It’s always hard for me to say goodbye to a series..
To know that I’ll never meet again the characters I got to know so well, I’ll never live with them new adventures, there will be no more secrets to discover (in this case no more dreams to haunt us), there will be no cliffhanger to keep me waiting for another book…
But there is still this wonderful story that we leave behind, one that made us happy and terribly sad, one that made our eyes tear of emotion and ours hearts fill with joy, one that we will keep in our hearts forever.
We came a long way since that day when we first met Clara, when we found out about her secret (so secret that even she didn’t know about), when we met Angela, when we fel in love with Tucker in the middle of the winter, when we found out that Christian was the boy from Clara’s dreams. It feels like a lifetime has passed since I cried at a fictional funeral (fictional for me that is), or since I laughed out loud watching Tucker and Clara tease each-other in such a cute way.
If there is one word to define this series, “emotion” is the perfect one.
Cynthia Hand knows how to search in your heart for the deepest emotion she can find and then make you feel it in your bones. I really can’t wait to get my hands on the next book she writes.
So here I am saying the last words about this series, here I am enjoying the last pages in another book that kept me reading right ’till the ending and wishing (of course) for more.
“We think of happiness as something we can take. But usually it comes from being content with what we have, and accepting ourselves.”
I realise that this book was a bit predictable compared to the first ones, as we all knew how we wanted things to end and that was pretty much the path it followed. There were a few surprises here and there, but overall it felt a bit slower than the last one, maybe with less action and definitely with a lot less heartbreak (not that I complain much, because I don’t quite enjoy crying).
No matter whether you are team Tucker or Christian (I am in no team whatsoever) you will get a few cute moments to enjoy; but keep in mind that you can’t make your heart chose the person you think is right, so don’t assume Clara might be able to do that all the time.
As for me, I was still indifferent to the love-triangle, I didn’t care much about the boys as I thought they were both wrong for her (for different reasons) and I didn’t really care about her choice. Still, it plays an important part in this book (if it is not about the dreams or about Angela’s secrets, then it’s all about boys drama)
“She shrugs.”Men”
“Men.”
“If we can send one man to the moon, why can’t we send them all there?”
Now, talking about Angela.. I had a hard time figuring her out (and the author meant that to happen). Still, sometimes secrets just add too much unnecessary drama and I am not a fan of that. If only Clara and Angela just stopped for a moment and talked – like really talked – about the things that bugged them.. But then again, that would have been way too simple, right?
Most characters seemed to grow a bit, and if not really ‘grow’, then adapt to the new situation. They had their own problems and they needed to deal with those in order to move on. They had secrets and they needed to make up their mind before sharing them with each-other. Also, they all had deep, raw feelings and emotion is not always the best guide.
But there is always hope, and that’s what this book is about, that’s what perfect endings are about too. Yes, Clara seemed to be a bit too powerful for her own good and it bugged me that she had it easy at some point because of that (or should I say “points“?), but after all, this book is about hope on different levels and hope can also be a powerful thing.
You might think that I have too many complaints here, but except for these things the story was really great. I love Cynthia’s style and I love how she makes me read a book in one sitting, I like how lost I become in her stories and I can’t wait to read something new from her.
Happy midnight reading!
Visual quote:
Music of choice:
Nickelback – I’d Come For You
Everyday I spend away my soul’s inside out
Gotta be someway that I can make it up to you now, somehow.By now you’d know that I’d come for you
No one but you, yes I’d come for you
But only if you told me to
And I’d fight for you
I’d lie, it’s true
Give my life for you
You know I’d always come for you.
This is one of my favorite (angel) series. I didn’t get to read this book yet, but I really can’t wait to see how the story ends. I am team Tucker, BTW :p
I hope that you’ll enjoy it. Let me know what you think of it when you get to read it 😉 We can talk then about the “team thingy”.
You were right about perfect endings, some things seemed just too good to be true, but I loved this story too!
Yeah, I prefer some more realistically-perfect endings. I felt like the author broke our heart only to say them: “Ooops, I just wanted to see your reaction. I’ll take it back now” :))
I was in a love&hate relationship with this series. I loved somethings, but didn’t like that much some others, still the second book was amazing and I can’t wait to read this one too. (PS: Clara had it easy from the beginning 😛 I guess, it’s not that much of a surprise)
I guess you are right ;)) But you will see what I meant by that.
I am glad that you liked Hallowed and I hope you will enjoy this one just as much 🙂