An absolutely stunning debut by Cynthia Hand, Unearthly will knock your socks off. After reading a few dismal YA novels these past few days, I was hesitant in starting Unearthly. Will it be one of those books that have a nice cover to hide a disappointing story, or would it be one of those that blow everything out of the water? I am pleased to say Unearthly fits the latter description, though the cover is gorgeous. 
 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. Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place--and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side. 
 Clara is a likeable and relatable character. Cynthia Hand handles Clara's personality brilliant, writing a character who allows us to feel sympathetic to, a girl who is confused about her new part-angle life but knows that there is a purpose to her life and that she has a destiny to fulfill. One thing I didn't like though was Clara's "handling" of Christian. I understand that her destiny involves him somehow, but the moment she meets him in real life, as opposed to seeing him in visions, she falls immediately in love with him, or at the very least, starts having feelings for him. That doesn't really make sense to me. Having a purpose involving a boy doesn't necessarily mean you need to fall in love with him. 
 Which brings me to the love triangle. I have to be honest, I was initially against Tucker as a potential love interest because he came off as a jerk (sort of) but as the story progressed and Clara herself spent more time with him, Tucker really can become charming, when he wants to be, and I'm definitely a Tucker/Clara shipper now. I felt like Tucker gave Clara the opportunity to be a real person. Not some girl who had to figure what it means to be part-angel but just an ordinary girl who fell in love. 
 I quite like the plot as well. The plot of a family of part-angels was something different and it was nice as well, to see how a family interacted even with the fact that they all had angel blood looming over them. I do think that Clara's mother's hiding certain secrets from her. I mean, there has to be a reason for all that secrecy and the reason she gave, about wanting to protect Clara, I don't think that's the whole story. 
 There are definitely quite a few twists in the story involving Clara's friends, family and even her destiny and I have to say, the majority of them, I thoroughly enjoyed. I felt that they added such an excitement to an already brilliant story, though one of the twists, I sort of already guessed it would happen, so it wasn't that much of a surprise. 
 I maintained that the ending was of mindf***ery proportions, but in an extremely good way. All I could think about once I got to the ending was, "That's it? That's how it ends? WHAT IS THIS?" It's not a cliffhanger in that it didn't stop right in the middle of the action but it does leave certain loose ends untied and I can't believe we have to wait until 2012 for Hallowed. With the easy writing as well as constant drama, suspense and romance, you'll definitely enjoy Unearthly.