Boundless

Boundless by Cynthia Hand
3.5/5 stars
HarperTeen, 2013
434 pages
YA Paranormal Angels

Source: Library

I was quite impressed with the first books in this series (Unearthly and Hallowed), finding them to be very well done examples of angel mythology. My biggest problem is that I just was never really on the Tucker train. I have seen loads of bloggers gush about him but I never got it. I could read the writing on the wall about Clara's feelings for him but I was never that excited about him otherwise. If you similarly aren't that impressed with Tucker, I expect you'll find this finale fairly lackluster. But if you're in the majority who loves Tucker, you'll probably be pretty happy.

The parts that didn't really involve Tucker were very good though especially the story of Clara's friend Angela whose story takes what was to me a surprising twist. Clara's brother Jeffrey also has some interesting twists; I really sympathized with her worries over his (poor) decision making. As for Christian, he has some difficult moments and some aggravating ones as well. I liked him less in this book than I have in the previous ones but he does have his heroic times.

One of my favorite parts is totally random though: see, my job involves some of the geography of California so I was pleased to see mention of some of the cities where I've done work. I felt so familiar with them and it made me smile.

I don't want to go too deep into the plot to avoid spoilers but know that while I think the plot mostly moved along at a good pace, there were some points where it dragged. The book does take place over about the course of a year so there is certainly time for adequate character development but I wanted a bit more action and a little less of everything else.

Overall: A strong enough conclusion to the Unearthly series-I think big fans will be pretty satisfied.

Cover: I love how we've had this same girl in a dress with different colors for all three covers although the purple of the first is still my favorite.

Other Opinions:
Chick Loves Lit
Feeling Fictional
The Midnight Garden
Uniquely Moi Books

ARC Review: Exile

Exile by Rebecca Lim
4/5 stars
Hyperion, 2013
Originally published in Australia, 2011
275 pages
YA Paranormal
Scheduled to release April 23

Source: Received an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

In 2011, I picked up a random book from Netgalley and was blown away by its enthralling story that kept me on the edge of my seat. That book of course was Mercy in its American release (originally from Australia). Naturally I eagerly awaited the release of the rest of the books in the series and we finally reach book 2 with the pending release of Exile.

Although it has been two years, I still anticipated this sequel and loving it as much. Did I think it would matter that I didn't remember that much from book one? No, because it was fairly self-contained and not much was revealed about the overarching story mythology. That is what I figured book two would divulge.

And Exile does follow through on that promise, revealing more about Mercy's past as some kind of angel although the specifics are still murky. In fact, I feel like I learned about as much from the goodreads summary as I did from the whole book. But whereas book one has Mercy caught up in a kidnapping situation, this book has her occupying the body of a young woman whose mother is battling cancer. Very sad, yes, but not as suspenseful or gripping.

I think some very interesting questions around faith, responsibility, and free will are raised in this book but I found them choppily interwoven with some chapters following Mercy's body while some chapters dove in to those questions through her dreams. They were not tied together very strongly. Add to that, the lackluster plot and I was less impressed with this second book, somewhat breaking my streak of strong second books so far this year. But I am still intrigued by the promise of this series and I do want to check out book three Muse as well as what looks like the fourth book Fury. If you are interested, I would definitely say read Mercy first before reading Exile. I can't imagine getting a hang on Exile without having had the background of Mercy.

Hallowed

Hallowed by Cynthia Hand
4/5 stars
HarperTeen, 2012
403 pages
YA Paranormal Angels

Source: Bought (an autographed copy!)

SPOILERS for first book Unearthly as well as Hallowed

OK-it took me way too long to pick up this delightful sequel! I think part of that was my general indifference to angel stories though I've seen this ranked as one of the best, I'll still take  contemporary over paranormal any day. The other part would be a lack of infatuation with Tucker. It seems like almost everyone else in the blogosphere swooned for the guy but I didn't get it. I did like Christian though.

I'm glad I already wasn't a fan of Tucker because his behavior in this book is not great. He's increasingly out of the picture, rather personality-less, and very jealous. As he should be because Christian and Clara are able to draw closer based on their shared angel heritage. But, I'm totally biases as an admitted member of Team Christian. Still I didn't like how Clara shunted Tucker to the side for his own protection. I hate when male paranormals do that to their human girlfriends and I hated it here too even though I don't like Tucker. Yeah, I have complicated feelings about the romantic relationships.

Did I mention there were spoilers? Because more are to come, starting now...

So Clara's dad is an angel? This makes sense. I actually knew that because I read some reviews with spoilers beforehand. I didn't predict that (as I mentioned in my Unearthly review, I bought that he was in New York doing whatever) but it didn't surprise me. Clara just seemed to powerful to have so little angelbood. I'm also "glad" that Clara's mom died. Not because I like reading about moms dying (way too common in books, TV, and movies) but because I wondered about her weakness in the first book and it was explained here.

I'm still wondering about Jeffrey-since we only get Clara's point of view, he does not come off well and I found myself very pissed off at him and his behavior. I'm also wondering about the overall battle between the angels and the Black Wings. I don't feel like all that much happened in this book even though I'm sure it is all pushing toward a grand finale in the third book. I'm especially curious to find out more about Clara's purpose (and how Christian ties into it). It is probably too much to hope that they'll procreate and bring more angel babies into the world but I can dream.

Overall: A really fun sequel although maybe a bit on the long side when considering what happens and what the audience learns. Excited for Boundless

Cover: I liked the purple on Unearthly more but it's good. They look nice on the shelf together.