Review: Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
Pages: 391
Publisher: Simon & Shuster
Published: October 13th, 2009


My Review:


As you can tell from the cover, this book stems from the lore of fallen angels. Although, that doesn't mean it actually tells you much about them. Hush, Hush takes place from Nora's POV, a straight-A high schooler. Nora's world is turned upside down when she's paired with the transfer student in class, Patch; he's cocky, arrogant, but Nora is drawn to him as he is to her. Patch has many secrets though, and Nora has a target on her back.


A lot of people love this book. My GoodReads friends all seem to. On the other hand, I didn't like it from the beginning to the end. I'm surprised that I didn't abandon it, because I did finish it. There was nothing in this book that I liked. I do admit, the plot was creative and the characters had a good basis. But I felt that none of it developed well.


The characters, oh the characters. . . I wish they'd all just go away. Nora is a typical Bella-like character. She cowered behind Patch the whole time, even though she didn't trust him for the majority of the book. She didn't seem to have a mind of her own when Patch was around, and she was ALWAYS the one who was getting hurt. The bit at the end did give her a spine, but it didn't make up for everything. And then Patch. What does Nora see in him?! He's SUCH A JERK. I'm sorry this is getting negative, but I couldn't stand him. He's supposed to be the man that readers should swoon over? I'm not buying it. He's constantly antagonizing Nora, but also coming on to her at the same time. I just found him to be quite the sleaze-ball.  I can't even recall a time when the couple was just laughing together and having fun. Angst, angst, angst. As for the other characters, like Vee especially, there was no redemption at all.


I do like romance. The chapters where it was just Patch and Nora being lovey-dovey were cute, and saved the book a *little* bit. But there was this one part that I'm still confused about. I'm going to set the stage, and for those who haven't read it, this is NOT spoiling anything: Nora is at a motel and the power has just gone out, she's plunged into darkness (which I infer to mean there's no generator.) But she goes in the bathroom and takes a shower:

Just then the lights overhead blinked out, plunging the lobby into darkness. We all stood silent for a moment before the clerk fumbled around and clicked on an industrial-size flashlight. (Page 282 Paperback)

She takes a shower, not quoting it because it could be spoiler-y to someone who hasn't read it. It's on page 284 though.

Maybe there was a coin-operated dryer nearby. . . one that didn't require electricity. (Page 285 Paperback)

I've been through enough New England winters to know that doesn't work during a power outage. That part just annoyed me, but it didn't affect the overall story.


So there you have it, my first negative review on this blog. (Maybe this is half-negative?) I don't recommend this book, unless you were dying to read it to begin with. Many people did enjoy it though, I'm in the minority this time.