Review - Hallowed

by Cynthia Hand
publisher: HarperTeen
date of publication: January 17, 2012
format: eGalley
pages: 242
source: Netgalley
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From Goodreads:

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.

What I Thought

WARNING: Spoiler Alert!  Do NOT read this review is you have not read Unearthly.

I had no idea what I was in for with regard to the next book after I finished reading Unearthly last summer.  I thoroughly enjoyed that book, but wondered how I would react when reading the sequel.  Would the dreaded middle book syndrome strike again?  Would I like it as much as the first book?  All of these questions, and more, ran through my mind as I began reading Hallowed.  There are noticeable differences, as well as a few things scattered throughout the book that struck me as overly convenient, but overall, I really enjoyed my time reading Hallowed.

The first noticeable difference is in Clara.  Gone is the awkward, obsessively distracted Clara of the bright orange hair.  In is the more self-confident Clara, no longer with orange hair and gone completely over the moon about her boyfriend, Tucker.  She is a much less painfully awkward character to read about in Hallowed and is less likely to make readers feel sorry for her.  However, she isn't necessarily at her best, either.  She is a much more conflicted character in Hallowed.  Her problems aren't always met with the best reactions and she spends an inordinate amount of time worrying about her love life, no matter what alarming events are occurring in the periphery.  This made for an overwhelmingly conflicted love triangle that came to be too much, at times.  Overall, it made her more difficult to connect with as a character this time around which, I have to say, I found a little disappointing.

The sense of danger was handled very well this time.  The menace of the Black Wings is much more up front in this book, which makes for a more intense sense of danger.  Samjeeza is an alarming villain thanks to his ulterior motives and his total lack of morals.  He holds an insidious presence throughout the book that not only imparts a feeling of dread, but also leaves behind a sense that something larger is going to happen.  His madness and desperation come together to form a truly dangerous, unpredictable character.

Hallowed was just as absorbing as Unearthly and I found myself reading chapter after chapter in an attempt to find out what was going to happen next.  While I didn't agree with all of the choices made in the plot of this book, I wound up being just as intrigued.  For all of the characters' foibles and my misgivings about certain plot elements, I couldn't help but sink right into this book until I reached the very last page.  This is definitely a book that I encourage readers to read in order to come to their own conclusions.  There is a lot going on here and it can't be summed up by one reader alone.  Personally, however, I give Hallowed 4 hoots.

Obligatory legal statement: This eGalley was provided to me free of charge by the publisher via Netgalley. No monetary compensation was received in exchange for this fair and unbiased review.