Boundless by Cynthia Hand [Joint Review!]

4.5 out of 5 Robots!

   

Boundless by Cynthia Hand

Series: Unearthly #3
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal

Release: January 22, 2013

Hardcover: 438 Pages

Publisher: HarperTeen

My Copy: Purchased

Reviewer: Shannon and Rex

Buy the Book: Amazon

Book Summary:
The past few years have held more surprises than part-angel Clara Gardner could ever have anticipated. Yet from the dizzying highs of first love, to the agonizing low of losing someone close to her, the one thing she can no longer deny is that she was never meant to live a normal life.

Since discovering the special role she plays among the other angel-bloods, Clara has been determined to protect Tucker Avery from the evil that follows her . . . even if it means breaking both their hearts. Leaving town seems like the best option, so she’s headed back to California - and so is Christian Prescott, the irresistible boy from the vision that started her on this journey in the first place.

As Clara makes her way in a world that is frighteningly new, she discovers that the fallen angel who attacked her is watching her every move. And he’s not the only one. . . . With the battle against the Black Wings looming, Clara knows she must finally fulfill her destiny. But it won’t come without sacrifices and betrayal.

In the riveting finale of the Unearthly series, Clara must decide her fate once and for all. (Courtesy of the Publisher)

 
Shannon and Rex's Thoughts:
Since we read this book at the same time, we decided to write a joint review!  We both had a lot of feelings and thoughts on this book and the series on a whole, but quickly discovered how hard it was to talk about those feelings without giving anything away!  

1. What was your favorite part?
Rex: My favorite part is Tucker rolling up on Clara's doorstep to profess his love for her. Gave me butterflies :)

Shannon: Flaming swords!  Oh and I enjoyed getting to know Clara's dad better.  And Christian better. 

Rex: Flaming swords sounds so perverse for whatever reason. I wish she would have used something else... Like, firey? swords? haha. And you're right, it was refreshing to get to know the characters better (finally.)

2. What was your least favorite part?

Rex: As my least favorite part is pretty spoilery, I'm going to say that my least favorite part would be the first 2-3 chapters where there is WAY too much talk about Stanford. WAAAYYYY too much. WHO CARESSSS! Lets hear about angel fights and kissing instead!

Shannon: I agree.  The Stanford part seemed...pointless.  Especially considering it didn't play as big of a role at the end.   Also, I was concerned that no one was concerned about Clara's brother, Jeffrey.  Why doesn't anyone care about Jeffrey?!  Also there was a plot twist involving Angela that I didn't see coming and I wasn't too keen on it either.

Rex: Angela's whole story line was like the adults in the Peanuts, "wahwahwah, wahwah, wah''

3. Lets talk love triangle.  Team Tucker?  Team Christian? 

Rex: Can I be Team Tucker AND Christian? I love them both. I'm more Team Tucker, but after Cynthia broke my heart (and Tucker's) in the 2nd installment, I was ready to move on. I was ready to embrace Team Christian and Clara's destiny with him. But you know how those wonderful authors are, they throw you curve balls and stuff. That's why you should read this book, it isn't too predictable.

Shannon: This is a tough one for me too, because Cynthia Hand managed to create a love triangle with two awesome (and good) guys.  But in THIS book, I was Team Christian.  Or at least I was Lets-Give-Team-Christian-A-Try.

Rex: Let's Give Team Christian a Try!! That's perfect.

4. What did you think of the ending?

Rex: Too clean. I wanted death, happiness, laughing and crying. I really didn't get any of that. I felt more apathetic. I don't like when an ending cleans up too perfectly. I mean, I want this perfect happy ending, but with a little grief or something. I don't know, I just didn't get this BAM in your face ending like I had hoped.

Shannon: Ahhh, now we come to the crux of the problem.  And unfortunately it is hard to talk about without giving anything away.  I thought it was a bit of a cop-out.  You're right - everything ends too cleanly.  And even the Big Showdown was missing some grit.  I felt really bad for Christian actually.  I was a little bothered by how Cynthia Hand left things between Clara-Tucker-Christian.

 

5.  What did you think about the series on a whole?

Rex: Love it. Probably won't read any of these books again, but they're fast reads and I really enjoyed them. I'm not an uber angel-in-young-adult-fiction fan so for this series to keep my attention and make me love it is a big deal. ;)

Shannon: I usually dislike Angel YA too, but I really enjoyed this series.  I really cared about the characters and I was always interested to see where the story was going.  The angel mythology was interesting and slightly different than the norm.  Overall, I really recommend the series, but I think the second book was my favorite.

Overall, we both thought this was an excellent series.  Especially since it is a genre we generally don't enjoy.  Kudos to Cynthia Hand for writing a fun and captivating series!

 

Books in the series in the order they should be read:
1. Unearthly
2. Hallowed
3. Boundless