Safe on HALLOW Ground

 SEE? I TOLD you I would finish Hallowed last night. And I did! I stayed up late and everything; I just couldn't help myself.

BUT BEFORE I REVIEW:
Have any of you wonderful people ever visited the blog Literary Exploration? Well if you have, you're awesome, and if you haven't, then. . . DUDE. You should totally check it out. Well, Literary Exploration is ran by a super nice girl named Anna. Seriously, she is like my blogging idol. If anything I ever do becomes half as good as what she does, I will be the happiest person ever. But that's not the point. The point is that Anna wants to go to BEA. And she totally deserves to go. What can you do to help? Well, gee, wonderful friends, thank you for asking. What you have to do is SO SIMPLE. Just head on over to Anna's blog and she will tell you what to do. There was a link there, but if you missed it, click HERE to find out how to vote. I promise you, it's only clicking, like, three times. Such an easy way to help out such an amazing person. And, BONUS -  if you need more incentive, Anna's birthday was yesterday! Wouldn't be the awesomest gift ever if we sent her to BEA? I think it would be. So vote for her!

Okay, now I can get back on track. In case you didn't know, Hallowed is the sequel to Unearthly by Cynthia Hand. The second book in a trilogy. The first book was just purely amazing. I loved it. And the second book did not disappoint.

I've told you before how second books are usually either hit or miss, good or bad. This book exceeds good. It was such a great bridge to the next book (which I CANNOT wait to read, when it comes out, which will be I-don't-know-when). Hallowed was so many things. I laughed, I cried, I slapped people. (Just kidding about the slapping thing. Kind of.)

Something I really liked about this sequel was that there weren't any new characters forced on us. What I mean is that in a lot of sequels, there are new characters (to be honest, usually of the bad-boy variety, but not always) thrown on us to add to the story or something. Don't get me wrong, I can end up loving these guys along with everyone else, but in Hallowed, it was nice that the story didn't use characters that were thrown in for controversy. Yes, we will meet new characters - (none of which will be included in the character rundown because telling you about some of them could seem spoiler-like and I don't spoil. Plus, I like to stick to the very most main characters and the boys. Yeah, I'm such a teen girl) -we WILL meet new characters, but they are added naturally. They are very comfortable additions to our beautiful Unearthly world.

Another thing that was great about this sequel: it was sentimental. Now you're thinking WHAT? What ever do you mean, you LIKED how sentimantal it was? That makes no sense! But actually, my friend, it makes perfect sense. The last book was based around Clara's purpose. In this book, we are still wondering about what her purpose could be, but it isn't in the forefront of everything. This book is hugely about family. I was being honest when I said I cried. I seriously cried a bit. I didn't ball my eyes out or anything, but there were some sweet moments.

I always comment on the romance, and it was still present in Hallowed, but not the center of everything, and that was perfectly okay. The whole Tucker-or-Christian thing wasn't overbearing, but more of something that happened on the sidelines.

I am aware that I'm not going very in depth on much, but I really don't want to give anything important away. Because you must read this book. It is a beautiful piece of paranormal YA fiction, and I just know you will enjoy it as much as I did.

Character rundown! Clara, the main girl. An angel who is about to find out some things about herself that we never would have guessed. I like Clara, I really do. She is very ideal - beautiful, smart, an angel. But she has her faults, too: can be a little self-centered during crucial times (you'll understand when you read), indecisive in moments where it's not helpful. . . But I like her anyway. Now, to Tucker. Ah, Tucker. I feel so much for Tucker. The human who loves this angel and wants so much to keep her, to not be seperated by their differences. Plus, he's gorgeous and macho. But then we have Christian - OH CHRISTIAN. The perfect boy for Clara. An angel-blood. Determined to do what he was meant to do, what he knows in his heart is right. And again, he's gorgeous too! Seriously, Clara hit the jackpot in the guy department, that lucky girl.

In case you hadn't noticed, I am TEAM CHRISTIAN. I love Tuck, but I'm rooting for Christian all the way, folks. ;)

The ending. The ending gave us all a sense of closure about a very important event in this book. Which was good. But it also left us wanting to find out what happens next. Was Clara's decision for good, will she stand by it? What's going on with the Black Wings? And Jeffrey? And, dude, WHAT is going on with their purposes? So many questions, and no answers. But that's a great thing, because there will be another book! So my only problem here is that the next book isn't out yet. Nor will it be our for some time. So I shall sit here and twiddle my thumbs anxiously until I can get my answers.

My rating: 5 stars. I was leaning toward 4 stars for a while, but then I realized that there is nothing wrong with this book, in my opinion, to make me take it down a star. So a full 5-star rating it is! Which means you should most definitely read this book! It's amazing, it's funny, it's HEARTFELT. Oh, yes it's heartfelt. That is the word I have been searching for in my mind as I write this review. Heartfelt. That is the perfect word for this book. You should totally go figure out what I mean and READ THIS BOOK. Okay?

All right, that's it for my review, so I'll leave it there. In case you had not noticed, or didn't see my Teaser Tuesday post yesterday, I am reading Divergent right now by Veronica Roth. I have been told that it is a magnificent book and pretty much scolded virtually for not having read it yet. So I moved it up on my TBR list and am reading it right now!

Thank you all for stopping by, Friends!

♥Jessica(: