Review: Boundless by Cynthia Hand

Author: Cynthia Hand

Publisher: HarperTeen

Page Count: 438 pages, Hardcover

Date Published: January 22nd 2013

Find it on Goodreads: Boundless

Source: Purchased  

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.

I am pleased to say that Boundless redeemed this series for me and was a wonderful conclusion to this angel trilogy. This review may contain very minor spoilers for those who have not read Hallowed.

I loved Unearthly when I read it, really connected to the characters and liked the story. It wasn't perfect, but it was a good book that I enjoyed a lot. But the sequel, Hallowed, disappointed me. I was not into the story at all and I finished the book with a frown on my face. (Not good.) So when Boundless was released, I was hesitant. I didn't even know if I wanted to read it, but thank goodness I did. Boundless was great. Sure, I had some issues with it, but they were minor compared to my liking for it. 

It took me a while to get into this book. I started reading it as soon as I got it, which was around when it came out, but I only ended it on the 20th of March. I couldn't connect right away to the story and thank god for RECAPTAINS, super heroes of my LIFE, for having such an awesome site. They have a recap of what happened in Hallowed, which I really desperately needed, as I didn't remember a thing that happened. After about 100 pages, maybe a little bit less, I started to connect to the story a bit more and figure out what was going on. I began to recognize the characters better, and see them the way I saw them in Unearthly, if that makes any sense. Another issue with this book was one I had with both of its predecessors: the writing. I just couldn't get a handle on it at some points and some of the styling bothered me a lot, but I got over that as I dived into the story.

There were a lot of things I loved about Boundless and one of them was the relationship between Christian and Clara, for the most part. While I am Team Tucker, I do love Christian and that is something I have to mention. The Unearthly series contains a love triangle that plays a HUGE part in the story, but it's a love triangle that was done very well. The reader really grows to care for both Tucker and Christian, both of them being amazing guys and having their own flaws. They were each great for Clara in different ways and you just can't help but love them both... Or at least, I can't. We see a bit of Tucker in Boundless, but not as much as Christian. I loved the interactions between him and Clara, them learning how to sword fight from Clara's dad, their lives at Stanford, etc. And what we saw with Tucker was strained, as it was usually only Clara with him. He was heart-broken, hurt and angry, as well. And she just kept showing up, which, by the way, was super sweet and adorable, which those of you who've read the book will know. But anyways, I wished we had seen more of Tucker, but I understood why we didn't.

There was a lot going on in the story of this book. There was a plot line for Clara with Christian, Tucker, Angela, Jeff (Clara's brother) and Sam, the Black Wing. But they all connected in the end and I appreciated that. I really liked Angela's story in this book and I already mentioned I liked Christian's interactions with Clara, but there was more. I thought the fact that we got to delve back into them trying to date a little bit and their romantic feelings was great, but those really just reinforced my feelings for Tucker. Everytime Clara would show up near Tucker my heart would break a little, because I just wanted them to be together!

And then there was the conclusion. This was probably the only part that I was pretty disappointed with. I felt it to be quite rushed and it was a bit all over the place. There was an irritating closure to the love triangle where Clara and her man are happy together but the other kind of just gets pushed to the side and 'forgotten about'. BUT I DIDN'T FORGET! I wanted to know what was going on with him and it really peeved me that there was such an abrupt end. While the way this series ended was great, I wish Hand had perhaps developed the last bit a bit more so that it hadn't seemed so rushed. But all in all, this was a great conclusion to a trilogy that had me all over the place. I'd recommend Boundless, even if you disliked Hallowed as much as I did. Just make sure you head over to Recaptains to refresh what happened!

Happy reading!
~Kristy