Hallowed (Unearthly #2)

Hallowed by Cynthia Hand

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

With Hallowed, just like with Unearthly, I find myself closing the book with a huge flashing question mark on top of my head. The general feeling is that yes, I did enjoy the book, but my mind is spinning so hard with questions and doubts that I'm really having a hard time savoring the good nuances of the story. I'm bugged.
Some of the questions that I was left with after Unearthly have undeniably been answered but many more have joined the group of the unanswered ones.

In Hallowed we find Clara dealing with the consequences of the events of Unearthly and the whole story revolves around her getting another disturbing vision. We witness a progressive change and development in the Clara/Christian/Tucker relationship/triangle and we widen - or complicate - our understanding of the angel world.

On the one hand, while I immensely enjoyed how the author managed the infamous love triangle and some other very delicate parts of the story which were really touching and heartbreaking - and it was so clear the author must have lived personally such a situation, it was so well described and detailed - on the other hand, there were some fundamental parts which put my logical skills to the test and I still feel like l'm lacking the tools, missing vital info to give sense to this world Cynthia Hand has created.
It all has to do with the free will/predestination issue, the visions, the purpose, the war, the angels themselves. We know very little about it all and I find it distressingly confusing. It has been argued that all this will be hopefully cleared in the sequel/s to Hallowed, but frankly, I cannot give a rating to this book based on the hope that things will be clear in a year or two. For me it's just not enough because while I can accept cliffhangers and mysteries and secrets, I have a harder time with the rules that regulate an effective world-building.

Aside from this, I wasn't very impressed with the predictability of the story. For most of the questions I asked myself at the end of Unearthly, I saw the answer coming from a mile away, especially the one in which I was wondering about Clara's missing parent.

Furthermore, there are some points which still just don't make sense: why is nobody paying attention to Jeffrey? He must be one of the unluckiest guys in YA history because really, nobody seems to care about him. Why isn't Clara asking Angela more about what she did in Italy? Where the hell is Tucker in the middle part of the book? Poof!
Clara, thy name is OBLIVIOUS. And usually, that's my name but in this case, you beat me girl.

Once again, I find myself wishing this author had written a story without a paranormal element in it.