Hush, HushBecca Fitzpatrick
Series or Stand Alone: Book one, in a planned duology
Release Date: October 2009
Pages: 400 (Hardcover)
My Rating: 2.75/5
Source: ARC won from a giveaway
Romance was not part of Nora Grey's plan. She's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how hard her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her. Not until Patch comes along. With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Patch draws Nora 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 seems 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 she is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those who have fallen -- and, when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost Nora her life.
Review:
I was SOO excited when I found out I won Jacqueline's giveaway a while back. The cover is true eye candy! The dark colors, the cover model, the mood all just beg people to pick the book up But I don't really know how I feel about HUSH, HUSH. I liked it enough to want to read Becca's next installment, CRESCENDO, which comes out sometime in 2010. But I was disappointment with my lack of interest in the novel. I really wanted to love it... but most of the time I felt like I was missing something. Now keep in mind that I read the ARC of HUSH, HUSH and I do know that the finished hardcover has a different ending, but how different can the meat of the story really be? I know I got the gist of the story just fine with my ARC...
One thing I do want to point out before we get to my thoughts on the book - I can see barely any similarities between TWILIGHT and HUSH, HUSH. To me the characters and flow of each story is completely different from each other. I liked TWILIGHT, a lot, but I never really liked the hype the books created in the media. While I can understand why some people think the two books are closely related I myself don't really think so. Except maybe for the fact that Nora and Patch met in Biology class... I mean there are other subjects in school... =) But I understand why Becca chose Biology because of the material they were going over in class (sex-ed), it makes sense!
I liked Nora. But she was sort of a bland character. Even now, maybe 2 or 3 days from closing the book I can hardly recall her. She never really jumped out at me, and I really didn't feel a connection to her. Her relationship with Patch was entertaining with a few sparks flying here and there but I don't think I really cared whether or not she ended up with Patch. Nora was smart, I give her that. And I got a sense of her independence. With her mother constantly traveling for her job and the recent loss of her father, Nora was on her own. Literally. She only has Vee to keep her company. Vee's Nora's best friend. And you know, I loved Vee in the beginning. Not for her lack of best friend skills (because frankly I'd hate to have her as a bestie) but for her hilarious snide remarks; especially in the beginning of the book.
And then there's Patch, who I've read is supposed to be PRETTY amazing. Yeah, he seemed like a hottie. Yeah, he was a jerk. Yeah, he had bad boy tendencies. But so what? I certainly didn't fall in love with him as a character. I fully and happily admit that if I were in Nora's position in some of those scenes with him I'd be a little indimated and attracted to him at the same time. But those feelings were scarce and far in between. I didn't find him creepy though, I've read some people found him to be a stalker creepy guy. And while I definitely see the stalker part of him coming out every now and again I still didn't really find him creepy. I didn't hate him though... I was just kinda "Eh, Patch...that's nice."
That's kind of my reaction to the book as a whole. Like my ratings on the sidebar say... 2 stars for me is "Eh, it's okay." And I put it closer to 3 stars because there were times I did like HUSH, HUSH. I thought the ending was entertaining, though a little unrealistic. The relationship between Patch and Nora never bloomed in my eyes. All I got was strained and sexually charged meetings between the two. And then at the end, I'm supposed to grasp there love for each other... mmmm, the way I see it there was no room for love to grow between the two. Like I said in the beginning of my review, I honestly felt I was missing something. Not that I feel Becca can't write a novel. I enjoyed her writing very much. I think it's a wonderful debut to an interesting world filled with so many possibilites. Fallen Angels? Yes please! But I do know that as I read the book I kept shaking my head going, "Huh? Did I skip some pages or something?" I felt there were pieces missing from the story, from Nora and Patch's developing relationship, or maybe just my brain lol.
I can see HUSH, HUSH gaining a very loyal and large fan base. And as I said before, I will most likely be reading CRESCENDO when it comes out. For those who haven't read this yet, I'm super interested to hear your thoughts. I'll be giving away my ARC copy soon, I hope to see you there.
