Title: Unearthly (Unearthly #1)
Author: Cynthia Hand
Published: January, 2011 by HarperCollins
Pages: 432
Rating:  
Purchase: The Book Depository

Clara has known she was part-angel ever since she turned fourteen two years ago, but only now is her Purpose – the crucial rite of passage for every part-angel – becoming clear to her. Clara′s Purpose leads her family to Wyoming, where, amidst terrifying scenes of a bush inferno, she finds the boy of her visions, Christian. He is everything she could wish for – so why does she also have feelings for her enigmatic classmate Tucker?

Clara discovers that her Purpose is only a small part of a titanic struggle between angels and their destructive counterparts, the Black Wings. And when the fire of her visions erupts and both Christian and Tucker are in danger, who will she choose to save?

Final Thoughts:
Stepping back into the angel genre after a much needed break, Unearthly tried its best to tone down the clichés where it could. Parents are live and in the picture, leading girl has a sibling, and instaluv, its nowhere to be seen. I was thankful for all of that. But on the flipside, it still felt like one of those fourth quarter plot kind of books. You know the ones, books where it’s basically all high school angst until you reach the last quarter and you finally get a taste of the supernatural plot it’s been hinting at the entire time.

Stacking The Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

Titles link back to Goodreads
• The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson (purchased)
• Silence by Rodney Hall (purchased)
• Cryer’s Cross by Lisa McMann (purchased)
• Nearly Departed by Rook Hastings (purchased)
• The Host by Stephenie Meyer (purchased)
• Witches Of The East by Melissa De La Cruz (purchased)
• The Prey by Andrew Fukuda (thanks to Publisher)
• Boundless by Cynthia Hand (purchased)
• Gone by Michael Grant (library)
• Black Heart by Holly Black (library)
• Days Of Blood And Starlight by Laini Taylor (purchased)
• The Obsidian Blade by Pete Hautman (purchased)

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these–six months, I think. I’ve been meaning to post one sooner, but the weekends come and go too quickly and before I know it, it’s mid week and I think, oh, I’ll wait for the next one. Anyway, as you can see, I’ve gotten a few books. The stickered ones were a bargain at only $2 each. Impulse buying at its finest. I haven’t started Unearthly, but I thought I’d pick up Boundless while Big W have it readily available and round out my collection. It took a bit of work tracking down a movie cover copy of The Host, though. I’d expected it to be everywhere at the moment, but no, this one was hidden off on the bottom row, down by itself, in the adult fiction section. Now that I’ve finally got it, I plan on reading it very soon so I can see the movie after it. I’m about to go visit my family for the long weekend, so I’ll make sure I pop it in my bag with me.

What books have you gotten lately? And better yet, which ones are you tempted to pick up next?

In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by The Story Siren, which allows bloggers to share what books they’ve received in the past week. They can be from stores, contests, tours or publishers!

• Everneath by Brodi Ashton (thanks to Publishers)
• The Unbecoming Of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin (thanks to Publishers)
• Fated by Sarah Alderson (thanks to Publishers)
• Hallowed by Cynthia Hand (purchased)
• Lover Awakened by J.R. Ward (purchased)
• Hero by Perry Moore (purchased)
• Nana: Volume 2 by Ai Yazawa (purchased)

A big thanks to Simon and Schuster who sent me the top three books this week. Everneath is a Harper one in America, so I’m not sure why S&S Australia has it. Anyway, can’t wait to read all of them. For those that haven’t heard, Simon and Schuster are running a comp giving Aussie bloggers the chance to win a $250 voucher for either Dymocks, Westfield or JB HiFi. All you need to do is read Everneath, film a video review and post it to your blog and then head over to www.everneath.com.au and fill out the form before 24th February 2012. Under 18’s need parental permission.

Okay, back to my mailbox… I went shopping during the week and kind of spent more than I’d hoped. Hallowed and Lover Awakened were both $20 each, more than I’d like to pay for a paperback, but self-restraint went out the window and I hurried to the counter and bought them. I’m hoping to read Hero either this week or next, but who knows if that will happen, we’ll see. Lastly, I stopped in at the local anime store and picked up another volume of the Nana manga. I got a heap of them last week during an online stocktake sale, but I needed this one so I could move on to volume three. If you haven’t noticed the Tempest pic at the top of my sidebar, I’m hosting a giveaway for Macmillan Audio for the Tempest Audiobook. It ends next Thursday 19th January. Click on the pic to check it out. There’s a free audio sample on the page, too.

Here are my latest reviews if you want to check them out:
Cross, Julie Tempest #1, Tempest
Dane, Jordan, On A Dark Wing
Hocking, Amanda Trylle Trilogy #1, Switched

Link up to your mailbox and I’ll be sure to check it out!
(Sorry to those I missed getting back to last week, I was feeling sick Sunday/Monday.)

In My Mailbox is a meme hosted by The Story Siren, which allows bloggers to share what books they’ve received in the past week. They can be from stores, contests, tours or publishers!

• Wake by Lisa McMann (purchased)
• Gone by Lisa McMann (purchased)
• Die For Me by Amy Plum (purchased)
• Starcrossed by Josephine Angelini (purchased)
• The Devouring by Simon Holt (purchased)
• Soulstice by Simon Holt (purchased)
• The Girl In The Steel Corset by Kady Cross (purchased)
• My Soul To Take by Rachel Vincent (purchased)
• Halo by Alexandra Adornetto (purchased)
• Unearthly by Cynthia Hand (purchased)
• Intertwined by Gena Showalter (purchased)
• Unraveled by Gena Showalter (purchased)
• Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins (purchased)
• Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare (purchased)
• Fallen by Lauren Kate (purchased)
• Torment by Lauren Kate (purchased)
• Infinity by Sherrilyn Kenyon (purchased)
• Invincible by Sherrilyn Kenyon (purchased)
• White Cat by Holly Black (library)
• The Secret To Lying by Todd Mitchell (library)
• Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead (library)
• Frostbite by Richelle Mead (library)
• Captivate by Carrie Jones (library)
• My Love Lies Bleeding by Alyxandra Harvey (library)
• Lover Eternal by J.R. Ward (library)

As you can see, my mailbox went into overload this week. Lots of my bookdepository orders arrived (every single book packaged individually), but I still have a couple more I’m waiting on. I went to the city this week with my friend Brittany from Nice Girls Read Books and we stalked all the bookstores we could find. We nearly got stuck in a back alley tow away zone trying to find a park for one of the little independent bookshops. City driving, not fun… On top of the 12 books that arrived in the mail, I grabbed 6 at the shops on impulse and picked up 7 more from the big library in the city. Out of all of these, I’d read six already (Wake, My Soul To Take, Intertwined, Unraveled, Clockwork Angel and Infinity) but I needed them for my collection. I especially love the shiny foil coverslip on Clockwork Angel, it looks great sitting beside my TMI hardbacks.

Link up to your mailbox and I’ll be sure to check it out!