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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
ebba94's review
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Infertility, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy
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
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
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