"In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees. He's around my age, in that space between child and man, maybe all of seventeen years old. I'm not sure how I know this. I can only see the back of his head, his dark hair curling damply against his neck. I feel the dry heat of the sun, so intense, drawing the life from everything. There's a strange orange light filing the eastern sky. There's the heavy smell of smoke. For a moment I'm filled with such a smothering grief that it's hard to breathe. I don't know why. I take a step toward the boy, open my mouth to call his name, only I don't know it. The ground crunches under my feet. He hears me. He starts to turn. one more second and I will see his face.
That's when the vision leaves me. I blink, and it's gone."
-- Unearthly, by Cynthia Hand
Reasons I kept reading:
1. Who is the boy?
2. Who is our narrator?
3. What will happen after the fire? (Will they escape?)
4. How is she having visions?
5. Can she stop the fire and save the boy?
I won this book during a giveaway hop and it piqued my interest because I haven't read a lot of stories about this particular type of paranormal/supernatural event or being(s). (I'll spare you the spoilers) While I don't typically read romance, I figured if it was YA and there were other things going on (family drama, identity crisis, visions, etc.,), I wouldn't be too icked out by the romance. I'm still a kid when it comes to mushy-gushy stuff. Yuck.
Anyway -- so far, no romance. Just mystery, identity, and paranormalcy (I'm 40 pages in). It's quite intriguing so far. I love delving into someone else's mythology and finding out about the rules of their universe. Ms. Hand does a great job at making her world seem very real.
Leave me a comment if this intrigues you, or if you've read Unearthly (and/or its sequel, Hallowed) and what you thought about it.
I'll be posting a review of The Fellowship for Alien Detection in a few days. Stay tuned!
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