Radiant by Cynthia Hand

Title: Radiant (Unearthly, #2.5)
Author: Cynthia Hand
File type: ebook
Release date: December 4th, 2012
Genre: YA, Paranormal Romance, Angels

From New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Hand comes a riveting original novella (available only as an ebook) set in the world of the Unearthly series.
Clara is desperate to get away—from the memories that haunt her in Wyoming and the visions of a future she isn't ready to face—and spending the summer in Italy with her best friend, Angela, should be the perfect escape. . . .
For as long as she can remember, Angela has been told that love is dangerous, that she must always guard her heart. But when she met a mysterious guy in Italy two years ago she was determined to be with him, no matter the costs. Now she must decide whether she can trust Clara with her secret, or if telling her the truth will risk everything she cares about.
Alternating between Angela and Clara's perspectives, Radiant chronicles the unforgettable summer that will test the bounds of their friendship and change their lives forever.

I'm torn between giving 4 or 5 stars. I loved it so much. First Destroy Me and now Radiant! You people are trying to kill me! I want,I need Unravel Me and Boundless. Since Unravel Me is pre-ordered I only need to find some money to get Boundless too.Tucker and Warner! All I need to say to you is

*clears throat* Anyway

This is mostly Angela’s story but we also have Clara’s POV.  We get to see how they spent their summer in Italy before heading out to college. I liked Angela since Unearthly. There is just something in me that makes me love reading about goths and practically everyone who stands out.

Clara is still dealing with her mother’s death, her brother’s disappearance, and her breakup with my fictional boyfriend, Tucker while Angela sees her secret boyfriend, Phen (Penamue). IMO, they make an interesting couple. Since Clara is an empath she gets a glimpse into Phen’s soul and doesn’t like what she sees not because he ‘bad’ or ‘good’ but because he is an angel and apparently angels are incapable of loving people (cause they are God’s creation and they are meant to serve only him, something like that), but they do care, just not enough. So Clara thinks he should stay away from Angela because he will break her heart in the end. Phen is a Intangere (angel with a purpose, dunno exactly what it means) and he basically inspires people to write, compose, draw, etc.  He is a nice guy/angel and he is described as looking like Orlando Blood *drools*. He has that Dimitri Belikov quality about him I find incredibly appealing and you can feel that he is helping Angela to grow up as a character. Since Clara doesn’t think hooking up with an angel is a good thing this sets a strain in their friendship so they spend the rest of the summer practically not talking to each other. I am looking forward seeing how will they work things out in Stanford, or will it set them farther apart.

This novella also features a prologue and the first chapter of Boundless which will probably blow my mind away.  I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw Wendy bringing Clara’s stuff back from Tucker and inside the box there was a copy of Vampire Academy. VA is basically the reason I got into books. Before it, reading was just an obligation. I never knew there is a thing called Young Adult fiction. Well, I did read HP and Twilight but I thought that was just a one/two time thing.