Review: Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

Posted on November 23, 2010 by Phoebe 4725 Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.phoebenorth.com%2F2010%2F11%2F23%2Freview-unearthly-by-cynthia-hand%2FReview%3A+Unearthly+by+Cynthia+Hand2010-11-24+00%3A39%3A27Phoebehttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.phoebenorth.com%2F%3Fp%3D472

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Just a warning: I’m about to get hyperbolic and all sorts of excited about a YA paranormal romance about angels.

For those who know me, that might seem odd. I tend to be really, really picky about paranormal romance for teens unless it’s bad-ass and clearly Buffy-inspired (we’re talking Diana Peterfreund’s killer unicorn books, or L. J. Smith’s Night World series). And generally, angels are just conceptually too fluffy for me. What’s more, I’m not even vaguely Christian—at best, I’m a Jew, but really I’m more of a Godless agnostic. And so you might guess that fantasy firmly grounded in Christian mythology would miss the mark for me.

You’d be wrong.

The truth is, part of me has been waiting for a long time for a good angel book. Blame my pre-teen K-mart book habit. When I was eleven or twelve, my mom picked me up a copy of a book by Jahnna N. Malcolm and Laura Young called Rebel Angels. I don’t really remember anything about the book itself, but I do remember the cover—the neon sunset, the rebel-jacket-clad angel boy on the front and how the image sparked some note of excitement in my pubescent little brain. I was also a weirdly big fan of the mostly-terrible John Travolta flick, Michael. So, despite my areligious leanings, the same part of myself that would love an old Lisa Frank Trapper Keeper for nostalgia’s sake (do you know how hard they are to find?!) has been waiting for a really juicy angel book.

I didn’t find it with Becca Fitzpatrick’s Hush, Hush. I didn’t find it with Lauren Kate’s Fallen (which I didn’t even finish). But Cynthia Hand’s debut Unearthly finally delivered.

I’ll admit, the premise is silly in places. Teen girl Clara learned she was a quarter-angel a few years ago and has been eagerly awaiting the arrival of her “purpose” ever since. When it finally comes, it’s in the form of a vision: she’s supposed to save a boy in Wyoming from a forest fire. Her family—Clara, her half-angel mom, and her brother—up and leave their California home for more mountainous pastures. There, she deals with integrating into a new school; getting to know Christian, the boy she’s destined to save; and her growing awareness of the war between the good fallen angels (whose wings are white) and the evil, black-winged Black Wings.

Sigh. I know, guys, I know—it’s totally simplistic and cheesy to color-code your characters’ morality like that. But this is a book about angels, anyway—I hope you weren’t expecting a total lack of cheesiness, because I’d be disappointed if this book took itself completely seriously. And I’m telling you, it’s worth it to look past the silliness here because Unearthly manages to rise above it and present a truly compelling read, with really well-done characters.

Clara is believable as a teenage girl with a purpose. She’s not always likable—in fact, she’s a bit self-centered and short-sighted—but she truly is empathetic. You feel for her when she talks about how she misses her father, or how she feels bad about the unfair advantages her super powers give her, or how hard it is to choose between the boy she loves and the boy she’s supposed to save.

That’s right—there’s a love triangle here. Clara’s supposed to save cute, popular, rich-kid Christian, but instead ends up falling for cute, popular, poor-kid Tucker, her best friend’s brother. And both of these relationships are handled in a complex and interesting way. I can’t even say who I was really rooting for—either choice would be good; both have their problems. Two well-rendered boys who seem to be an equally appealing and equally flawed? To the point where it’s not easy to pick and choose a simple “team” to emblazon on your t-shirt? Why, it’s almost unheard of these days in YA.

It’s also awesome.

Hand doesn’t futz up her relationships between women, either. Clara has two best friends: half-angel Angela, and human Wendy. And while there are sometimes arguments and tensions between the girls, these relationships are still stunningly real, complex, and supportive. I expected one of them to be turned into a slutty stereotype or a villain or a catty mean girl, but they’re not—and even the school’s queen bee character is somewhat likable and fairly sympathetic. And Clara’s relationship with her mother—who teaches her how to be an angel, and supports her in finding her purpose, but still doesn’t quite understand her or respect her as an equal—is one of the most believable mother-daughter relationships I’ve seen in a long time.

And speaking of realism, while this isn’t a Christian novel per se, it’s the first YA angel book I’ve read that actually acknowledges the existence of religion and Christianity beyond an appropriation of mythology and tropes. It’s done in a subtle, but realistic way, and the book is better for the acknowledgement of the religious questions that teens–particularly supernatural angel teens–face in their daily lives.

Finally, amidst all of this, Hand’s writing is crisp, efficient, and uncluttered. Unearthly is written in present tense; I’m not usually a fan of present-tense novels, but she renders Clara’s narration in an effortless, unobtrusive way. The writing is at times pretty, but never overwritten, and there’s none of the adverbial mess you find with less capable writers of YA paranormal.

In sum, Unearthly is the accomplished and compelling story of a girl coming into her powers as a woman, written respectfully, and well. For any reader who has been longing for an angel story that satisfies without reservation (and really, who hasn’t been longing for that?), I’d highly recommend it.

Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book from netgalley.com.

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