Book Review: Unearthly

Format: Paperback
Number Of Pages: 439
Publishing Date: November 1st 2011
Publisher: HarperCollins
Reader Level: Young Adult
Genre: Angels, Romance, Paranormal, Fantasy, Romance
Series: Unearthly #1
Read: Jan 31 to Feb 03, 2012

Unearthly

by Cynthia Hand aka "the author that will make you scream at every page"

Synopsis:

Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a "purpose," something she was put on this Earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.

Review:

*Screams* (yeah I want to start of this review with screaming)

This book was recommended to me by my friend Georgina (who also runs compelledbybooks with me). You can view her review here! Thanks to her I actually dared to pick up this book and  I will be forever thankful that she recommended it to me, and I think Richelle Mead also has something to do with me reading this book. I love Richelle Mead and when I found out that she liked this book I didn't give a second thought when I bought it. (I think it's already obvious I really like this book)

When I first found out that this was about angels I didn't really want to pick it up because the other angel novels I know have really effed up stories so I never really read angel novels. But  Unearthly was a total surprise cause I thought it was one of those "fallen angel" stories but it was not! Cynthia Hand just basically made a more interesting and greater story about angels!

I totally love the kind of angels in this book cause they weren't fallen and that they have this greater "purpose" to do something good in our world so I really liked that. Oh the "glory" and the fact that they can change the form of their wings is really awesome. I wish I could have "glory"! I love love love the way Hand described the characters when they are in their angel form or when they have their wings out.

I totally love our female protagonist Clara! She's very sarcastic but not in the whole cocky way but in a very smart way. She felt real to me cause I felt like she was just this normal teenager even though she's part angel. I mean, I can relate to her in a way. And she was never annoying in any way. Hey, sometimes I find other female characters in novels annoying in some parts but Clara is very lovable. 

I can't choose between Christian and Tucker cause I feel like Clara isn't really sure who she wants to be with so I'm not also sure who I want. Both of them are really great in their own special way which makes it harder to choose. Christian is this gentle guy, very mysterious and somehow a romantic, I guess *giggles*. While Tucker is this very playful kind of guy,  he teases Clara a lot. I guess you can say he's very old-fashioned when it came to liking girls??? You know, the "I-act-like-I-hate-you-and-enjoy-annoying you-but-the-truth-is-I-really-like-you" act that guys do, that's old-fashioned right? I also love the other secondary characters like Clara's mom, and Clara's friends Angela and Wendy.

Okay back to Unearthly, I really enjoyed reading this book because it felt laid back and easy to read. For me, it was like watching a tv show and if you know me, you would know that when I watch tv shows I like screaming when something unexpected happens With Unearthly there was a lot of unexpected happenings that I was screaming and freaking out at every chapter. I mean the big surprise at the ending was like BAM!!! like I was screaming, hyperventilating, and freaking out for a whole minute that I actually had to pull myself together to be able to finish it. That was actually the first time that a book made me feel that way so I guess you can understand why I love this book so much. This book also knows how to break my heart. Reading this book is like riding a spinning roller coaster of emotions (yes, spinning roller coaster).

Unearthly just made me add Cynthia Hand as one of my favorite YA authors!!!

I seriously cannot wait to read Hallowed!!! HALLOWED I NEED YOU KNOW!!!


Rating: ★★★★★ out of 5 stars

Book Review: The Daughter Of Smoke and Bone

Format: Paperback (International Edition)

Number Of Pages: 418

Publishing Date: September 27th 2011

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Reader Level: Young Adult

Genre: Angels, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance

Series: The Daughter Of Smoke & Bone #1
Read: March 03 to 05, 2012

Daughter Of Smoke and Bone

by Laini Taylor

Synopsis:
Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages--not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers--beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

Review:

Beautiful cover, right? Yeah, I love books with beautiful covers.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone had a fresh kind of story to it. The whole mystery surrounding Karou was the thing that actually pulled me into reading it and why Akiva, the swoon-worthy angel was intensely drawn to her.

As the story progress you'll be filled on the mystery behind Karou and her past life. She'll also be drawn to Akiva and as she spends time with him, she finds herself falling for him even though she has known him as an enemy of her and her family's kind. But as Karou unravels the mystery surrounding who she is, it threatens to destroy what she has and had with Akiva.

Laini Taylor has actually managed to surprise me cause from the prologue "Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love. It did not end well." I thought this was one of those angel-falls-in-love-with-a-devil but it was not. Taylor has completely made an original story from that concept. It really isn't because if it was I wouldn't finish reading this book. The way Taylor made some of the characters was really amazing and how she described them was very beautiful even if some of them were a mix of different creatures that make them look devil-ish. I also love Taylor's wicked sense of humor and her very swoon worthy moments in which I obviously swooned (really hard).

This book also has its flaws, too. Oh, like how it lack emotion sometimes. There was some parts that were so dull like I couldn't feel anything from it. I also think that Taylor could have made some parts of the book more exciting and thrilling because it was bit boring at times. I'm now wondering how Taylor would make the second book more interesting than this one since I feel like she gave away too much at the end of this book, but then again I don't really know the full story of the series so I can't really say that, can't I? But because of that I truly don't know what's going to happen on the second book which again give it's this mysteriousness.

I can't really say that I was that much in love and compelled by the story, but overall, I did like this book and would still recommend it to you guys to check it out. I am still continuing the series and I just hope the second book is better. And the fact that I'm practically in love with Akiva makes me want to continue it (The dude is hot, okay? no, not hot cause hot is an understatement but heavenly gorgeous?? that's not even a word but yeah!).

Rating: ★★★.5 out of 5 stars