---Book Synopsis---

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...until Patch comes 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 whom 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 far 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.


---Review---

I really enjoyed Hush, hush by Becca Fitzpatrick but I didn't love it and some of the hype surrounding this series has been a bit lost on me. Yes it was entertaining, but really it was just around about the last 100 or so pages that I found myself struggling to put the book down to finish making dinner.


Even thou I did enjoy the story I did have a few problems with Hush, hush. To begin with I really didn't like or get the character of Patch. Patch was described as being a complete bad boy but without any evidence of this, apparently wearing all black all the time immediately makes you a possible serial killer psychopath bad-to-the-core bad boy, instead of just someone with a limited wardrobe. As the story goes on we do learn some more things about Patch but nothing that really makes him live up to Nora's perceptions of him. I also think that Patch starts off as a completely different character than who he ends up being. In the beginning some of the things (I won't tell you - no spoilers!) that Patch does to Nora really is quite disgusting and I certainly wouldn't have been so forgiving. However, the character that Patch does morph into is much more the type of bad but not really bad boy that is expected of paranormal YA. Despite all of this Patch definitely makes a memorable impression.


On a really positive note I absolutely LOVED the ending of Hush, hush and I found myself heading out to order the sequel - Crescendo - almost immediately upon finishing the last few pages. I do sometimes have a bit of a rant about endings in a series or specifically the lack of anything resembling an ending. But Becca Fitzpatrick has done exactly what I want in a good story, she's wrapped up all the loose ends and still managed to leave me wanting more.


There is no doubting that Becca Fitzpatrick wrote a good story and wrote it well, but there was quite a lot of Tell rather than Show throughout the novel. I also found some of the description, especially the description of Patch a tad repetitive. At some points I found myself rolling my eyes over yet one more comment that Nora makes about Patch being very dark and mysterious.


To sum up Hush, hush I would have to say - very readable but quite typical of the paranormal romance YA genre. However, I would still suggest giving this a read, it certainly kept me entertained from beginning to end, which really in my opinion is the most important aspect of any book.


Recommended.


Genre - YA, angels, romance
Published by Simon and Schuster (Oct 2009)
Hardback 391 pages