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nineinchnails's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
not even gonna pretend to care about the angel lore in here i just love toxic immature characters. the angst in this.. finally some good fucking food!! the first half is pretty slow though it feels like barely anything happens but the last 20% is batshit i love it. there is something very sickening about having the only irish character plant a bomb but i'm telling myself i'm reaching to stay sane
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Bullying, Grief, Torture, Fatphobia, and Body shaming
Minor: Infidelity
Disordered eating and Dietingacidicgoddess's review against another edition
I honestly hate this book SO much. I thought I could push through to at least see what happens because there must be some reason as to why there are so many reviews that gave this book higher than 3 stars — some, baffling enough, five stars — but after reading chapter 12, I called it quits.
The major problem with this book was Patch. Until reading Crescendo, I hadn’t noticed just how poorly these characters were fleshed out. Most of what he does in the book doesn’t make sense and felt like he was out there just to serve as a form of conflict for Nora. I’m so confused about his character that, at the end of chapter 12, I was convinced that Nora wasn’t actually talking to Patch. Unfortunately she was and we realize that Patch is an unfaithful ho. And despite knowing this, and realizing all his excuses were bullshit lies, Nora still loves him. No thanks.
Also, when Patch found Nora at the Z-bar? Yikes. He’s dismissive, aggressive, demeaning, lies, and she still pines after him. Nice job romanticizing abusive relationships. I don’t know why I read YA anymore. 🙄
Patch, as much as I hate his character, wasn’t the only problem of course. Nora was just as infuriating. Nora’s relationship with Vee felt toxic as hell. Vee literally risked her life for Nora and was sent to the hospital, and she couldn’t bother to pick up the phone to talk for a hot second? And yet, when Nora needs something, she just expects Vee to drop everything she’s doing. Vee has to tell Nora like 6 different times that she can’t help her because she’s got a date, and Nora doesn’t listen. She is the most self-centered character I’ve ever read.
Also, I know she’s young and hasn’t had a boyfriend before, but the fact that she wanted to hurt Patch just because he hurt her feelings (before we find out that, yes, Patch has been unfaithful) is alarming and screams “needing to teach her partner a lesson”. RED FLAG.
Lastly, the plot and overall characters. Going into this book blind, I thought the author was planning on redeeming Marcie — then she did a complete 180° and I ended up hating her more. Disappointing. And can we stop with the body shaming?? Ugh. I thought this book was going to give us (well written) Angel lore — we got a “surprise, he’s unfaithful” arc and a whole lot of needless miscommunication instead. Disappointing. It’s almost like the last book never even happened. The characters — as unfleshed out as they’re written — would act out of character at times just because of plot advancement.
My advice? Just read Hush Hush as a stand alone.
The major problem with this book was Patch. Until reading Crescendo, I hadn’t noticed just how poorly these characters were fleshed out. Most of what he does in the book doesn’t make sense and felt like he was out there just to serve as a form of conflict for Nora. I’m so confused about his character that, at the end of chapter 12, I was convinced that Nora wasn’t actually talking to Patch. Unfortunately she was and we realize that Patch is an unfaithful ho. And despite knowing this, and realizing all his excuses were bullshit lies, Nora still loves him. No thanks.
Also, when Patch found Nora at the Z-bar? Yikes. He’s dismissive, aggressive, demeaning, lies, and she still pines after him. Nice job romanticizing abusive relationships. I don’t know why I read YA anymore. 🙄
Patch, as much as I hate his character, wasn’t the only problem of course. Nora was just as infuriating. Nora’s relationship with Vee felt toxic as hell. Vee literally risked her life for Nora and was sent to the hospital, and she couldn’t bother to pick up the phone to talk for a hot second? And yet, when Nora needs something, she just expects Vee to drop everything she’s doing. Vee has to tell Nora like 6 different times that she can’t help her because she’s got a date, and Nora doesn’t listen. She is the most self-centered character I’ve ever read.
Also, I know she’s young and hasn’t had a boyfriend before, but the fact that she wanted to hurt Patch just because he hurt her feelings (before we find out that, yes, Patch has been unfaithful) is alarming and screams “needing to teach her partner a lesson”. RED FLAG.
Lastly, the plot and overall characters. Going into this book blind, I thought the author was planning on redeeming Marcie — then she did a complete 180° and I ended up hating her more. Disappointing. And can we stop with the body shaming?? Ugh. I thought this book was going to give us (well written) Angel lore — we got a “surprise, he’s unfaithful” arc and a whole lot of needless miscommunication instead. Disappointing. It’s almost like the last book never even happened. The characters — as unfleshed out as they’re written — would act out of character at times just because of plot advancement.
My advice? Just read Hush Hush as a stand alone.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, and Toxic relationship
emilylovesgoodbooks's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Fatphobia, Death, Death of parent, and Bullying
theivorywitch's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
I used to really like this book when I was a teen, but now I don't understand why I liked it. Nora is an idiot, most of the problems happen due to her jealousy and inability to take a moment and listen, and the relationships are filled with red flags (both romantic and platonic relationships). Most of which were true of the previous book as well.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Gun violence, Violence, Murder, Death of parent, and Bullying
Minor: Body shaming, Blood, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, and Abandonment
flowergrove's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
The first 100 pages of the book felt like hush,hush and made me excited to continue. But as the book went on I felt myself reading it just to finish it, not for the story. I really liked hush,hush and though the plot twists were placed in a way that would make you want to read more. For some reason in Crescendo everything seemed super rushed. I though the twists that came in throughout the book were slightly predictable, but not in a satisfying way. Half way through I found myself getting confused a lot. Obviously with a name like crescendo there is going to be a lot happening, but the reader never gets to understand why things 'truly' happen.
I really liked Nora's relationship with Vee in the first book and even thought Vee was a super fun character to have in scenes. But in Crescendo I feel like she became more of an afterthought and a lot of her conversations felt forced. Also I seemed to notice a trend of boys ending up in girls bathrooms in this series. I wonder if this will happen in every book lol.
Major Spoilers!
But the one saving grace of this book is, obviously Patch! The problem...hes never there! The novel is in Nora's POV, and they are going through a break for most of the book, so Patch is rarely there. And when he is there he's being super secretive and not talking a lot. We did get a period of time when Nora was being petty towards Patch which I thought was the best part of the book. That one instance of Patch threatening Scott
B-E-A-UTIFUL! QUOTE- Scott tried to get his bearings, but Patch slammed him against the wall again, disorienting him further. "Touch her," he said in Scott's ear, his voice low and threatening, "and it'll be the biggest regret of your life."- That was wild, but it didn't last long enough for me. Then in the next instance Nora is going down another plot filled 10 page arch and it was just confusing.
I think I will pick up the third book at some point. There are a lot of good reviews for the third one so hopefully this was just a weird bump in the road. I don't think this is a bad book, just in comparison to the first it doesn't hold up for me. Fingers crossed for the third.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia
Minor: Toxic relationship
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