Hallowed by Cynthia Hand

Hallowed by Cynthia Hand
Buy Hallowed by Cynthia Hand at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Teens
Reviewer: Loralei Haylock
Summary: An okay read that will sustain your interest with some good mythology and characters, but it's not quite enough to lift this series out of the 4 star band yet.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 448	Date: January 2012
Publisher: Egmont
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-1405259927
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After going against her Purpose in Unearthly, part-angel Clara is at something of a loose end. What are you supposed to do when you've gone against your one calling in life? A new vision gives Clara some clue, but it's not a direction she wants to take. Someone she cares about is going to die, and she only has a few months to work out who and to stop it. With her mother continuing to be cagey about her life before Clara, her brother growing a real attitude problem, and a Black Wing seemingly stalking her, Clara fears she has too many things on her plate to save a loved one from their imminent death.

And to make matters worse, she still feels a deep connection to Christian, which isn't what you want when embarking on a relationship with someone else...

There was a lot to like about this instalment of the Unearthly series. The key strengths of the first book remain - relatable characters, interesting mythology, moral dilemmas - and are mostly developed to give further depth. The mythology particularly is expanded, with Clara learning more about angelbloods every day, and it remains fresh and interesting.

I do think this suffers a little from second book syndrome, however. Unlike the plot of the first book which saw Clara racing towards a choice that would change everything one way or another, the plot of this instalment sees Clara more as an observer. She can't actually do anything about a lot of what happens, and though she makes choices, and those choices do involve some degree of soul battling 'is this the right thing to do?' sort of dilemmas, they are smaller scale and less intense for the reader.

Poor Tucker isn't given much to do either, and the whole book feels a little like preparation to phase him out. Which is a shame, as he was one of my favourite characters, and I hope I'm wrong, but I was able to predict most of the plot twists in this one, so I'm not too hopeful.

Overall, an okay read that sustained my interest enough to see me through to the next instalment, but Hallowed doesn't break this series out of the 4 star band yet.

My thanks to the publisher for sending a copy.

Fans of angels might enjoy Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

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You can read more book reviews or buy Hallowed by Cynthia Hand at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Hallowed by Cynthia Hand at Amazon.com.

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