Scan barcode
aseel_reads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This was super eerily and creepy and not great in this current climate of certain countries reducing/removing reproductive rights of half of the global population. But I think it ended in a realistic manner. I will say, all the pregnancy related stuff kind of gave me the ick
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Sexism, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Kidnapping, and Medical content
Moderate: Stalking
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Abortion, Miscarriage, Police brutality, Pandemic/Epidemic, Murder, Grief, Sexual harassment, Gaslighting, Death, and Child abuse
mishaps's review
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
sopheliz_'s review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Pregnancy and Child death
bfab's review
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Child death, Pregnancy, and Medical trauma
abookandaspotoftea's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Confinement, Miscarriage, and Sexism
angebrown's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
fast-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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Abandonment, Pregnancy, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, and Medical content
rattyreads's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Ooh boy, this one hit different! It’s been so long since I’ve read a dystopian book so I’m really glad I joined my dystopian girls @pagespawsandpetals and @islandreading to read this one. I definitely needed a support group!
The Hush is about an epidemic which is causing an increasing percentage of babies to be stillborn. - I’ll admit this was pretty confronting but the worst parts of this were at the start and I felt more comfortable with this element after that. It didn’t exactly get less confronting though because then we’re faced with a UK that is under complete government control. Teenage girls are going missing, the rules for pregnant women are getting more and more strict and even then police don’t feel trustworthy.
I’ll admit that for a lot of this I felt like I was reading some sort of anti-government propaganda.. exacerbated by the times we are living in now. I’ve since listened to a podcast with Sara and know that she started writing this before the pandemic hit and so this dystopian world is borne out of her imagination rather than in response to our world.
Despite my unease whilst reading, I was absolutely hooked and couldn’t look away. The plot doesn’t rest and Foster gets across a lot of complexity quite concisely. The feminist aspect was brilliant, I loved how strong the women were in this. As well, it had a great depiction of strong Mother-Daughter relationships 💪🏼 However, by the end I felt like I was running at full speed and someone pulled the cord on my treadmill. It ended somewhat abruptly but I’m not sure more was needed either. Maybe I was just craving an epilogue, or perhaps there’ll be a sequel!
I haven’t read The Handmaids Tale but I think those who liked the show, at least, will enjoy this. My first ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ of the year!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death
ree333's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death and Pregnancy
Minor: Medical content and Grief
emilyrainsford's review
challenging
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? It's complicated
4.25
"If this scenario was created by the government, where do we turn for protection?"
The Hush is a haunting near future dystopian thriller that hits uncomfortably close to home. In this post-COVID, climate change besieged Britain, a new crisis has emerged - drastically rising stillbirth levels that seem to have no cause. The result is increasingly invasive controls, especially of women - everyone must wear a special watch, you can't buy a pregnancy test without doing it on the premises and submitting your details, and now teenage girls are going missing...
The story focuses on Lainey, a teenage girl, and her mother Emma, a midwife, as they navigate this increasingly terrifying new reality, which is set to converge on them irrevocably...
Reading this book felt like driving past a car accident - the cloyingly compelling feeling of being increasingly uncomfortable and yet unable to look away. And I mean that in a good way, as testament to the close-hitting claustrophobia and desperation evoked, of a world gone topsy turvy and a population become complacent to the increasing controls placed over their lives. After all, if it's the government that's the problem, where can you turn?
"The system that supports you can also be used to control you, Emma. Don't ever forget that, will you."
Eerily, I was hallway through this book when an article appeared in my newsfeed about women in England being reported to social services if they didn't want to engage with postnatal "support services". In fact, I attended an author talk with Foster, where she spoke on the fact that she took pains to only use technologies and laws that either already exist somewhere in the world, or at least their precursors do. The terrifying thing about this book is how it feels both wild and yet not so far from possibility. It certainly doesn't feel as far fetched as it would have three years ago.
At the talk, the author also mentioned how her academic research had focused on the absent mother in YA dystopian fiction. She described her desire to write a story where generations of mothers were present for their daughters. I think this background knowledge adds another level of appreciation for this story - Emma is a very present, caring mother who would do anything for her daughter, and about halfway through, Emma's own absentee mother re-enters her life and becomes part of her story too. The nesting dolls on the cover of this book carry multilayered significance.
The Hush perfectly captures the suffocating distress of feeling increasingly controlled by forces that feel too big to tackle and not knowing how to regain the reins of your own freedom. But it's also about the women who refuse to sit down and take it. It also happens to be a compelling thriller that takes a wild turn in the final third and became increasingly hard to put down. I found this to be an incredibly well written book that moves beyond the thriller genre into compelling social commentary.
The Hush is a haunting near future dystopian thriller that hits uncomfortably close to home. In this post-COVID, climate change besieged Britain, a new crisis has emerged - drastically rising stillbirth levels that seem to have no cause. The result is increasingly invasive controls, especially of women - everyone must wear a special watch, you can't buy a pregnancy test without doing it on the premises and submitting your details, and now teenage girls are going missing...
The story focuses on Lainey, a teenage girl, and her mother Emma, a midwife, as they navigate this increasingly terrifying new reality, which is set to converge on them irrevocably...
Reading this book felt like driving past a car accident - the cloyingly compelling feeling of being increasingly uncomfortable and yet unable to look away. And I mean that in a good way, as testament to the close-hitting claustrophobia and desperation evoked, of a world gone topsy turvy and a population become complacent to the increasing controls placed over their lives. After all, if it's the government that's the problem, where can you turn?
"The system that supports you can also be used to control you, Emma. Don't ever forget that, will you."
Eerily, I was hallway through this book when an article appeared in my newsfeed about women in England being reported to social services if they didn't want to engage with postnatal "support services". In fact, I attended an author talk with Foster, where she spoke on the fact that she took pains to only use technologies and laws that either already exist somewhere in the world, or at least their precursors do. The terrifying thing about this book is how it feels both wild and yet not so far from possibility. It certainly doesn't feel as far fetched as it would have three years ago.
At the talk, the author also mentioned how her academic research had focused on the absent mother in YA dystopian fiction. She described her desire to write a story where generations of mothers were present for their daughters. I think this background knowledge adds another level of appreciation for this story - Emma is a very present, caring mother who would do anything for her daughter, and about halfway through, Emma's own absentee mother re-enters her life and becomes part of her story too. The nesting dolls on the cover of this book carry multilayered significance.
The Hush perfectly captures the suffocating distress of feeling increasingly controlled by forces that feel too big to tackle and not knowing how to regain the reins of your own freedom. But it's also about the women who refuse to sit down and take it. It also happens to be a compelling thriller that takes a wild turn in the final third and became increasingly hard to put down. I found this to be an incredibly well written book that moves beyond the thriller genre into compelling social commentary.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy and Child death
Big huge TW for stillbirth and complicated childbirth
More...