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3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
Friend recommend it, said she loved it in middle school, should have been enough information that I am not the target audience for this book (as I am in my 20’s) that said I still do enjoy a lot of young adult fantasy. This however was the most sporadic writing and plot I have read in a long time. It until the last 3rd of the book to get a full picture of what the intended plot was supposed to be and characters seemed inconsistent and underdeveloped with a pace that does not compliment the pace of this fantasy mystery. Or was written in 2009 and you can tell there’s an attempt at a Twilight-esque vibe but it falls short. Perhaps I would have enjoyed more at 12?
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The voice of Nora, the high school protagonist in this book, was very compelling. And her romantic foil, Patch, is really quite the bad, bad boy. I felt some of the same kind of teenaged angst with Nora (although she was by no means as pathetic as Bella in terms of standing up for herself) and how she felt around Patch as I did with the Bella/Edward love tension.
However, boy do I not like how I felt Nora kind of glosses over the whole "I meant to kill you" plan of Patch. He is awesomely bad boy (down to his bar fights and motorcyle) but she never seems to really process the fact that he meant to kill her (twice!) even when she kind of suspected it.
Despite this complaint, and the plot give away in the prologue (regarding who subsequent villains in the piece are), this book is very readable and probably would have gotten a higher score from me if I where a high school reader. I think people looking for something to read after Twilight could do worse than pick up Hush, Hush.
However, boy do I not like how I felt Nora kind of glosses over the whole "I meant to kill you" plan of Patch. He is awesomely bad boy (down to his bar fights and motorcyle) but she never seems to really process the fact that he meant to kill her (twice!) even when she kind of suspected it.
Despite this complaint, and the plot give away in the prologue (regarding who subsequent villains in the piece are), this book is very readable and probably would have gotten a higher score from me if I where a high school reader. I think people looking for something to read after Twilight could do worse than pick up Hush, Hush.
Aside from the obvious parallels to Twilight--which, I might add, is a better written book than this one--Fitzpatrick shows a lack of subtlety that is both shocking and completely expected. The writing was poor--the book would have been better served with a third-person narration, in my opinion--and the obvious foreshadowing and heavy-handed use of irony were the feather in this ridiculously ugly cap. The moment of true "I give up" disgust, though, came when I paged through the book to the end and discovered that this Nora chick wasn't even smart enough to insist Patch change his name before laying hands on her.
What kind of a stupid name is Patch?
I am just so done.
What kind of a stupid name is Patch?
I am just so done.
Hush, Hush is yet another story centered on supernatural adolescent love. The plot of the story wasn't particularly unique but I did find some of the dialogue quite entertaining. Of course, after reading so many books with a similar description I've found that the book is a little predictable.
A little too much like twilight in that it was cheesy and clichéd at some points, but overall it was great and I am in love with Patch!
okay. i am aware this book, in many irredeemable ways, is Not Good. the toxic relationship, patch's concerningly problematic behaviour, the speed with which nora goes from "he wants to kill me!" to "he wants to kiss me!"... all bad, all red flags, all things i do not excuse. i think, honestly, too much happens in this book: maybe if it'd been longer, or if the jules/chauncey storyline had been shunted into the second book, there would have been the space to give patch more nuance, to explore his motivations, to give him chance to redeem himself more realistically (yes, we're on rocky ground there, but we're in the twilight era, where Bad Boy x Good Girl was all the rage), and there also would've been time for their relationship to feel less like stockholm-sydrome-slash-whiplash. instead, it's rushed and unthinking, and does neither of the characters any justice - i do actually like nora as a character, but the speed of the romance (and the way she rationalises her feelings) steadily weaken and undermine her personality.
but, with all this acknowledged... i read this book appropriately 2496464 times during my teens years. i was obsessed. i'm weak for fallen angel narratives. i love the fact that there is an actual female friendship involving the main character. i enjoy reading it. i'm not sure whether it's nostalgia, or if i'm secretly still 15 years old, but i do just LIKE this book. it's flawed, and stupid, and moves too fast and has so much going on that the pace feels compressed into some wild car chase, but... whatever.
but, with all this acknowledged... i read this book appropriately 2496464 times during my teens years. i was obsessed. i'm weak for fallen angel narratives. i love the fact that there is an actual female friendship involving the main character. i enjoy reading it. i'm not sure whether it's nostalgia, or if i'm secretly still 15 years old, but i do just LIKE this book. it's flawed, and stupid, and moves too fast and has so much going on that the pace feels compressed into some wild car chase, but... whatever.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I really enjoyed this book. I liked the mystery and the suspense that was built around the masked man and all the boys that seemingly showed up in Nora's life all at once.
The only thing I wasn't a fan of was her friend. I thought that someone was a murderer and my "best friend" kept hanging out with them abs trying to get me to hang out with them we wouldn't be friends.
The only thing I wasn't a fan of was her friend. I thought that someone was a murderer and my "best friend" kept hanging out with them abs trying to get me to hang out with them we wouldn't be friends.