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3.35 AVERAGE
3.35 AVERAGE
**I was provided a copy of the book through Netgalley for an honest review.**
After her brother dies of the Blot, Shae and her mom are ostracized and forced to move outside of the village. When her dreams start to come true and the things she stitches manifests itself in real life, she begins to worry that maybe the Blot has not only taken her brother but has also cursed her. Her search to remove the curse is cut short when her mother is murdered and the village refuses to acknowledge her account of what happened, effectively trying to silence her. Lies are twisted into truths, making Shae question what she knows, or thought she knew, but she will not stop until she finds her mother’s killer.
The tone Farrow sets at the beginning of the book is eerie and ominous but it doesn’t quite carry through to the rest of the book. The latter part of it left me more frustrated than intrigued, more exasperated than in suspense— states both largely attributed to Shae’s behavior even understandable as it was. Despite my frustration, I found Farrow to be a masterful storyteller. The strength of the book comes from the recurring theme of truth. Farrow weaves it into the story so effortlessly from the power of illusions and manipulating reality to the spread of a disease through ink called the Blot. I found myself fully immersed in the novel from the beginning although it lost some steam from the middle onward. The ending answers some questions but still leaves much more unanswered. I look forward to what happens in the next installment.
After her brother dies of the Blot, Shae and her mom are ostracized and forced to move outside of the village. When her dreams start to come true and the things she stitches manifests itself in real life, she begins to worry that maybe the Blot has not only taken her brother but has also cursed her. Her search to remove the curse is cut short when her mother is murdered and the village refuses to acknowledge her account of what happened, effectively trying to silence her. Lies are twisted into truths, making Shae question what she knows, or thought she knew, but she will not stop until she finds her mother’s killer.
The tone Farrow sets at the beginning of the book is eerie and ominous but it doesn’t quite carry through to the rest of the book. The latter part of it left me more frustrated than intrigued, more exasperated than in suspense— states both largely attributed to Shae’s behavior even understandable as it was. Despite my frustration, I found Farrow to be a masterful storyteller. The strength of the book comes from the recurring theme of truth. Farrow weaves it into the story so effortlessly from the power of illusions and manipulating reality to the spread of a disease through ink called the Blot. I found myself fully immersed in the novel from the beginning although it lost some steam from the middle onward. The ending answers some questions but still leaves much more unanswered. I look forward to what happens in the next installment.
This was a surprisingly quick book, although it had an unbelievable slow start. It wasn’t until the 40% mark that it picked up.
Aside from that, I enjoyed the story for the most part. It definitely had my mind going in a million different directions, and at times, I’d get a little lost. I do think the world-building could have used more work. I think the magical system wasn't very fleshed out, to the point I felt like I was missing a lot of key points to fully understand what was going on. The characters were very superficial and not much can be said about them.
All in all, it was an entertaining story, but it definitely was lacking. After that ending, I’m looking forward to the sequel.
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Aside from that, I enjoyed the story for the most part. It definitely had my mind going in a million different directions, and at times, I’d get a little lost. I do think the world-building could have used more work. I think the magical system wasn't very fleshed out, to the point I felt like I was missing a lot of key points to fully understand what was going on. The characters were very superficial and not much can be said about them.
All in all, it was an entertaining story, but it definitely was lacking. After that ending, I’m looking forward to the sequel.
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Blog ❃ Instagram ❃ Twitter ❃ Bloglovin ❃ Goodreads ❃ Pinterest
adventurous
dark
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️½⭐️ (3.5 stars)
“But that’s the thing about words. Once you’ve said them, there’s no going back.”
Hush, a YA dystopian fantasy novel, tells the story of Shae, a 17-year-old girl who lives along with her mother in a small farmhouse outside a poor village. The village itself on the skirts of a barren, wasteland where ink and all forms of reading and writing have been banned due to the ill fate, aptly titled the “Indigo Death,” or more common, simply the “Blot,” that befalls anyone who participates in such activities.
In a world where any form of documentation is prohibited, collective consciousness rules. But because of the constant fear surrounding everyone's existence – worried that even one small thought or misplaced comment will cause illness to befall them – what is considered “the truth” is often a warped view on reality. And with no documentation to prove as much, people’s opinions are easily swayed.
Shae finds herself at the crux of this conundrum when her mother is murdered in the middle of the night, with the evidence pointing to the killer being a Bard, the magical peacekeepers of the land. Despite her urges for justice to be served, the authorities of her village are convinced the murder was merely a tragic accident; all evidence suggestive of fowl-play gone suspiciously missing.
So Shae sets out to uncover the real truth, once and for all, and in the process stumbles upon even greater conspiracies at play.
- ✨ -
Overall, I found the world-building of the grim land of Montane, and the lore behind the mysterious art of Telling, creatively unique and interesting. Given that Shae, the main character, has spent her whole life up until the start of the novel sheltered from the outside world, the reader gets to learn of these harsh realities alongside her; making Shae’s heartbreak at finding out all the glorious things she had been promised all her life were nothing but delusional lies a visceral sensation.
Outside of this however, I found the most of the characters held little interest for me, with the main character herself quite dull and gullible, which didn’t endear me to her very much. Farrow manages to create a truly intriguing dystopian fantasy world, but she litters it with so many unlikeable characters that it becomes hard to know who to root for.
Nevertheless, with a vision as strong as this one, especially for a debut novel, I can’t help but be intrigued to see where the story goes from here.
Thank you to the publisher, Wednesday Books/St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC of this book. All thoughts are my own.
“But that’s the thing about words. Once you’ve said them, there’s no going back.”
Hush, a YA dystopian fantasy novel, tells the story of Shae, a 17-year-old girl who lives along with her mother in a small farmhouse outside a poor village. The village itself on the skirts of a barren, wasteland where ink and all forms of reading and writing have been banned due to the ill fate, aptly titled the “Indigo Death,” or more common, simply the “Blot,” that befalls anyone who participates in such activities.
In a world where any form of documentation is prohibited, collective consciousness rules. But because of the constant fear surrounding everyone's existence – worried that even one small thought or misplaced comment will cause illness to befall them – what is considered “the truth” is often a warped view on reality. And with no documentation to prove as much, people’s opinions are easily swayed.
Shae finds herself at the crux of this conundrum when her mother is murdered in the middle of the night, with the evidence pointing to the killer being a Bard, the magical peacekeepers of the land. Despite her urges for justice to be served, the authorities of her village are convinced the murder was merely a tragic accident; all evidence suggestive of fowl-play gone suspiciously missing.
So Shae sets out to uncover the real truth, once and for all, and in the process stumbles upon even greater conspiracies at play.
- ✨ -
Overall, I found the world-building of the grim land of Montane, and the lore behind the mysterious art of Telling, creatively unique and interesting. Given that Shae, the main character, has spent her whole life up until the start of the novel sheltered from the outside world, the reader gets to learn of these harsh realities alongside her; making Shae’s heartbreak at finding out all the glorious things she had been promised all her life were nothing but delusional lies a visceral sensation.
Outside of this however, I found the most of the characters held little interest for me, with the main character herself quite dull and gullible, which didn’t endear me to her very much. Farrow manages to create a truly intriguing dystopian fantasy world, but she litters it with so many unlikeable characters that it becomes hard to know who to root for.
Nevertheless, with a vision as strong as this one, especially for a debut novel, I can’t help but be intrigued to see where the story goes from here.
Thank you to the publisher, Wednesday Books/St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC of this book. All thoughts are my own.
What starts out as a kind of dystopian novel about a decease then turns into a novel about reality altering magic, with a search for a magical book at the end of it all. My main issue with Hush is it tries to do a lot without fully explaining anything. Where did the ink decease start? When? How? Why is the land that Shea lives in doing so badly? Why is the higher government obsessed with taking away all mentioning, figures, etc., of a supposed "magical" place?
While I thought HUSH was fairly predictable, it still had original aspects. The "Telling" magic was interesting, if not well explained. Nobody that is supposed to be training Shea about Telling is actually explaining to her what it is, origin, what different kind of Tellings you can do. I mean the MC does Telling by way of embroidery (sometimes) which is kind of fascinating, but then it kind of gets forgotten and not discussed until she has an "Eureka!" moment by the very end. From what I could gather a "Telling" is kind of the person's way to bend reality to fit their purposes. Which is neat, but it has no rules, structure, or limitations, which felt like a way to use it to fit whatever the author needed it to do.
The characters are okay. Shea is a young girl who has spent her life thinking she was cursed by the Ink decease that killed her younger brother. In the beginning of the novel she tries to talk to the bards (those who are trained to do the Telling at will and who come to the towns collecting tithes in exchange for a Telling that might help said town...instead of just doing the Telling to help the town to begin with and help it prosper so they may collect actually good tithes... yeah this system makes no sense to me) about her "curse" but they of course ignore her or just plain tell her to stay away. Then things happen and Shea decides to go after the bards anyways because she needs answers. She is then thrown into a whole other world in which the leader is in search of a secret book that is supposed to solve all of Shea's problems... but if Shea is only interested in her mother's murder how does going after a book going to help her? Color me confused as to how easily this leader manipulated her.
The relationships in the novel were complex. Shea gets proposed to by this marshmallow of a guy and she turns him down cause she is not as into him as he is into her (which, neat!) and then Shea of course likes the "dark broody guy" who she makes hundreds of assumptions about before they even spend 20 full minutes together (like, he has been hurt, what lies before the stony exterior, etc.) Overall we don't spend a great deal of time dealing with romance and I am grateful for that cause it would have been a bit too much. One of the things that seemed like a waste was Shea not forming bonds with the other 6 female guards in the ENTIRE CASTLE. Like she doesn't seek them out, we don't even get to know all of them. Kind of sad about the lack of female friendships throughout the book.
Hush was bizarre, but it did move at a good pace. The ideas it had were interesting, but they also weren't fully explored. The ending left us on a promising note with a full cast of characters and interesting relationships to explore; some of the characters motivations are questionable, as in we got no real glimpse into their change of heart so it felt completely out of the blue, which is just not great character development all around. But if you ignore the glaring lack of character and world development then you may just get lost within the pages.
PS; I was provided a review copy in exchange for an honest review. Thanks go to the publisher!
While I thought HUSH was fairly predictable, it still had original aspects. The "Telling" magic was interesting, if not well explained. Nobody that is supposed to be training Shea about Telling is actually explaining to her what it is, origin, what different kind of Tellings you can do. I mean the MC does Telling by way of embroidery (sometimes) which is kind of fascinating, but then it kind of gets forgotten and not discussed until she has an "Eureka!" moment by the very end. From what I could gather a "Telling" is kind of the person's way to bend reality to fit their purposes. Which is neat, but it has no rules, structure, or limitations, which felt like a way to use it to fit whatever the author needed it to do.
The characters are okay. Shea is a young girl who has spent her life thinking she was cursed by the Ink decease that killed her younger brother. In the beginning of the novel she tries to talk to the bards (those who are trained to do the Telling at will and who come to the towns collecting tithes in exchange for a Telling that might help said town...instead of just doing the Telling to help the town to begin with and help it prosper so they may collect actually good tithes... yeah this system makes no sense to me) about her "curse" but they of course ignore her or just plain tell her to stay away. Then things happen and Shea decides to go after the bards anyways because she needs answers. She is then thrown into a whole other world in which the leader is in search of a secret book that is supposed to solve all of Shea's problems... but if Shea is only interested in her mother's murder how does going after a book going to help her? Color me confused as to how easily this leader manipulated her.
The relationships in the novel were complex. Shea gets proposed to by this marshmallow of a guy and she turns him down cause she is not as into him as he is into her (which, neat!) and then Shea of course likes the "dark broody guy" who she makes hundreds of assumptions about before they even spend 20 full minutes together (like, he has been hurt, what lies before the stony exterior, etc.) Overall we don't spend a great deal of time dealing with romance and I am grateful for that cause it would have been a bit too much. One of the things that seemed like a waste was Shea not forming bonds with the other 6 female guards in the ENTIRE CASTLE. Like she doesn't seek them out, we don't even get to know all of them. Kind of sad about the lack of female friendships throughout the book.
Hush was bizarre, but it did move at a good pace. The ideas it had were interesting, but they also weren't fully explored. The ending left us on a promising note with a full cast of characters and interesting relationships to explore; some of the characters motivations are questionable, as in we got no real glimpse into their change of heart so it felt completely out of the blue, which is just not great character development all around. But if you ignore the glaring lack of character and world development then you may just get lost within the pages.
PS; I was provided a review copy in exchange for an honest review. Thanks go to the publisher!
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.
Book: Hush
Author: Dylan Farrow
Book Series: Hush Book 1
Rating: 2/5
Recommended For...: fantasy, ya fantasy, romance, magic
Publication Date: October 6, 2020
Genre: YA Fantasy
Recommended Age: can’t recommend, DNF-ed
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Pages: 384
Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Shae has led a seemingly quiet life, joking with her best friend Fiona, and chatting with Mads, the neighborhood boy who always knows how to make her smile. All while secretly keeping her fears at bay… Of the disease that took her brother’s life. Of how her dreams seem to bleed into reality around her. Of a group of justice seekers called the Bards who claim to use the magic of Telling to keep her community safe.
When her mother is murdered, she can no longer pretend.
Not knowing who to trust, Shae journeys to unlock the truth, instead finding a new enemy keen to destroy her, a brooding boy with dark secrets, and an untold power she never thought possible.
Review: DNFed at 35%. While the book is an interesting concept and it would be interesting for others I just couldn't get into the book.
Verdict: Not for me but maybe for you.
Book: Hush
Author: Dylan Farrow
Book Series: Hush Book 1
Rating: 2/5
Recommended For...: fantasy, ya fantasy, romance, magic
Publication Date: October 6, 2020
Genre: YA Fantasy
Recommended Age: can’t recommend, DNF-ed
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Pages: 384
Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Shae has led a seemingly quiet life, joking with her best friend Fiona, and chatting with Mads, the neighborhood boy who always knows how to make her smile. All while secretly keeping her fears at bay… Of the disease that took her brother’s life. Of how her dreams seem to bleed into reality around her. Of a group of justice seekers called the Bards who claim to use the magic of Telling to keep her community safe.
When her mother is murdered, she can no longer pretend.
Not knowing who to trust, Shae journeys to unlock the truth, instead finding a new enemy keen to destroy her, a brooding boy with dark secrets, and an untold power she never thought possible.
Review: DNFed at 35%. While the book is an interesting concept and it would be interesting for others I just couldn't get into the book.
Verdict: Not for me but maybe for you.
3.5 / 5 stars.
Hush is the debut novel from Dylan Farrow, and I'll admit that I didn't make the connection that other readers did about who Dylan is. I'm always intrigued by fantasy books, and I'm drawn to books with interesting world-building, so this one seemed like a perfect one to download from NetGalley. I think this is the perfect book for younger readers, and even though I think it was meant for readers younger than myself, I found it a generally enjoyable read.
Hush takes place in a world where writing is banned and a terrible disease called the Blot stems from the written word and leaving dead villagers in her wake. Mysterious figures called Bards travel from town to town and are able to use magic in the form of a Telling to affect the world around them.
We're introduced to this world through the character of Shae, a seventeen year old girl who's life is turned upside down as she loses one family member after another. Just when she thinks things are finally safe, her mother is murdered in their home, and she's left truly alone to embark on a journey to try and find the truth.
The world in Hush is fascinating. It drew me in from the start of the book, and I loved discovering it with Shae. My biggest complaint with the world building is that I wanted to see more of it and understand more about how the magic system worked. I hope that this is explored more in the next book! The pacing felt uneven at times throughout the book, but it wasn't too much that it slowed me down reading it. Some of the plot points were predictable for me, but I'm excited to see where Shae's story goes next!
Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the digital copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Hush is the debut novel from Dylan Farrow, and I'll admit that I didn't make the connection that other readers did about who Dylan is. I'm always intrigued by fantasy books, and I'm drawn to books with interesting world-building, so this one seemed like a perfect one to download from NetGalley. I think this is the perfect book for younger readers, and even though I think it was meant for readers younger than myself, I found it a generally enjoyable read.
Hush takes place in a world where writing is banned and a terrible disease called the Blot stems from the written word and leaving dead villagers in her wake. Mysterious figures called Bards travel from town to town and are able to use magic in the form of a Telling to affect the world around them.
We're introduced to this world through the character of Shae, a seventeen year old girl who's life is turned upside down as she loses one family member after another. Just when she thinks things are finally safe, her mother is murdered in their home, and she's left truly alone to embark on a journey to try and find the truth.
The world in Hush is fascinating. It drew me in from the start of the book, and I loved discovering it with Shae. My biggest complaint with the world building is that I wanted to see more of it and understand more about how the magic system worked. I hope that this is explored more in the next book! The pacing felt uneven at times throughout the book, but it wasn't too much that it slowed me down reading it. Some of the plot points were predictable for me, but I'm excited to see where Shae's story goes next!
Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the digital copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
"This is a story about the importance of holding fast to one's own voice and sense of justice in a climate where it's easy-- normal even-- to be gaslit and deceived, not just by a single predator or even a loved one, but by entire institutions, even the ones we have entrusted to keep us safe. Hush is about that bravery and that risk. It's about the need for something concrete to hold onto in a time of illusions, distortion, and loss. It is a story about the power of words and truth."
This comes from the author's acknowledgements. I'm sharing it because she sums it up more beautifully than I ever could.
Hush follows Shae as she grapples with strange occurrences where her needlework shifts reality in its image. She and her mother have been town pariahs since The Blot, a disease thought to be spread by the written word alone, killed Shae's younger brother. Shae comes home one day to find her mother murdered with a dagger through the heart. The whole town and even her closest friends are intent on gaslighting Shae, saying her mother died in a landslide. This only feeds Shae's self-narrative of growing madness, but she heads out into the unknown to seek justice. She will continue to question herself, but she will come into her power and find the truth along the way.
Hush has clear and unique world-building without being overwhelming. As a protagonist, Shae is determined even in the face of her own self-doubt, a condition I think many women can relate to. The social critique is clear and insightful without being a treatise-- it melds with the magical story seamlessly.
I highly recommend this one, out next month on 10/6. Thanks to Netgalley, Wednesday Books, and Dylan Farrow for the eARC.
This comes from the author's acknowledgements. I'm sharing it because she sums it up more beautifully than I ever could.
Hush follows Shae as she grapples with strange occurrences where her needlework shifts reality in its image. She and her mother have been town pariahs since The Blot, a disease thought to be spread by the written word alone, killed Shae's younger brother. Shae comes home one day to find her mother murdered with a dagger through the heart. The whole town and even her closest friends are intent on gaslighting Shae, saying her mother died in a landslide. This only feeds Shae's self-narrative of growing madness, but she heads out into the unknown to seek justice. She will continue to question herself, but she will come into her power and find the truth along the way.
Hush has clear and unique world-building without being overwhelming. As a protagonist, Shae is determined even in the face of her own self-doubt, a condition I think many women can relate to. The social critique is clear and insightful without being a treatise-- it melds with the magical story seamlessly.
I highly recommend this one, out next month on 10/6. Thanks to Netgalley, Wednesday Books, and Dylan Farrow for the eARC.
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No