Title: Hush Hush
Author: Becca Fitzpatrick
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Source: Advanced Review Copy Provided by Publisher
Parental Warning: Language, Adult/Sexual Themes, Innuendo, Violence
Summary:
Nora Grey thought she was leading a somewhat typical teenage life. Despite the death of her father and being thrust into the life of a daughter of a hard-working but primarily absent single mother everything appeared to be status quo. That is until a strange new boy lands in her life.
Forced into a school-based partnership with Patch, an arrogant and mysterious newcomer, Nora’s life is further thrown off balance. Displeased by her new academic circumstances Nora becomes even more enflamed as Patch makes it his purpose in life to taunt her. Inquisitive by nature he pushes her buttons with an endless stream of questions as he delves into areas of her life she’d much rather he left alone. More than that Patch has suddenly become ingrained in her life present at every corner she turns in school and out.
Patch isn’t the only mystery Nora is faced with. At the time of his arrival strange things have started to transpire. Not all is as it appears when Nora’s mind begins playing tricks on her, more than that she’s well aware of the fact that she’s being followed. The questions become why and by whom?
Opinion:
Let me start by saying that I’ve always loved me some bad boy and boy does Patch ever fit that bill! What this means is Fitzpatrick would have had to have dropped the ball in such an epic way to have not drawn me into this story. Patch would have had to have been entirely one dimensional in his characterization to make Hush, Hush a bad fit. Thankfully he’s formulated in that most appealing way where he’s so bad he’s good.
Where does this leave me as a reader? Well, it takes me to a place that even though I’m lead to think his motives and intentions are questionable throughout; even though I believe he’s being nefarious and even when there are times where it’s not one hundred percent clear which side he’s on I was still rooting for him. I enjoyed the fact that I was constantly going back and forth on where he truly stood in relation to Nora’s circumstances.
Patch’s characterization and behavior certainly added to the mysterious plot of the fallen angel as well. I would have liked to have had a bit more history than we got but was happy to see some of that information divulged as part of the resolution to the overall story. I imagine there will be even more when the follow-up makes it’s way into the world.
I was a mixture of love and loathing for the book’s heroine Nora. Most of the time I wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake some common sense into her. You know, kind of something along the lines of “Oh, Nora. Nora, Nora, Nora….didn’t your mother teach you not to investigate scary other-worldly mystical-type events that put you in mortal danger? You, know, because I think my mom did! I got the ‘don’t touch the stove while it’s on’, ‘always look both ways when crossing the street’, and ‘when your room is mysteriously ransacked one minute then totally maid-worthy the next run away’ lectures from the first moment I could speak. Why, oh why, didn’t you heed her advice and use your head a bit more?” I suppose in the end the story would have been far less enjoyable and certain aspects and events wouldn’t have happened they way they did if she’d been far more cautious and fearful but yea, I was just perplexed on occasion.
An element of the plot I found particularly interesting was Fitzpatrick’s take on light versus dark (which may or may not have been intentional). Patch is dark haired and eyed while his competitor for Nora’s attention and affection Elliott is the direct physical opposite. Often times I found myself wondering if those visual cues were intended to throw me off the scent of story twists and turns. In general, I was already constantly wondering which of the two was good or bad and Fitzpatrick did a good job of giving us just enough clues so that it could go either way. Inevitably, though, I kept going back to that dark and brooding versus bright and sunny opposition. In the end it did contribute some small punch to the outcome where I finally found out once and for all where each of the characters actually stood.
Speaking of the ending, I’ve now had the opportunity to read both endings and have to admit that I preferred the ARC to the published version. Not wanting to give away what the ending actually is I’ll just say that I liked that the ARC ending, it seemed to me, is a better lead in for the sequel. I feel this way mainly because of my personal preference for having a bit more anticipation. The ending in the published version leaves the reader with a bit more of a tidy bow allowing it to be just a touch closer to a stand alone.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book it was quite entertaining. If you are at all interested in a bit of a darker toned story with mystery and some intriguing characters definitely give it a try.
One of my very favorite things about reading is reading books in a series. I adore getting to know characters and watching as they progress from point A to point Z over time. But, if you are anything like me, as much as you’d like to read all the books in a particular series you also run into other obligations or constraints.
I know, I know I’ve been a bad book club hostess. But the good news is that’s about to change! The ball that was dropped is about to be bouncing strongly again starting now as The Literary League: Read ’til YA Drop is going to get back on track.
