Book Review: Unearthly by Cythia Hand

Unearthly by Cythia Hand reveals the journey of a part-angel girl named Clara and her God-sent mission. Clara inherited her angelicness from her mother, her father is merely human. Each angelical, anyone with a touch of angel blood, has a mission to fulfill in their lifetime. Clara's mission is disclosed to her piecemeal in visions. The visions lead Clara, her mother, and her brother to Jackson Hole, Wyoming where Clara finds love, friendship, and ambrosial and earthly challenges.

Hand presents a love-triangle between Christian, Tucker, and Clara. Love-triangle's seem to be a staple of young adult fiction. I'm not sure if this a product of teens discovering the many facets present in one person or a fantasy that fictional characters must achieve. Rarely in reality have I known as many love-triangles as are found in fiction. Regardless, Hand develops the affections between Christian and Clara and Tucker and Clara well.

In Unearthly, Clara meets other teen-angels who are also struggling with their half-angel, half-human identities and with their divine destinies. The message is that no matter how bizarre and unique one's situation may seem, there's always another soul anguishing, enjoying, or otherwise along with you. Hand's characters demonstrate the solace of being with others like oneself and the strength that can emerge from the support of similarly-fated people.

Clara is not the perfect angel. She has a hard time learning to fly and falls in love with a boy her family suspects to be wrong for her. Clara's believable and yet, she's not the typical teenage female character – EMO, clumsy, awkward. Instead, she's confident and has a decent relationship with her mom. Kudos to Hand for realizing that not all teens are angst ridden.

Unearthly includes the “OMG, I'm magical” feature of young adult fantasy plots, but it's handled as one would expect it to be handled in the real world between a loving parent and their magical child, not as so often seen as an out-of-left-field surprise. In Unearthly, Clara's mom sits her down and tells her about her heritage as part-angel, much like the birds and the bees talk parents typically have with their adolescent children. Clara had already felt that something about her was different from other kids. Her mom's explanation clarified Clara's feelings in a supportive nurturing manner.

The failing in Unearthly is the weak development of the Black Angels. Hand reveals to us that the Black Angels are trying to kill off the part-angels. Flushing out the Black Angel conspiracy, could help readers feel more attachment to Clara and her lot and provide more anticipation in the story. Hand gives very little information on the Black Angels and the one prominent scene with the Black Angel is only window-dressing.