Boundless by Cynthia Hand
Series: Unearthly #3
Published by HarperTeen
Publish Date: January 22, 2012
448 Pages
Source: Library
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. -(from Goodreads)
Boundless by Cynthia Hand
My Thoughts: Okay, after making it through Unearthly and Hallowed while trying to determine which “team” I was on, I decided to STOP THAT MESS. Just stop it! No more stressing over teams!
I waited a few days after Hallowed because OH THE EMOTIONS and beauty and pain and everything, and then I read Radiant and Boundless. By the time the library had it waiting for me, I was so excited to open it up and get the answers to the questions I’ve had for so long.
The first thing you need to know is this:
I waited a few days between reading Hallowed and Boundless.
If you’ve read my previous posts on Unearthly (HERE) and Hallowed (HERE), you may remember that I was over-melodramatically stressed out about not being able to choose which “team” to join in the love triangle between Clara, Tucker, and Christian. I. Could. Not. Choose.
Truthfully, I had to wait a few days to read Radiant and Boundless because I had them on hold at my library BUT it ended up working in my favor because it gave me time to simmer way down from all of my crazed-out emotions after the first two books.
WHY DID I WORK MYSELF UP SO MUCH? WHO MADE UP THE RULE THAT I HAD TO CHOOSE A SIDE ANYWAY? Once I finally made the decision to just love/enjoy them both I was able to be excited to read Boundless – not nervous! – and I eagerly started the book.
THAT IS HUGE, you guys. So very huge. Everybody has been so nervous about Boundless, including myself. But once I shrugged off those “Team ____ vs Team ____” worries, I loved cracking open that book.
The second thing you need to know is this:
Umm, I read it in one day.
Dear reading friend that I adore: We read together all the time. I KNOW we are/were supposed to be reading that book together. But I couldn’t help it. I hope you forgive me for putting it on my phone instead of my Kindle and reading while I was grocery shopping. Had I put it on the Kindle vs. the phone, I’d have still finished it quickly, but I might have taken a little bit longer. Stay cool! -A
I was actually multitasking for like the first time ever: both shopping and reading like a madwoman, furiously flipping the pages on my tiny phone screen as I distractedly pushed my cart through the aisles in the produce section, nearly taking out everyone in my path and also stopping in the middle of the aisles at all of the A-HA moments (so many!), clogging up the natural progression of the store. I’m SURE the people in the grocery store were not impressed. I’m POSITIVE that I don’t care.
The reason I was able to fly through this one this way is because I enjoyed it so much. I did not have as much stress involved since I had lightened my emotional load, and I just flat-out wanted to know what was going to happen. At the beginning of the book, I still had a ton of questions and I needed some answers! As I read, I realized that Cynthia Hand introduced even more questions that needed answers to (doggone it!), which translated into a book that I had a hard time putting down. I was all-in and fully invested, all-systems-go, in let’s-get-this-thing-done and find-out-some-answers mode.
The third thing you need to know is this:
The bad thing about loving both sides is this:
No matter what, someone gets hurt.
OHHH THE PAIN. The actual, honest pain that I felt in my chest, the hollow feeling of…hollowness and pain for…somebody. OH!
My dramatic typing does nothing to adequately tell you how I felt when I finally figured out how the book would play out…which was surprisingly much later than I thought. Boundless was indeed much more of a roller coaster of emotions than I ever imagined it would be. I was happy and then I was sad, and then I was all YAY!! and then I was sobbing with a Kleenex in EACH HAND, and then I was all WHAAAT? and then I was happy but it was also mixed with sadness. In the end, I was actually tired. I was exhausted. Clara Gardner and her purpose wore me out.
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Boundless by Cynthia Hand is…the end of a series. Um, it is gut-wrenching. It is emotional and heartbreaking. There are times of great happiness in there, though, and I cling to those memories. I knew that no matter how it ended, I would feel the pain of everything, and that is exactly what I feel. Am I glad that I read it? Yes. It’s a great series that has brought on a ton of fantastic discussion between myself and some online reading friends, and now my in-real-life reading friends will be reading it. You guys, there is NOTHING better than discussing books with people, and that is what I’m taking away from this trilogy along with all of the tears, Kleenex boxes, and bookish stress.
Concerning the whole free will versus destiny-thing, which was a huge theme throughout all three books, I think I liked how everything turned out. I love books that take on this topic because I always find thought-provoking discussion among friends and it is always easy to pull examples from the stories – this series was a perfect example all the way through. These books challenged my thoughts and so did my reading friends. Never for one second knowing how the books would end made for fun speculation and wonderful, wonderful free will versus destiny conversations. I love that so much.
I have also loved these wonderful characters throughout this series. While each of them had a thing or two they’d do every now and then that would really irk me – GOSH DON’T WE ALL? I’ve spent my time feeling that they were so strong and fully developed…but I feel that in Boundless at least two of the three main characters were just a little bit less strong. I feel comfortable attributing this to the fact that there is so much going on in the book – SO MUCH – there’s a ton of action, there are new plot lines, new characters, just a ton in general – there is really no room for these characters to continue growing or to even maintain their development. They’re just there, working very hard to keep up their momentum, and I could actually feel that struggle. Still, I did continue to like Tucker and Christian equally, and I absolutely loved the addition of Phen. (I recommend reading Radiant before reading Boundless to become more acquainted with Phen as a character.)
My absolute favorite part of Boundless, by far, was Sam. Sam has been a Black Wing angel villain throughout the entire series. For some reason, though, even as early as Unearthly, I felt a connection with that bad dude, and I have maintained it. During Hallowed, I continued to really enjoy his bad-guy presence, and I sincerely had hoped for a big role from him in the end. My wish came true as he did have a pretty big role, and I loved it. Sam is the reason Boundless is my favorite book in the series. Because I love him so much, I want good things for him – but ultimately my opinion is that he is the best, most well-developed and multi-layered character of them all. High fives to the bad guy!
In the end, a lot of my questions were answered – but I would be lying if I said I the series feels resolved to me. I still have some pretty big questions about some of the characters. My heart was broken in a big way, but I knew it would be from the beginning because I cared deeply for both Tucker and Christian. I knew that when one of them would hurt in the end (if that happened) then I would hurt as well. This series was wonderful, and I have to wonder if I enjoyed it so much because I read it straight through, within a short amount of time. I personally don’t think I would have enjoyed it quite as much as I did had I read each book when it was first published, but I will never know that for sure! I have enjoyed stressing over which team to choose, but I loved choosing to love everyone in the end. I liked having NO TEAM, even though it earned me a broken heart, and if I had it to do over, I’d do it the same way. I practically dehydrated myself with all of my sobs at the big finale, which is not something that happens often with me. All of the emotions, good gracious! ALL OF THEM.
I recommend trying not being too nervous going into Boundless! It’s a great book and is much more enjoyable if you can allow yourself to enjoy the events as they unfold.
I recommend the entire Unearthly series for fans of YA paranormal romance, angels, and love triangles.
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Boundless will appeal to fans of:
YA Paranormal Romance
Angels
Romance: HUGE love triangle!
Boundless by Cynthia Hand
is currently available for purchase.
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Have you read BOUNDLESS yet?
I can’t believe I made it through the end of this series!
I survived it!
Talk to me about it, but watch for spoilers in the comments!
About Asheley
Asheley is a Southern girl. She loves Carolina blue skies, Ben & Jerry's ice cream, and NC craft beer. She loves all things history but prefers books over everything.
You can find her somewhere in North Carolina, daydreaming about the ocean.
Find Asheley on Litsy @intothehallofbooks!
"Clara Gardner and her purpose wore me out. "
Amen to that!
It really did, particularly in this book. We've talked a little bit about it (I haven't had my chance to add my more in-depth thoughts to everyone's) but YEAH. But ultimately I found that I liked Sam and his story line enough to leave me with a positive impression of the book overall, and really – the entire series as a whole, which is kind of BIG. Particularly since I don't think that's what C Hand was going for!
Sam was definitely one of my favorite characters, too–I'm hoping Cynthia writes that short story about him and Maggie someday!
I knew BOUNDLESS was going to be tough, because I like both boys, too. I had more mixed reactions to how things turned out romantically for this trio (much more so than I thought I would going into it), but overall the book was really great. So glad you enjoyed! But so sad it's all over, too.
Wendy @ The Midnight Garden
Oh, believe me, I had PLENTY of feelings about the way things ended up romantically for the trio…but I couldn't figure out how to express them here without spoiling the story for everyone else, so I left them out. I have all ideas, Wendy, that we talked about the ending, we may potentially have some of the same mixed feelings because I'm finding that across the board, some people are feeling similarly. But overall, the series was good. I enjoyed reading it. And there is always some sadness with putting an end to a series.
And I'd LOVE a Sam short story! I hadn't thought of that, but I'd be really happy about that!
Yep, I felt sad for the boy not chosen. I hope he doesn't pine for Clara for the rest of his days.
🙁
Me too, Carrie. 🙁
Broke my heart into a million pieces, that part!
I've yet to read Boundless but I have a copy and I'm anxious to read it! I LOVE this series and though I don't want to see it end, I'm desperate to see how it all goes down. I probably won't be reading it as soon as I'd like due to library books and reading a book or two for meeting an author later this month but I will squeeze it in as soon as possible. But at the moment? I just can't thinka about it. I read that above comment that Carrie wrote and it FREAKS me out because I don't want my guy to be all alone and pining for the rest of his days. What if doesn't go the way I want, what if it does? TOO MANY CRAZY THOUGHTS.
Great review, Ash, and thanks for keeping it spoiler free!
"What if doesn't go the way I want, what if it does? TOO MANY CRAZY THOUGHTS." –> YES, exactly! That's what I stressed myself over so much in the first two books – already anticipating the ending of the series – that I could barely stand it. In a love triangle like this one where both parties could be GOOD choices for her (like, not evil or bad), one of them will get hurt. It has to happen that way. I still stand behind my claim that it was my favorite of the three, although I haven't heard anyone else say that yet. 🙂
There's really a lot going on in that book. If you have the chance to read Radiant before you dive into Boundless, please do. If not and you want some notes on it before you start – send me a tweet or message me and I'll email you because I think that there is some information in there that helps Boundless to make more sense at certain points. I don't mind at all!
Dehydration via sobbing?! Is that what I can look forward to?!
Honestly, I'd be lying to myself if I said I wasn't expecting a reaction like that, but I'm more scared now after officially knowing it's gonna go down like that. I NEED TO START MY EBOOK OF THIS. Like now. I don't know why I'm hesitating.
Also: it's been so much fun seeing you go through the series and I'm REALLY happy that you loved it!
WELL I AM MELODRAMATIC, ASH!
I think this book has just pulled gut reactions out of nearly everyone, but not always for the same reasons. That's really cool, though, that everyone can be reading the exact same thing and feel all these tons of different things when reading it. That's why I've had such a great time discussing this series with other people as I've gone along.
I did like the series a ton, but I'm really glad that I read it once it was completed. I don't know if I'd have liked it *as much* had I read the books spaced out, right after publication each time.
And I recommend Radiant before Boundless if you can! I you can't or don't want to, I'd be happy to share some of the important details if you'll tweet me or email me – I'll shoot you an email right back. I think some of the Radiant details make some of the things in Boundless make a little more sense. 🙂
This is a great review of a book that is still plaguing my heart and mind. BOTH guys were great, and I'm actually not completely surprised that you were able to stay neutral. I will NEVER achieve that, but I like this aspect of your character. I'm also shocked and excited that your read this book in one day (I find reading on my phone to be the fastest too!), AND that you read all three books in this emotional series so close together. I think that DID affect how you read them vs. me.
It was so much fun to discuss these books with you! I agree, that is one thing I love most about this series, how much it fosters discussion. And Sam was an amazing character, I'm also glad we got more of him. Those Black Wings were pretty fascinating in general.
I'm not sure I can even comment on the resolution of this story. I AM happy that Clara is happy, even though I think she was pretty heartless to the one she didn't choose. And I also have tons of unresolved questions, but I'm trying to make myself let them go.
I will have to say that looking back on it, I'm not sure that I'd have liked the series as a whole as much if I'd read them spaced out, so I think waiting and reading them all together (which was my plan anyway) really worked out FOR ME. Though, normally, I'd have taken more time with each book. In the end, I'm pleased with how it turned out for me and HEY I FINISHED A SERIES COMPLETELY. WHAT IS THAT?
Discussing these books was definitely the best part, and really it still is. I still think of things every now and then when I'm driving or whatever and I'm like "OH!! I need to mention that to L or H!"
Sam is my favorite, period. I just saw *something* in him from the beginning that I couldn't really put my finger on and it carried through, and my feelings for that character only intensified as the series progressed. He had some of the more striking visual and sensory images in the entire series, with his big black wings and the intense feelings of sorrow that he felt and gave off, and I love the part where he steps away from the tree and the grass underneath his feed it dead. Just a well-thought, well-built character with many different levels. Love him the most! (What does that say about me, that the villain is my favorite?)
Oh the resolution. We can just keep emailing back and forth about that. I'm still weirded out by all the questions I still have and that's why I wonder if there will be a post-series novella or perhaps a spin-off, which I think people would totally go for at this point.
Thank you for being the big driving force for me reading this series! I've loved all of the stress, heartache, and excellent discussion I've gotten from it, and am still getting!
So, let's start with the fact that we were able to wait a few days to "simmer down" because I definitely think we both needed that. And now I need to let my feelings chill out after this book because I'm so conflicted in my feelings about it.
Also, love the side note to your reading friend 🙂 I have no worries about you finishing so quickly – I just can't believe your were able to contain ALL THE FEELINGS for so many days. Because seriously, there is so much to discuss about this book.
I think your roller coaster of emotions with this book are actually kind of indicative of why I had some problems with Boundless. In the same way that Clara was treating both boys, I felt a little bit like this plot was jerking me back and forth as a reader. And not really in a good way.
This single lines sums up how I felt about this series: "Clara Gardner and her purpose wore me out."
Also, I like how you're clinging to the good memories. Does that mean you're trying to forget some of the crazy business that came out of nowhere in this book? Haha!
Totally agree on the feeling that the characters were just trying to keep up their momentum and that it was kind of a struggle. There just felt like there was SO much going on and so many new characters for it to be the final book in the series.
SAM <3333 That's my heart growing four sizes at his memory. We're such smart readers recognizing his greatness early on.
I'll be sharing some of my other spoiler-y thoughts in my email, but I'd like to end by saying I'm SO GLAD we read these books together. I think our discussions about these books was my favorite part of reading them 🙂
Oh I absolutely had to sit on my feelings for a few days too. The ending ripped me to shreds, but it would've no matter how it ended. There was no way I was going to spoil it for you, though. You needed to experience all of THAT (swirls hand around) craziness for yourself!
And I felt a bit the same way about being jerked around as a reader. Someone mentioned to me that they thought initially this was supposed to be a four-book series, which would probably have made it a little more palatable in terms of the differences between pacing and such in Unearthly and Hallowed (which were okay) and Boundless (which was WHAAA?). The ending felt a good bit rushed to me from a certain point on, and most of my unresolved questions still come from the part of the ending that I feel was rushed. Oh well.
Yeah, also I just didn't feel like the main characters could really spread their wings (har har har) and be themselves in this book as they had in previous books because of all of the extra action and extra characters. If the book is only so long, the more stuff that is added between the covers just squishes up what's already in there, so my visual image of Clara, Christian, and Tucker are of them standing tightly together along with everyone else in a small, confined area. THIS is where I think Boundless would've been fine as two shorter books, because it is actually kind of long.
Oh Sam. I've already talked to you about my feelings for him. Even though he was the bad guy, I just saw a little bit of good in him early on. Definitely my favorite of the series. Definitely, we're smart readers.
I'm excited to continue with our discussion on this book and this series. There is certainly plenty to discuss in here. 🙂
" Everybody has been so nervous about Boundless, including myself. But once I shrugged off those "Team ____ vs Team ____" worries, I loved cracking open that book.:
Team Switzerland!!! 🙂
And OMG, I can just picture you trying to do your shopping while reading at the same time. That made me laugh out loud. I love you so much, Asheley T.!
I am so glad you loved this book, and YES to Sam and Phen (and Asael, imo!) If only there was more of them, in this book or futire book(s. I would read it in a heartbeat…I totally agree with Lauren, I love those intriguing Blackwings:)
And on this last note I couldn't agree with you MORE:
"You guys, there is NOTHING better than discussing books with people, and that is what I'm taking away from this trilogy along with all of the tears, Kleenex boxes, and bookish stress."
Beautifully summed up, Ash:)
Being Team Switzerland has been so liberating and free, I just cannot tell you. It allowed me to enjoy Boundless so much more even though the book had some flaws. I felt like I was able to see them practically instead of my head being clouded by what I WANTED to happen. Does that make sense?
I always audiobook and read while shopping. That's why I HAVE to go alone and during the day while everyone is at work or school. In the summer, I go late at night. 🙂 It's just an Asheley-thing. It's just me and the shelves, and I basically ignore everything else. And surprisingly I do not find myself distracted – I'm even able to maintain keeping my notes. It's weird, I know.
I've LOVED discussing these books with you guys and will keep doing that as long as I am able to! It really is the best part, and was the funnest part of reading. There were several things that you guys mentioned that I hadn't thought of, and sometimes perhaps I will be fortunate enough to introduce another perspective to you all as well. It's so broadening, in terms of reading. Love it.
I still have Hallowed and Boundless to look forward to when I return from vacation. I was nervous about starting book two after thoroughly loving the first one, but after seeing everyone's thoughts (including yours), I can't wait. I need more Tucker in my life!
Good luck Alexa! I'll be looking for your thoughts! I've enjoyed seeing everyone's different reactions to these books and reading them myself for the first time. They're definitely emotional and make-you-thinkers!