♥Rachel♥'s Reviews > Hallowed

Don't read this if you haven't read Unearthly.

This was such an emotional book for me. I loved it even more than the first book, which is something. I find in trilogies, a lot of the time the second book suffers from "second book syndrome" where it feels like filler. No real great answers or movement in plot from the first book. Not so in this case. Yes, we are left with more questions but so many things were revealed. A couple revelations made my jaw drop open!

We start right where Unearthly left off, after the fire. Clara has deviated from what she thought was her purpose of rescuing Christian, to save Tucker first. Come to find out, Christian is also part angel, so he was never in need of rescuing. So what was her purpose, if not to save Christian? Clara starts having another dream/vision, and when she finds out what this is, she's scared to pieces. As a reader you are too! Christian tries to get closer to Clara, realizing that she was the one from his vision; she was his purpose somehow too. This puts a strain on her relationship with Tucker, and Clara feels stuck in the middle. In Unearthly, I was solidly Team Tucker, partly because we didn't get to know Christian that well. Also, I sort of felt it was his own fault Clara ended up falling in love with Tucker. He made one of the stupidest decisions of all prom dates! You take your ex-girlfriend home instead of your date?!! What were you thinking?!! But my feelings toward Christian, in Hallowed, did a 180! I was swooning over him just as much as I am over Tucker. *sigh* And now, my heart truly goes out to both boys, and to Clara. This is NOT an easy love triangle! I'm going to be hurt whichever way this goes!

A big plus in this installment, is we get more answers to what Clara's mother Maggie knows. She starts revealing more and more to her, answering quite a few questions, but also raising some more in the process. We also get more of Clara's dad, and the explanation of his leaving the family. Jeffrey's purpose and why he was in the forest that night is also revealed. All I can say is, wow, did not see that coming! While Angela is still portrayed as a friend to Clara, in this book, I can't help but have suspicions. I get this feeling, things are not all as they appear with her.

Like I said this book was such an emotional read for me, for several reasons! I was crying off and on from about halfway through, until the end. Mind you, I was on a plane ride while reading this book, so is was completely embarrassing that I had to keep taking off my glasses to wipe away the tears! Don't let this deter you from reading the book though. I am not a fan of dreary, depressing stories, and even though this was very sad, it was not depressing. It was amazing!

I can't wait to read the third, and concluding book in this series. I've joked that I want to camp out at Cynthia Hand's house, and make her give me each chapter as she finishes, so I don't have to wait until January of next year!!! I wish I were a more patient person, because a restraining order is probably not a good idea for me. I would not have these strong emotions if this story wasn't that good. It's one of my favorites this year! Do not pass this up. I just met Cynthia at a book signing, and tried to fish out some information from her. Let me tell you, this woman is skilled in the art of evasion! I pride myself in my interrogation talents, and she was a worthy opponent! If you want to hear more about the event signing I attended, you can check it out on The Midnight Garden.