EDIT
I am jacking this up to 5 stars because I keep thinking about it, and how great it is, and how much I want to re-read it. I think the only reason I originally gave it 4.5 stars is because it's written in present tense, which I HATE WITH A PASSION. But I have come to realise that marking a book down half a star for a stylistic device that I hate but that actually works in the novel isn't really fair. It's still a great story with hardly any plot holes, a decent lead heroine who isn't shitty in any way, and a love interest I actually for once care about.
END EDIT

Cynthia Hand, if you ever stalk your Goodreads reviews and come across this one: thank you. Thank you for giving me a book that allowed me to escape the shittiness of my current situation. Thank you for writing a book that I didn't find massive plot holes in. Thank you for writing a romance that didn't make me want to throw the book at the wall, even if at first I thought Tucker was an ass (you wanted me to think that). Thank you for a wonderful main character that didn't take herself too seriously, that knew when she was being an idiot, that grew in strength and character throughout the whole novel. I don't normally like 1st person present tense, but this time it really did have me looking out through Clara's eyes sometimes and feeling what she felt. I felt her sadness and helplessness about the colour of her hair, which I know is petty, but I felt it. Thank you for writing a kick-ass mother figure. Seriously. I love Meg. I don't say this often, but thank you for the gift of your book.

Thank you to all my Goodreads friends who wrote such lovely spoiler-free reviews. Thank you to the UK publishers for giving me a nicer cover than the US cover... LOL. And thank you to my parents for 'buying' this book for my 25th birthday.

As usual, I looked at this book in terms of début novels. The beginning throws you in the deep end. It's such a difference to the last novel I read (which shall not be named) where nothing interesting happened for 200 pages. Unearthly's opening page reminds me of some of those 'first 250 words' contests I've entered. It's strong, tight, and immediately gets to the point of the plot. It gives hints to what is yet to come. The book has a good solid plot, and yes, it's about angels but according to some friends who read angelology it's accurate in its mythology. I couldn't give a toss whether or not the mythology is accurate: in fact I'm dying to read an angel novel that in no way references God or Heaven or Hell (that's because I'm an atheist) and even though I had a poke at Divergent for bringing religion into a novel where it clearly didn't belong or was welcome, here I can quite comfortably read about religion and Church and God because it's an angel novel.

It's a nice, tight book, and you can tell because I'm not tearing into any plot holes. Although I would have loved this to be a stand-alone novel and have the ending ever so slightly different to reflect that, I am also looking forward to the second and third novels in this trilogy because quite frankly, Cynthia Hand is a freaking genius. I love her writing, her descriptions, her dialogue, everything. I was never 'jerked out' of the novel and I didn't find any problems with the grammar EXCEPT... for some really weird reason Clara kept calling her mother 'Mum'. I know Americans say 'Mom'. Us English/Australian/New Zealand folk aren't stupid. Why was the spelling changed for this edition? We KNOW what a 'Mom' is, and sometimes I forgot that I was supposed to be in America and Tucker was a skiing rodeo cowboy fisherman hiker outdoorsy lumberjack dude.

I was so excited to read a book where the unearthly creature is the girl for once. We need more books like Clara's: where the girl is supposed to rescue the boy and be the hero. No more of these shitty girl-sits-around-waiting-to-be-rescued! Girls are just as capable as boys. Grrr.

And yes, I shed a tear (view spoiler)[as Clara and Tucker flew away from the poor horse. (hide spoiler)] I'm an emotional wreck at the moment. I'm so stressed it's literally making me ill; I have family issues with my family being on the other side of the planet and there's nothing I can do about it; I'm terribly homesick because yesterday was my 25th birthday and I cried four times. I toss between over-emotional and numb, and I'm crying at anything, most of the time now without a trigger. Before my birthday, I hadn't bought a new book in about a year. I took a gamble with Unearthly, because I have incredibly high standards. I love strong women, non-shitty romance, and good solid plots with no holes. I am so pleased to reveal that Unearthly did not let me down.

And even though my emotions are through the freaking roof, I closed Unearthly with a smile.

Do you have any idea how rare that is?

SPOILER TIME!
(view spoiler)[Yes, I saw the Christian twist coming a mile off. I understand exactly why Clara feels drawn to him: they're most probably soul mates, but she took the time to fall in love with Tucker so I want her to be with him. And the foreshadowing was very subtle - I ALMOST missed it - but the foreshadowing NEEDED to be there otherwise it would have been all like, 'huh?' when it was revealed. (hide spoiler)]
I think Angela should have had more page time, because I secretly suspect she's a bad girl - I hope I'm wrong. I don't want to stereotype the Goth. And Kay? I knew a girl JUST like her in high school, and could not get that image out of my head.

OK yeah, I was pissed at the whole idea of the rich 'haves' being way prettier than the 'have-nots'. That's just shallow and unnecessary. Being rich doesn't make you more attractive: you can buy a nose job but you can't buy a personality. I know poor people that dress better using second hand clothing stores than rich people who have their clothes tailored for them. But that's not an important aspect of the book, so I won't speak further on it.

And I am very much Team Tucker. Why? Same reason I am Team Jacob: there is an actual relationship there. It develops over time. They fall in love slowly. It's delicious. And mostly, I just want to say a great big FUCK YOU to 'destiny'. I want her to be with Tucker. And no, I don't have a crush on Tucker. But this once again proves Hand's talent at writing: normally I pretty much hate YA love interests. Dimitri Belikov? Pfft. Daniel Grigori? Get the hell away from me. Po from Graceling? I couldn't care less. Four from Divergent? Decidedly meh. Edward Cullen? I would rather gouge my own eyes out. But Tucker has a special place alongside Bones from the Night Huntress series - and the only reason I like Bones so much is because he's a complete rip off of soul-Spike when he's in love with Buffy. At least Tucker is more original, the skiing rodeo cowboy fisherman hiker outdoorsy lumberjack dude.