Review: hush, hush

Title: hush, hush
Author: Becca Fitzpatrick
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
Published: September 2009

*Some Spoilers*

From the author's website ~

Falling in love was never so easy . . .
or so deadly.

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. Not until Patch came 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 who 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 way 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.

This was an odd read for me. On the one hand, I liked some parts of it. On the other hand, I definitely has some problems with it. The ending had some WTH moments for me. And there were plot points and one particular character that irritated the heck out of me. And there’s the absentee parent again. And there's the much older guy, who looks like a teen, going for the teen girl. As you can see, a number of issues with this story.

Nora Grey is a responsible sixteen year old sophomore who is home alone many nights while her mom travels for work. Her father was murdered about a year ago and Nora is still attempting to get her life back together after the loss of her father. Nora’s mom does employ a housekeeper who acts as a pseudo-parent for Nora but Nora is still left on her own a lot. Nora was a character I felt the author did a fairly decent job at portraying. She was responsible but still had the immaturity and inexperience of a teen to do things she knew she shouldn't. Heck, even adults do things they shouldn't. Nora would have these internal dialogues, trying to talk herself out of doing something she knows could lead to trouble. But most of the time she still caved to temptation.

Nora is also anemic. What I found odd was the way she kept iron pills and would take them when she “felt the need” for them. As in, she was feeling a bit weak, etc. so she took a couple iron pills. It seems like you would take them at the same time, everyday, to keep your iron levels stable. Not just whenever you felt the need. I’ve never heard of people carrying iron pills around with them. So it came across as a weak plot device to make Nora seem, flawed? IDK how accurate the scenario is but it seemed off.

Vee Sky is Nora’s BFF. She also drove me nuts! It’s possible she meant well but she really had no clue when it came to what Nora wanted. Vee was pushy and very immature, definitely looking to have fun and ignore the consequences. She was also quick to smart off to anyone and had a chip on her should that she dared anyone to try and knock off. I never understood why Nora and Vee were friends.

Patch, hmmm... I found his character interesting. I wanted to know more about him and what his motivations were but I also felt an ick factor with regards to his attraction to Nora. We're not sure how old Patch is but we know he's really, really old. Numerous centuries old and immortal. And Nora's sixteen. Ick. That was something that I had a hard time getting past. Patch also showed up wherever Nora went - stalker behavior that Nora didn't exactly ignore but she didn't keep her distant from him either.

The way Patch came across was not that of a teen so in that respect his character worked. It wouldn't make sense for him to act like a teen if he's hundreds, possibly thousands of years old. Unless he was faking it but Patch didn't do that. He acted more like an adult, hustling pool, winning cash and cars. His character was an odd combination of bad boy and wanna-be-boyfriend. Sometimes he was nice to Nora, other times he gave off a very menacing feel towards her. It wasn't always clear who's side he was on. Which makes sense in an odd way since he didn't always know who's side he was on.

The ending, oh boy. I felt like I was suddenly in a B horror movie with the heroine doing everything but venturing down to the basement where the creepy noise was coming from. People appearing and disappearing and just a general state of confusion. And the way things were tied up at the end just left me with an okaaay... kind of feeling. It was just too neat.

So why did this book get so much hype? My guess would be that it started with the stunning cover. It really is unique and the use of the black and white with the touches of red makes it stand out. But after all the hype, hush, hush just didn't live up to my expectations.

By the end I was just reading for the out come rather than for the characters and story. More of a "well, I've gone this far, might as well finish it" than an actual enjoyment of it. The book felt off for me, as if I was missing something that was just out of reach. Maybe I'm too old to get it. *shrugs* The grade, hard to grade. I did finish it and it did hold my interest in an odd way. (Remember I said this was an odd read for me.) But I think there are more entertaining YA books out there, sadly this one just didn't work for me.

There is a second book due out next year but I think I'll be passing on it. Ms. Fitzpatrick's website can be found here.

Rating: C