Hush, Hush

Hush, Hush

by Becca Fitzpatrick

After the vampire, werewolf, demon phase of young adult reading comes the fallen angels.  I’ve noticed a bit of a trend towards this new subject of paranormal fiction and decided to try it out, although a bit hesitantly.  I bought two books by two different authors, assuming that they’d be very similar, but wanting to compare them, regardless. 

I found the styles of the books, as well as the plots, to be very different.  Hush, Hush is a very modern take on the theme and at first, I believed it to be a little too similar to Twilight.  The main character, Nora, is paired with a mysterious new guy, Patch, in science class and feels an inexplicable draw to him, although he tries very hard to make her dislike him and keep his distance.  Sound familiar?  But, I stuck with it and did end up finding it entertaining.

Nora begins experiencing frightening hallucinations.  For example, a guy with a ski mask jumps in front of her car and tries to attach her by bashing in the window, but when she attempts to show her best friend the damage to the car – after having escaped, of course – there isn’t even a scratch.  She suspects Patch, but there are other unsavory characters popping up suddenly in her life.  Who is trying to scare her?  Who is trying to hurt her? 

While there is some predictability to the book, there are also a lot of surprises.  It is fairly action-packed and does provide a satisfying climax and resolution.  As a character, Nora is strong and feisty – far more interesting than I’ve ever found whiny Bella to be.  Patch is the stereotypical bad boy love interest that we, women, have all seemed to fall for at one time or another. 

An element that I was particularly interested in uncovering was how the author could make a fallen angel – an angel banished from Heaven – into a character with redeeming qualities.  The history of angels and their half-breed children, Nephilim,  are explained well enough, but I still felt a bit of confusion about the order of things, as well as the rules associated with being an angel trapped on Earth. 

Overall, it was a good escape from the world for a few hours.  I could never put it on my list of favorite books, but I did enjoy it, which surprised me.  If you are looking for an exciting, quick read, this may be one you want to pick up.  I do think you’ll be entertained.  


And if you want to read more, the book is part of a series and the second book, Crescendo, has already been released.  

As for how it compares to the Fallen series by Lauren Kate, I’ll have to keep you waiting for that review.  Stay tuned!


Author's website:  
http://beccafitzpatrick.com

Check out the trailer:

Great video about how the character Patch came to be through the revision process: