Review: Boundless, by Cynthia Hand

Title: Boundless (Unearthly #3)

Author: Cynthia Hand

Genre: YA Paranormal

Pub. Date: January 22, 2013

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.

Boundless is a cute and satisfying conclusion to a great series. Not exactly the best conclusion I desired, but hey, at least I got some TUCKER.

The first half of the book is about Clara in college, which can be, to some, an unnecessary component to this book. I felt that it was important to develop ties between certain characters which the author didn’t do a very good job of in the first two books.

Clara is one of my favorite YA characters. She is so relatable and her tone was so believable of a typical teen that it was impossible not to like her.

I had three issues with this book; one, it was a bit too predictable for my taste (only some parts), two, the ending was WAY too convenient, and three, what the heck happened to Christian in the end? (He just disappears, and we have no idea what happens to him.)

The solution of the conflict at the end of a series and how well it was executed is what makes or breaks my opinion of a novel. In the case of Boundless, the solution was not the best part of the book. In fact, it was one of the downsides of it. It was much too convenient and easy for my liking. For me, I like books with solutions that are good, but come with/cause some sort of struggle. Because that’s how life is; you can’t just do one thing and poof! All your problems are gone. There has to be some sort of negative aspect; even though it is a “solution”, it can’t be perfect.

So if you’re wondering why I gave the last book in one of my favorite series 3 stars, that one of the main reasons.

One of my major pet peeves is when an important character just disappears without anyone questioning or explaining what happened to that person. It’s like the author just gave up on that character altogether. Which is what happened to Christian! DUN DUN DUN.

The epilogue was… Okay. Just okay. It showed 10 years into the future, but it didn’t really answer anything. All it shows it the happy ending, blah blah blah, but nothing notable.

I’m hoping Hand makes a series dedicated to Jeffrey, because he is HOT. I can't think of a better reason beside the fact that he is super hot, but isn't that a good enough reason?

It’s still saddening to see this angel series go. I loved all the characters, but this book just didn’t cut it for me.

3/5 stars