Review | 'Hallowed'

Hallowed 
Cynthia Hand
eBook (Kindle Fire)
HarperTeen
3 stars | C



From Goodreads:

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.


You have no idea how disappointed I am that this book turned out to be a very poor book. I really liked Unearthly and I was ultimately, completely, utterly let down with this one, and I was so excited to read this installment in the series, and it really turned me off from progressing with the next book. 
Alright, so let's start off with the writing. When I first started the book, I was liking it pretty good, and I thought that Cynthia Hand's writing was doing pretty well and refreshing. I was reading it on my Kindle Fire, so about 40% through, I lost interest. I feel like her writing became very dull, unimpressive, and quite annoying. I just wasn't feeling it, and that's all there is to this portion of the review.
Next up is plot. The plot of this is essentially that Clara is having these dreams that she's at a funeral, but Tucker's missing, so she assumes that he's the one who's dead. Turns out (minor spoiler) it's her mother, since angels die about 120 years into their lives, and the reason Tucker isn't there is because Clara broke up with him. As far as that whole aspect goes, I liked it fine. Things started to wobble a little bit in certain areas of the book, but I definitely think the plot is what the book has going for. It was a smooth transition between the first and second book, but I feel like there were definitely some things that Cynthia Hand should have kept in, and my expectations were not met. I wish there was this massive threat in this series; it would really perfect it, but, alas, there isn't.
Now on to the characterization area of this review. There really isn't a whole lot of it in this book. I'm just so pissed that so many YA paranormal romance books are trying to add a sense of 'reality' to the 'fantasy' idea, but they end up being sexy scenes, which are worthless, pointless, and just plain stupid. There's no difference in this book. I was honestly disappointed in Clara and Tucker, and I do not believe in the slightest that their characters have grown and matured. 
Compared to my more recent reviews, this one was definitely very short. The reason is that I do not have a lot of good things to say about this book, and it really saddens me! I don't have very passionate feelings towards Hallowed, and I'm really upset that the series is heading in this direction. I didn't like the Spiderman-mixed-with-Woman in Black element at the end, and I just...urgh. 
The third, and final, book in this series, Boundless, is due out January 22, 2013. That, unfortunately, is my birthday. Perhaps I'll get it just to see how the story ends, and hey, maybe this was just a rough patch for the books! I'll probably re-read it once I get some other books out of the way and see if my review changes; I was feeling really rushed with this one.