Why Cynthia Hand's UNEARTHLY trilogy made a liar out of me.

Most of us have, at one time, said:  "I'm not really a fan of __[insert genre/plot here]__ books."

I should know better, but I'm definitely guilty of this on occasion. And then I always prove myself to be a liar.

Inevitably, I find a book of that variety that I love, and I eat my words. Because the truth is, in the hands of a skilled author, any book can overcome your reading aversions.

Cynthia Hand's UNEARTHLY trilogy did this for me with angel books.

Originally, I didn't pick up UNEARTHLY — a book about a girl who's part angel-blood who struggles to discover and fulfill her purpose — because "Angel books don't really interest me." But enough bloggers and writers I trust sang the novel's praises (yay, word of mouth!), and I finally picked up the first one in December. And the next day, I devoured HALLOWED, the sequel.

It's no secret that I'm a huge critic of the middle books of trilogies, since that's where so many series falter. To me, they must live up to the standard set by the first book and promised in the third, and be more than a bridge to the final book. If they don't, I feel cheated. If they do, I'll pretty much follow an author wherever she/he goes.*

HALLOWED was ... awesome.

Of course, I then picked up the final book, BOUNDLESS, with high expectations — which of course made me nervous. Would the ending of this excellent series be a disappointment? But my anxiety was for nothing, because I loved it. Start to finish, the UNEARTHLY trilogy has that magical mix of a compelling plot, skilled writing, unique worldbuilding, and multi-layered, relatable characters.

And now I'm passing on the recommendation. So if you're not usually inclined to pick up angel books, if you're tired of paranormal romances, or if you haven't tried these simply because they weren't on your TBR radar, you should definitely put aside your reservations and give UNEARTHLY a try.

The best part? BOUNDLESS released in January, so the entire trilogy is available now. Happy reading!

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*Some other trilogies with exceptional middle books:
Rae Carson's Fire and Thorns trilogy: THE CROWN OF EMBERS
Holly Black's Curse Workers trilogy: RED GLOVE
Jeri Smith-Ready's Shade trilogy: SHIFT
Veronica Rossi's Under the Never Sky trilogy: THROUGH THE EVER NIGHT
Marie Lu's Legend trilogy: PRODIGY
Janice Hardy's Healing Wars trilogy: BLUE FIRE

The Revision Process

You send your latest draft to your critique partners, expecting minimal revisions.



You get their comments back, and the work is a bit more in depth than you thought.

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You know the changes will bring your book to the next level, and on the outside, you're all, "I got this."

But when you actually try to tackle it ...

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... and ...



... and ...

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 After enough hours of no progress, you just want to

 

... and ...  

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And your friends and family are like

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But finally your critique partners knock some sense into you.

Everything begins to flow, and you start to make progress.














And then you really show the revision who's boss.











And days later, you finish, emerging from the revision cave, your novel better than ever.














It's 2 a.m., and no one else is awake to celebrate, but you don't care.

Time for the revision dance.

*** A huge thank you to the creators of #WhatShouldWeCallMe and Title To Come, whose hilarious tumblrs got me through the most frustrating moments of revision and inspired this post.