ARC Review--Hallowed by Cynthia Hand

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.

Described by Richelle Mead as “utterly captivating,” Unearthly received outstanding reviews, garnered accolades from New York Times bestselling authors, and was named an Indie Next Pick. In this heart-wrenching sequel, Cynthia Hand expertly captures the all-consuming joy of first love—and the agony of loss. This beautifully woven tale will appeal to fans of Lauren Kate, Becca Fitzpatrick, and Aprilynne Pike.

I received this e-ARC from HaperCollins via Netgalley for review

When I saw Cynthia Hand's Hallowed up on Netgalley I decided to grab it since I enjoyed Unearthly. Not my usual kind of read in someways since it's all about angels and I've only read a handful of angel books, but I do truly enjoy Hand's work here!

So a few months have passed since Clara "messed" up with her purpose. Instead of saving Christian she saved Tucker. That one little act messed so many things up and now we get to see how! 

Plus we learn more about Christian and who he is, after his big reveal of his purpose at the end of the last book. Now Clara's purpose is changing, she's having new nightmares, this time it's clear she's at a funeral. But she isn't sure who it is, until she notices a particular someone is missing.

The majority of the book dealt with Clara tying to handle her purpose. And Christian. Christian definitely plays a larger role in the story this time. But there's a lot more to Clara's purpose then she knows.

The second half of the book totally blows you away with surprise after surprise! Many shocking revelations. One I sort of guessed, but not in its entirety! There's definitely more intense cliffhangers this time around as well.

Yes, I'm not getting into a lot of details, except for saying how exciting and intense things were. But again, I do this because if I emphasize too much on certain items I might head into spoiler territory, so make do with my generalities! Clara's senior year definitely puts others to shame. Danger, thrills, twists, excitement! High school is definitely a wild ride and it will change Clara's outlook and life forever.

The pacing of the book was something in the middle. At times things seemed to move fast, others it dragged and there were times when it lapsed somewhere in between. So it had an on average pacing overall. A decent read, so if you've read Unearthly, I highly recommend reading this one too!

Overall rating 3.5/5 stars

Hallowed releases January 17, 2012