Review: Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
Genre: YA/ Paranormal (Romance/Suspense)


Summary from Goodreads: For Nora Grey, romance was not part of the plan. She's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how much her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her...until Patch comes along.
With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Nora is drawn to him against her better judgment, but after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora's not sure whom to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is, and to know more about her than her closest friends. She can't decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is far more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel.
For Nora is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen - and when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost her life

Review:
I picked this book up because of its stunning cover and, of course, because everyone had been talking about it. I thought the synopsis was really interesting and I'm all for Angels and forbidden, tormented and impossible romance.

Hush, Hush didn't disappoint in any respect. Nora is an everyday girl with no special power or anything setting her apart from other girls her age, other than the fact that she lost her father a year ago – he was murdered- and due to the expenses, her mother took on a job that required her to be away a lot. Too much if you ask me.
She has one best friend, Vee, who is curvy, vivacious and flirtatious and generally, she is the joy of life personified and just as careless sometimes.
She also has a enemy, a rival in the form of the blond cheerleader, Marcy, who is beautiful and popular and the “It” girl at school. For a reason Nora can't fully understand, Marcy always got it in for her, always making her life miserable or that much worse.

There's nothing special lacing her days up till the day a new student, Patch, makes his appearance at their school. His undeniable good looks and cheeky attitude catches Nora's eyes, but the way he talks to her, like he already knows her unsettles her and annoys her.
When she is unwillingly teamed up with him for a biology assignment, she thinks it can't get any worse than that, because he is uncooperative and rude and always teases her. It seems that all his words and retorts are laced with innuendos and that makes her mad.

She needs a good grade, though, so she swallows down her pride and when they should be working on the assignment, (meaning him giving her details about his life)but he is out playing pool, she marches in the place she plays at in an effort to catch him off guard and finish the assignment.
But Patch never fails to embarrass her and make her blush and get her angry.

There's mystery covering everything that is Patch and even though she resents it, Nora still finds herself interested and – despite the fact that Vee is the one that instigates it openly, Nora is the one that truly goes along with it- she stalks him around wanting to find out his secret.

Nora begins to think whether it is the other way around though, that maybe Patch is the one stalking her and following her around- to what end she can't really tell. She is intrigued and a little scared, but the anger within her rises with each snide comment he makes.

I have to admit that I really liked Nora. She Is a believable character. I liked the fact that she didn't turn into a shadow of herself, or a mush just because she liked him. She didn't immediately turn into jello when he looked at her, talked to her or happened to touch her. I really liked that because the whole “I-loved-you-the-minute-I-saw-you” drill has been overdone in my opinion.

Unlike other characters in this genre, Nora had the good sense of at least trying to keep her distance from him, since she felt it in her gut that something was wrong. Seriously wrong with him.

Even though, her sixteen years of age would suggest raging hormones, Nora was able to fight them and maintain some rational thought, despite the fact that Patch dispersed it from time to time - not that I blame her. ;)

Vee, was a likable character, as well. I have to admit that sometimes I rolled my eyes at what she was suggesting or saying or doing, but all in all, she is who kept Nora in check and urging her when she needed to be. Vee wasn't as level-headed as Nora, however, and her disregard or ignorance of danger and consequences was something I resented.

As for Patch. What can I say? He was gorgeous, a great male specimen too with his dark hair and dark eyes and his lean physique. I truly enjoyed his lines.
He was witty and annoying, but sexy as hell and some of the things he said – if said to me- would totally leave me breathless and speechless – let alone running to his arms.

I think that sometimes, when you are 16 or 17, you don't necessarily grasp the imminence of danger or exactly what danger could ensue. I mean when a cute, mysterious guy hits on us – no matter the manner- we aren't that inclined to immediately think he is a bad person or a stalker or a psycho.
So, even though some people have said that it's not realistic, in my humble opinion it is.

I really couldn't believe that Patch wanted to kill her, and some of his words made me - reading between the lines- think that he was starting to fall in love with her and care about her well-being, despite himself. There were times, where he was talking to Nora and she was all negative and I just wanted to scream at him: Kiss her already. Take her in your arms and make her shut up” lol

But it took way longer than that, regretfully! :P
The revelation and the pace till then, was really good. My heart was already racing by then and my breath was short! I was honestly dying to see what was going to happen.
And even though, I didn't think the ending was anti-climactic, I believe there was something missing.

Maybe I was just missing the whole point. I mean, I guess angels – not being able to feel touch or have any physical sensation, really craved exactly that and that was why they were willing to do anything to feel, even kill.
I don't know what I would do if I wasn't able to feel or touch, I think I take it for granted, but in retrospect, I am starting to realize how important it is.

Fallen Angels according to the book lived among us, having ordinary lives or trying to and seeing humans having all that plus the ability to feel and touch and lust and love and do everything with burning passion, could have really jolted their envy and lust.

Nonetheless, I'm really glad Patch fell in love with Nora and I wouldn't change Patch's character into a more benevolent one right from the start. I really like tormented characters and bad boys tuned good because of love, so I adored the book.

I thought it was very remarkably written too. Better than a lot of YA novels, not only in terms of the beautiful language and descriptions used, but also because of the style and its originality.

Some people argue that Nora quickly understanding that Patch was a fallen Angel was a bit too rushed or “easy” for the plot, but I didn't think so. Let us not forget that Nora is a nephilim, part-nephilim anyways, so it must have been also her instinct – even her self-preservation instinct- that kicked in. So what might be too hard to gather for a common human, wouldn't make sense to be as hard to her, since she is a nephilim.

What I found a bit weird is how Nora was willing to stalk him – even at dangerous places- , how she traded her coat for information (I would never do that! Lol ) and how she went undercover in a club disguising herself with a wig so that she would find more about him.

Although, I did my far aimount of pseudo-stalking as a teenager (I think we have all followed our crush around a little), I never went as far as following him into bars or disguising myself. Then again none of my crushes tried to kill me either so... Yeah lol

Notable Description/Scene”

He waited a few counts before answering. His tone was so low, I shivered. “You want me to come clean,
I will. I’ll tell you everything. Who I am and what I’ve done. Every last detail. I’ll dig it all up, but you
have to ask. You have to want it. You can see who I was, or you can see who I am now. I’m not good,”
he said, piercing me with eyes that absorbed all light but reflected none, “but I was worse.”
...“Are you keeping anything else from me?” I wanted to know.
“I’m keeping a lot of things from you.”
My insides took a steep dive. “Like?”
“Like the way I feel about being locked up in here with you.” Patch braced one hand against the mirror behind me, his weight tipping toward me. “You have no idea what you do to me.”

Verdict: An excellent book. I think everyone has to have it in her/his bookcase because even if it is not exactly ground-breaking, it really is an unforgettable book that manages to excite, scare, “caress” and turn into a jello everyone with the plot twists, the suspense, the danger and the epic romance.

Rating: Anything around 41/2 -5 stars. I might deduct half a point for the things I mentioned earlier, but this book merits a prominent place in your shelf!

Find Becca Fitzpatrick: Site, Goodreads , Blog, Twitter

Buy Hush, Hush at: Amazon , Book Depository, Play.com

~ Kelly ~