crush and overall is a pleasure to read.

Cynthia Hand's writing was just easy to read.  Before I knew it I had read 300 pages.  The plot wasn't filled with action but rather mystery.  Never did this go down the predictable path, it seem to subtlely surprise me.  Unearthly is probably the most interesting angel concept I have read.  There was a little bit of good angel vs fallen angel but for a change it didn't have anything to do with the love interests.  The vision and purpose element is what made this so different.  Sometimes with angel concepts too the history can be far too complex and hard to understand but this was effortless to follow.

Now to my favourite part of this book, the characters and that is what drives this story.  Clara is sweet, sometimes funny, believable and made smart choices.  Tucker (~swoons~, sorry but every time he is mentioned that happens) is a crush worthy male character.  A true gentleman, witty, gorgeous, and a cowboy (which makes him extra swoon worthy).  I adored the playful banter aka flirting between Clara and Tucker, it provided plenty of awwww moments.  Christian, well he was okay.  At first I thought I knew his type - typical, popular, gorgeous, nice guy that every girl is crushing on but in the end he was more than I expected. 

I know that I have just mentioned two guys so therefore it equals love triangle but do not fear.  This love triangle was gentle (although I do think that it might be brewing for the next book).  Clara is pretty certain of her choice and doesn't go back and forth.

The ending, no cliffhanger here, yay!  There are a few questions but it ends in the right place for more but still leaving readers satisfied for now.
 
Overall, I highly recommend this book, it had all the right elements.  An outstanding debut.

Rating: 5/5

Thanks to Netgalley and HarperTeen for providing me with a copy.  I have already pre-ordered my own copy.

Some interesting info:  The above cover is our cover here in Australia.  Isn't it gorgeous!

For more info: Cynthia Hand's blog

Check out the trailer: