Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
*After reading all the reviews for this book, I was almost scared to open it up. Let me be completely up-front about it: every criticism you read about Hush, Hush is totally valid. This is not a romance. Patch is an unattractive jerk. The heroine's actions sometimes don't make any sense, and the plot is pretty weak. That being said, though, I enjoyed the pure silliness of it and pretty much lawled my way through the entire book.
Nora Grey is a tightly wound, goal-oriented high school student who may or may not remind me of myself at that age. One day her biology teacher decides to make everyone switch seats. Instead of partnering with her bestie, Vee, she's put next to Patch Cipriano. Nora senses he's dangerous--oh, so dangerous--but somehow fails to detect the fact that he's also a jerk. She's attracted to him and she just can't help it! Then weird things start happening to her and she blames them all on Patch.
This is not a terribly well-plotted book, although of all the Twilight wannabes I've read (Need, Ruined--stay away from YA books with one-word titles, kids!), this is the best. It all hinges on the question of what Patch is--of course, one can guess he's a fallen angel based just on the cover. But why? And what does he want with Nora? My desire to find out is what kept me reading the book, even though Nora's wishy-washy protestations of being unattracted to Patch started to become repetitive and the book dragged in the middle. The ending was absolutely ridiculous and I do NOT believe Patch is in love with Nora.
I could go on with other holes in the plot and characterizations, but I'm not going to. Because, despite everything that's wrong with Hush, Hush, I honestly enjoyed it. Of course, my expectations were pretty low--but there was something very entertaining about watching Patch push all of Nora's buttons and drive her to distraction. I also thought Nora's various adventures were funny, and for the most part I loved Vee. This is not an angsty, romantic novel at all--it's a farce. And I had a really good time reading it.
And now let's get to the throw-down:
Angels--are they the new vampires?
Hahaha! PLEASE. No. Edward Cullen could kick Patch's ass.
First of all: Patch? That name sounds like one of those silly aliases Shaun makes up for Gus on Psych. I cannot take any guy seriously who is named Patch.
Secondly: Is Patch trying to attract or repel Nora? Because if it's the former, he's going about it in the most roundabout and nonsensical way imaginable (note to any males who might stumble upon this book: this is not the way to get girls to go out with you. DO NOT EMULATE if you want to have sex at any point in the near future). If I was her, I would have punched him in the face at least twenty times before the first half of the book was up. But then I don't have her problem where I'm entranced by rock-hard abs (okay, I lie--I actually do have that problem, but I resist it! Usually). If I had to describe what Patch looks like in my head, I'd say middle-aged used car salesman. A sweaty one, with a wide girth, a lot of gold jewelry, and hairy knuckles.
Thirdly: As an angel, Patch and the other winged ones in this book are just lame. Their major powers are that they're immortal, they can make humans see anything they want them to, and they can talk to people in their heads. Exactly how this helps angels, fallen or otherwise, do whatever it is they're supposed to be doing on earth, I don't know. The mythology of these angels is pretty unclear--there are Grigori and Nephilim, just like in The Fallen; but there are also archangels, guardian angels, angels of death, and fallen angels (or maybe fallen angels are Grigori). What exactly is the hierarchy of angels? What are their jobs? What powers do they have, and what are their limitations? What sort of god controls the angels, if there even is a god? I cannot tell you any of this stuff, because it's not discussed in the book. They're just angels who influence people for their own reasons!
Oh, and these angels don't have wings. Or they do, but they can't be seen. To which I say... WTF??? No wings? Why don't you just have vampires without fangs, or samurai with swords?
The angels in Hush, Hush are basically the most unimpressive angels I've encountered so far in my scientific study. At least the angels in Covet were either amusing or hawt; these angels don't even have that going for them.
Score so far: vampires, 2; angels, 1
Next up in my über-scientific study: Angel's Blood by Nalini Singh
Other Opinions:
Babbling About Books, And More! (KB posed a very good question in her review: why is this book titled titled Hush, Hush? There is nothing to connect it to the story at all. Well, I think I've found the answer--it was inspired by Til Tuesday's Voices Carry!)
Lurv A La Mode
Lost In Books
Galleysmith
Books and Movies
J. Kaye's Book Blog
The Book Zombie
A Novel Menagerie
Book-a-rama
Fyrefly's Book Blog
Violet Crush
My Two Blessings
The Story Siren
Wordsmithonia
These are just the reviews that I remember coming across in my reader! There are literally pages upon pages of them that you can read at The Book Blogs Search Engine.
*This is an Amazon Associates link. Patch will lick your face if you click on it.
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