Book Summary (book jacket):
Romance was not part of Nora Grey’s plan. She’s never been particularly attracted to the boys at school, no matter how hard her best friend, Vee, tries to push them at her. Not until Patch comes along. With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Patch draws Nora to him against her better judgement.
But after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora’s not sure whom to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is and seems 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 she is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those who have fallen- and, when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong side will cost Nora her life.
What I expected: I had no clear idea what Hush Hush was about, but judging from the cover, something to do with angels…? I hadn’t read any reviews either, so I was willing to go either way with this book.
Story
The beginning was interesting enough, once I was willing to overlook the eye-rolling amount of similarity to Twilight– dangerous guy comes along (in science class, too), girl is attracted to him, but doesn’t know if she should be attracted or not. Well, like I said, the beginning was pretty good, and my expectations rose.
The middle, though, where Nora grows indecisive and doesn’t know what to do about Patch besides find out about his past, was slow. I didn’t get where the story was going. I liked the suspenseful end, though. It made up for the slight monotony of the middle part.
What I wish is that the aspects of angel folklore and Nephilim and all that were expanded upon more. I’d have liked to know more about that; there aren’t too many YA books on angels. But there was only the bare minimum when it came to angels and their kind, so that was kind of disappointing.
Characters
After reading the I-like-the-bad-guy-but-I-shouldn’t summary, I was prepared for Nora to be another Bella type of character, but surprisingly, she wasn’t. She was actually a strong, mostly smart MC that I came to admire, especially at the end.
Vee, Nora’s best friend, put this entertaining twist in the book, especially when she was under sedatives. You’ll smile when you read that part- it’s actually kind of funny.
The male lead, Patch, wasn’t too interesting to me. I mean, Patch sounds like a playful name, the kind a bright, funny guy would have, but the Patch in this book was like, well, a dark, dangerous kind of guy.
There weren’t too many extra characters in the book, which was both good and somewhat bad, since that meant there wouldn’t be too many subplots. There were Eliot and Jules- they were a surprising pair, though somewhat predictable.
Parting Thoughts: Hush Hush didn’t turn out to be my kind of book- I’m more of the dystopian/contemporary type- but that doesn’t stop me from trying every genre. So I think fans of angel lore will really like this book. It had a great MC, a nice end (NOT a spoiler; I mean that it was an exciting end) and I finished it in two sittings.
Rating: 3.5/5. Not because it’s a bad book or anything; it’s just that I wish the angel thing was expanded upon a little further. Other than that, this is probably one of those unique books you shouldn’t miss. I’ll be reading Crescendo, the sequel, for SURE.