Book Review: Hallowed by Cynthia Hand

Hallowed by Cynthia Hand
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication date: January 2012
Pages: 416
Source: Review copy from publisher
For: Review
Series: Unearthly Series, Book 2

*Spoilers for Unearthly are inevitable*
After failing at her purpose, Clara is unsure what to do with her life. Her whole life seemed to lead up to that event, but now she's left without any, well, purpose. Her boyfriend, Tucker, is confused as ever and her mom is just as enigmatic about what she should do now. But when Clara starts seeing another vision, she is about to discover just what is most important in life.

Things I Liked:
I enjoyed the emphasis this book placed on Clara's relationship with her family - her mom and her brother especially.  It was nice to see the focus where it should be during difficult times.  Clara's conflict between the two guys vying for her was pretty well portrayed - it was hard for her and she didn't want to make any quick and thoughtless decisions or be cruel to them (though, whether she succeeded in that is another story).  I was impressed with how Hand ended the book, doing what I thought was pretty gutsy, though it wasn't exactly what I wanted for Clara.

Things I Didn't Like:
Honestly, I got bored with the book.  Nothing much seems to happen, though there are some interesting twists that surprised me near the end.  Most of the book goes on and on about Clara struggling with feelings and Clara wanting to do things, but not doing them.  It was just so slow moving.  And it never really picked up momentum, despite having some surprises and a little action.  I was also disappointed in the direction the love triangle went, mostly because she ends up with the boy I like least, so it might be a personal preference.  Basically, I think this book just disappointed me, because I wanted so much more from it.  I guess I'll be interested in reading the next book, but not anxiously awaiting it.

Read-alikes:
Start with Unearthly by Cynthia Hand
Forbidden by Syrie James and Ryan James
Halflings by Heather Burch

BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: ! 
maybe one or two

mrg-factor: X 
a bit of heavy kissing

v-factor: none

Overall rating: ***

When you're disappointed by a sequel, do you still tend to read the next book anyway?

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage
 
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