8.21.2013 | Wednesday

Boundless

category: Book Reviews
tag(s):
0 Comments

Boundlesstitle: Boundless
author: Cynthia Hand
series: Unearthly #3
published: 22 January 2013
publisher: HarperTeen
genre(s): fantasy, romance
pages: 448
source: bought
format: eBook
buy/shelve it: Amazon | B&N | BookBub | StoryGraph | Goodreads

rating: five-stars | series rating: five-stars

the blurb

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.


my review

Boundless begins not long after Clara and Angela have returned from Italy.  They are enrolled as freshman at Stanford University, strangely normal for two angel girls.  So much has changed for Clara… in love, life, and for her divine purpose.  I think this was my favorite book of the series.  It was a perfect finale to a wonderful series!

Like the others, the writing is beautiful, sweeping you right along with our beloved characters.  They have changed and have grown and are dealing with very adult problems.  There is so much depth in these books, and in this one in particular.  There is so much emotion mixed with sadness and unexpected moments of joy and humor.  There were a lot of heart-stopping moments in this book:  fear, happiness, sadness, romance.

The love triangle really came to a head in Boundless, with so much back and forth by Clara that at times, I got a little annoyed with it.  Because of that, it was a little hard to celebrate the choice she makes because with that choice came pain.  And, loving both Christian and Tucker, that made it difficult to be as satisfied with the ending as I think I should have been.  There was also some predictability in the “bad guy” but getting there was still just as much fun!

It’s hard to say goodbye to some series, after getting to know the characters and falling in love with them.  This was definitely one of those series.  There was such a wide range of emotions that came with the series as a whole and, as a reader, I became connected to the characters.  Unearthly was mysterious as we were introduced to the angels.  Hallowed was more than a little depressing (but in a good way, if that’s possible).  Radiant gave us insight into Angela and left us wondering.  This one, for much of it, was rather grim.  There were times when I wondered just how Angela or Clara would find their way out of their own personal pits of hell.  But these are the things that kept me reading!

Things to love about Boundless

  • The tone of the writing.  The author does a great job capturing the voice of teenagers, without that stilted quality that can come with adults writing YA.
  • The twisting, turning plot lines.  There was a lot more to this book, both in Clara’s own stories and those of the other characters.
  • Angela’s part in it all.  She had so much more to do with it all than I ever expected and I liked that twist.

Things I wanted more of…

  • Jeffrey.  I wanted to understand his divine purpose and I just didn’t get it.

A fantastic end to a great series, so read, read, READ!

About Cynthia Hand

Cynthia Hand is a native of southeastern Idaho and currently lives with her husband and two small children in Southern California, where she teaches writing at Pepperdine University. She has graduate degrees in creative writing from Boise State University and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Instead of a muse, Cynthia has a guardian angel named Buster. He wears a Stetson in place of a halo, prefers a beat-up pickup truck to flying, and loves to correct Cynthia’s grammar.

::spread the love::

Leave a Reply