Review: Boundless by Cynthia Hand

Boundless
Cynthia Hand
Series: Unearthly, #3
Release Date: January 22nd, 2013
Publisher: HarperTeen
Number of Pages: 448
Source: Bought
Rating: 4 stars

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.

This review may contain possible spoilers for Unearthly and Hallowed

It is very rare for me (at least it was) to not write a review for a book immediately after I am finished reading it, but with the Unearthly series, that waiting in inevitable. It has been proven quite difficult for me to write reviews for this trilogy in the past - in fact, my "review" for the first one is a gif from Billy Madison and a few words - and I have literally no clue as to how I am going to write this review, especially putting into consideration that it is the final book in this wonderful trilogy. Which just makes this review that much more impossible to write.

But, back to how I waited to write this review: immediately after finishing Boundless, I had given it 4.5 stars, rounded up to five, with just a gif to portray my feelings. In the few days since finishing, however, I've reflected on that initial rating and reaction and lowered it to four stars. Did I love Boundless? Mostly, yes. Did I think it was a worthwhile conclusion to the awe-worthy trilogy? Absolutely. But, when given time to truly think about the novel, I realized that there were things I was less than enthusiastic about. But first let's get off on the good stuff concerning Boundless, because trust me, there's plenty of it.


For me, Boundless was the most shocking of the Unearthly trilogy, especially towards the middle and the end. It has been said in a few of my reviews before that I am fairly good at pinpointing plot twists long before they happen, but miraculously, some if not most of the twists in this novel left me completely and utterly dumbfounded. As well as the fact that this installment in the trilogy was full of much more surprising twists than its predecessor, and it is also worthy to note that it's much more action packed, the character development is still mesmerizing, and the emotional impact similar to a punch in the gut is definitely still there.

In the first two books in this trilogy (maybe only Unearthly and half of Hallowed) Tucker was the center of attention, whereas Christian played the role as a background character - not given his moment to shine. Until Boundless, that is. Understandably so, considering the events towards the end in Hallowed, Christian plays much more of a larger role in the novel than Tucker, and is given so much character development. Towards the end of Hallowed, I definitely found myself loving Christian's character, but this installment only cemented my love for him. Which, you could probably imagine, makes it quite difficult for me considering I spent the first two books firmly on Team Tucker, and I was able to gradually feel myself shifting teams while reading Boundless. I honestly would have been incredibly satisfied with whoever Clara chose by the end, depending on how she rejected the other contestant in the love triangle. And this is where my review gets a bit negative, and incredibly difficult to write, because of spoilers.

I felt that the conclusion to the love triangle was too neat, too easy. At first we're given an absolutely fantastic and unpredictable - albeit heartbreaking - conclusion, that very few authors have actually done, but then nope. Epilogue! Everything's fine. It didn't happen. Psych! Ha, you two enjoy yourselves while the other person in the love triangle spends the rest of their lives lonely and heartbroken. But no, you two have fun, now.

*rolls eyes* As well as the fact that the conclusion was wrapped up too neat, with really little to no actual conclusion on one party's behalf, I feel that there were far too many plot threads left out in the open by the end of the novel. And leaving plot threads open is okay, even by the end of a trilogy, but the things we never received answers for were big aspects of the trilogy that deserved to be answered.

However, with those two qualms aside, Boundless was one of the best conclusions to a trilogy I've ever had the pleasure to read. I highly doubt any love triangle will rise above my love for this one, mostly because I really just don't like love triangles too much, and also because this one was remarkably well written, just like everything else in the trilogy. I am sad to see that this trilogy has come to an end, and this particular journey up a steep hill has left me emotionally drained in every way, shape, and form, but in the end it was fulfilling in every way imaginable, and that feeling of fulfillment is not something I will soon forget.