TITLE: Hush, Hush (Hush, Hush #1)
AUTHOR: Becca Fitzpatrick
GENRE: YA, Fantasy, Paranormal
PUBLISHED: October 13, 2009
RATING: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Purchase Links: Amazon
Mobilism Link: Read!
Description: For Nora Grey, romance was not part of the plan. She's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how much her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her. Not until Patch came along.
With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Nora is drawn to him against her better judgment.
But after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora's not sure who to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is, and to know more about her than her closest friends. She can't decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is way more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel.
For Nora is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen - and, when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost her life.
The Verdict: Read It!
This review includes spoilers
The Review: I’ve been having a hard time finding books that allow me a wondrous vacation from reality. In my quest to find an enrapturing novel I headed to the goodreads site and sorted my to-read shelf by the number of ratings after that I just picked for the most interesting cover and synopsis. Hush, Hush has been on my to-read shelf since mid-June 2012. It looked a good bet.
Hush, Hush starts off extremely slow, like a snail’s pace slow, and you can tell it’s aimed at the YA crowd because its writing style is Basic English, its language is simple to simplistic. Written at probably a 9th grade reading level. Overall I liked the book, but it was drawn out. I understand that the layout was the prelude to the story’s inevitable climax, but it just took too many unnecessary words to get there. The book finally begins to pick up close to a 3rd of the way through, but up until then I would have had no idea what the book was about if I hadn’t read the synopsis.
Right away we meet the main character Nora Grey the protagonist and her Partner in crime Vee Sky. Nora and Vee are your average high school aged teenage girls.
Next we meet Patch Cipriano, his role from Villain to Anti-Hero, and love interest Patch who is your average bad boy; the real deal he’s a fallen angel who wants to become human at any cost.
Elliot Saunders (the side kick) and Jules A.K.A Chauncey Langeais their roles, the main Antagonist although in all fairness Chauncey became what his was because of Patch. While Chauncey is just an average high school student led astray by Chauncey who is a Nephilim and he’s been enslaved to Patch for centuries and he wants payback.
Last But not Least Miss Greene A.K.A Dabria her role a minor Antagonist Dabria is an Angel, and Patch's ex-lover and she can’t get over the fact that he lost his wings over a human. When the Powers that be find out Patch’s plan to become human, they send Dabria to talk to him and try and convince him to save a life and become a guardian angel getting his wings back instead. In the end Dabria’s jealousy is her undoing, she tries to kill Nora and loses her own wings.
The Plot:
Patch wants to be human more than anything his lust for a human girl caused him to fall and lose his wings. There's a sacred book The book of Enoch which tells how a fallen angel can become human, it requires Patch to use the female descendant of his Nephilim vassal as a willing sacrifice to become human and he intends to seduce Nora into doing just that but sometimes things don’t go as planned.
“I can’t feel you. I experience everything through a sheet of glass, and the only way I can cut through that sheet is by possessing a human body”
“I want to be human. I want it than I’ve ever wanted anything
Nora’s life was pretty simple before she met Patch, it was normal, now suddenly Nora’s is seeing things and being stalked. Nora’s sixth sense is telling her Patch is trouble and she knows there’s something not quite right about him, but no matter how she rationalizes she too drawn to him and can’t stay away. Ever since Patch became Nora’s biology partner Nora’s been paranoid and suspicious.
“After the library” I whispered “Where did you go”
“Why”
“Did you follow me” I demanded in an undertone.
“You look a Little on edge Nora.” “What Happened?”
Chauncey is Patch’s vassal force to swear an oath of fealty centuries ago allowing patch to take over his body two weeks every year, he’s been looking for a way to hurt Patch get back at him but Patch is a fallen Angel his body isn’t, real torture won’t work, he can’t feel pain. When Chauncey notices Patch’s interest in Nora he decides that killing Nora will be the perfect revenge.
“I've been toying with you. Dangling you by a string. Using you as a proxy, because the person I really want to harm can’t be harmed. Do you know who that person is?”
“I've been keeping a close eye on Patch for centuries. Last summer he made his first trip to your house, though you didn’t notice. He followed you shopping a few times. Every now and then he made a special trip out of his way to find you.”
In the end the book is good -- once you get to the good part. It was like watching a 2 ½ hr movie, and realizing they could’ve had the same impact if the movie were only one hour. But the ending left nothing to be desired, and the climax was as it should be, satisfying. I look forward to reading the sequel.
Now that the action has started, I’m giving the author the benefit of the doubt, it wouldn’t be the first time I read book 1 of a series and felt kind of meh about it. When I read A Court of Thorns and Roses (by NOT ALLOWED, whose writing I love), I was disappointed, the book was good but I found it lacking something vital. I just couldn’t put my finger on it when book two came out I added it to my To-Read shelf but on the back burner, and by some divine intervention A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses 02) made its way to the top of my list, and I was completely enraptured and blown away. One of my favorite series of all time is Anita Blake Vampire Hunter. While I did like Guilty Pleasures (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #1) I felt it lacked something. I almost didn’t read book two, but hey book two was the series salvation and I’ve been a fan ever since.
So read Hush, Hush, and then stay tuned. I plan to read the sequel, Crescendo at some point, and see whether it lives up to my “second book rule.”
