Hallowed (Unearthly #2) by Cynthia Hand

Hallowed (Unearthly #2) by Cynthia Hand
Published: January 17, 2012 by HarperTeen
Received: ARC from the publisher - thank you!

For months part-angel Clara Gardner trained to face the raging forest fire from her visions and rescue the alluring and mysterious Christian Prescott from the blaze. But nothing could prepare her for the fateful decisions she would be forced to make that day, or the startling revelation that her purpose—the task she was put on earth to accomplish—is not as straightforward as she thought. Now, torn between her increasingly complicated feelings for Christian and her love for her boyfriend, Tucker, Clara struggles to make sense of what she was supposed to do the day of the fire.

And, as she is drawn further into the world of part angels and the growing conflict between White Wings and Black Wings, Clara learns of the terrifying new reality that she must face: Someone close to her 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. {taken from goodreads.com}

I read Unearthly earlier this year and LOVED it.  So much that it's remained my favorite YA paranormal of the year.  So when I got my hands on an early copy of Hallowed, the second in the series, I was beyond excited to read more of this story.  Cynthia Hand has done a superb job of taking the paranormal elements of angels and incorporating it with the every day life of a teenage girl.  What drew me to her writing was how easily I was able to forget that Clara was an angel, with a purpose to fulfill.  Her sarcastic, brave teenage self is what jumped off the pages at me.  That feeling carried over in to Hallowed, accompanied with so many emotional blows that I was NOT prepared for.

The story begins with the repercussions of Clara's decisions she made in the previous novel.  Though I was happy with the choice she made then, I was now starting to see the dangers of what it meant for her in the future.  We learn more about Clara, her brother Jeffery, and their mom in this bit of the story.  Small pieces start to form together, and the picture begins to take shape.  Underneath all the Angel-ness in Clara's world are two boys -- Tucker and Christian.  Strip the story down and you have yourself a basic love triangle.  What I love about this formation of who does she belong to, is that we know who we WANT her to be with, yet we also start to see who she is MEANT to be with.  So the angles on this triangle aren't quite clear.  I'll be honest, I was Team Tucker from the very start.  My emotions have always swayed towards his side.  Christian, though he has a purpose of his own, has never and will never get my vote.

In order to not spoil a big chunk of the book, I will just say that the "someone close to Clara will die" aspect of the story definitely brought the OMG WHERE ARE MY TISSUES?! I AM LOOKING LIKE A CRAZY PERSON SOBBING AT MY DESK!  So, be prepared.  It gets mighty rough.  And that is all I will say on that.

If you're a fan of paranormal with a heavy influence of contemporary in your stories, then I highly recommend this series.  Cynthia Hand has the ability to captivate readers with her dazzling picturesque landscapes set as the back drop to some pretty heavy, heart-tugging complications.  I was sold from the first book, and I've been won over again by the second.  TEAM TUCKER! Just saying.