Genre: YA Paranormal (Angels, coming of age, magical quest, love triangle, young love)
Series: Book two in the Unearthly series
Original Language: English
Publisher: HarperTeen
Country: USA
Publication Date: January 17, 2012
ISBN: 9780061996184
Page Count: 320
My Rating: ★★★★★
Summary < 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.
The only word that comes to mind when I think of this book and this series, is "beautiful".
The writing is beautiful; written in first person, present tense. The prose is lyrical, sometimes poetic. The dialogue is sweet, endearing and often highly amusing. I've never really had any great love for present tense narrative before now. It's so rare, I've only actually come across it once before. With that series, it drove me completely nuts. With this, I barely gave it a second thought because it just flows from Hand in such an effortless way, that it's clear to me why she chose it. Because it fits her style, and it really makes the writing stand out to me, but in a good way this time. It helps you to feel everything Clara feels right there in real time; every decision that's made you can understand her reasons for- even if you don't necessarily like the decision- because you've just watch her struggle to make it. This means you can really empathise with her.
Publisher: HarperTeen
Country: USA
Publication Date: January 17, 2012
ISBN: 9780061996184
Page Count: 320
My Rating: ★★★★★
Summary < 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.
REVIEW
The only word that comes to mind when I think of this book and this series, is "beautiful".
The writing is beautiful; written in first person, present tense. The prose is lyrical, sometimes poetic. The dialogue is sweet, endearing and often highly amusing. I've never really had any great love for present tense narrative before now. It's so rare, I've only actually come across it once before. With that series, it drove me completely nuts. With this, I barely gave it a second thought because it just flows from Hand in such an effortless way, that it's clear to me why she chose it. Because it fits her style, and it really makes the writing stand out to me, but in a good way this time. It helps you to feel everything Clara feels right there in real time; every decision that's made you can understand her reasons for- even if you don't necessarily like the decision- because you've just watch her struggle to make it. This means you can really empathise with her.
The characters are also beautiful. And I don't just mean outer appearance, although they are that too, but that's almost irrelevant in this series. It is a very character driven piece. I'm actually surprised how much I like it as, action wise, it is on the gentle side and I am a card-toting action lover. But I'm just so darn in love with these amazing characters, these incredible young people, and the confusing, heartbreaking journey they are on. They are each at a pivotal time in their lives; at an age where life-changing decisions are often made, but for these guys, those decisions are so much bigger. The conflict Clara is going through is so fascinating, and other parts of it were simply gut-wrenching. I admit to crying like a baby for a large portion of this novel
I haven't mentioned much in terms of plot but I'm sure other reviewers will fill you in on that score. But I will say there were a number of shocks, surprises and big reveals in this book. There were also some big changes- those darn decisions I mentioned earlier- which I'm not sure I'm totally on board with yet, but I will definitely be waiting with breathless anticipation for the next book to see where that leads us to.
I would recommend this series to all. Young, old, YA lover or not, because it is simply...wait for it...beautiful :)
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