Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
Series: Hush Hush #1
on 1st January 2009
Pages: 416
Goodreads

Nora Grey is responsible and smart and not inclined to be reckless. Her first mistake was falling for Patch. . Patch has made countless mistakes and has a past that could be called anything but harmless. The best thing he ever did was fall for Nora. . After getting paired together in biology, all Nora wants to do is stay away from Patch, but he always seems to be two steps ahead of her. She can feel his eyes on her even when he is nowhere around. She feels him nearby even when she is alone in her bedroom. And when her attraction can be denied no longer, she learns the secret about who Patch is and what led him to her, as well as the dark path he is about to lead her down. Despite all the questions she has about his past, in the end, there may be only one question they can ask each other: How far are you willing to fall?.

Falling for the fallen…

I’ve had a copy of Hush Hush for years now but I’d held off from reading it for a few reasons. Mostly because I was a little jaded with books concerning angels but also because of the reviews. I’d heard many accounts of people who had given up after the first 70 pages or those who had finished but regretted sticking with it. A few weeks ago I finally decided to read Hush Hush so I could make my own mind up about it.

For those of you unfamiliar with Hush Hush, it tells the story of Nora Grey – a high school student trying to move on after her dad’s passing the previous year. Her mother works a lot and is rarely around often leaving Nora with the housekeeper for days at a time. Her best friend Vee is as different from Nora as two people can be but somehow brings balance to Nora’s life. Nora’s world starts to change when her teacher pairs her up with Patch. He’s not her idea of a good biology partner and all of a sudden it seems like she can’t go anywhere without running into Patch. Ominous things start to happen to Nora and she’s certain Patch is some how involved… and she’s starting to wish everything would just go back to normal. Caught up in something she doesn’t understand, Nora has to try her best to stay alive because there is something out there that wants her dead.

I went into his book expecting the worst. And because of this I think I enjoyed it more than had I gone in with no expectations at all. I liked Nora. She’s very much the girl next door type. She’s on the verge of something but so far her life has been fairly bland. She gets roped into ridiculous situations by her best friend and I found there to be something incredibly likeable about her naivety to what was going on around her. The plot is fairly slow-moving with a lot being set up but things do ramp up as the book goes on. And I found myself loving Patch. He’s rude and unhelpful – all those things lead males tend not to be. I was amused with the animosity which Nora sent his way and I can see why I’ve seen people cite Patch as a book boyfriend.

That said – I did have some major problems with some stuff within Hush Hush. The lack of parents was oh-so convenient. And the other adult characters in general were a little two-dimensional. Miss Greene was too obvious with her not so hidden agenda and the foreshadowing involving her was blatant to the point of making me uncomfortable. There were a few other characters where their true motives were not a surprise. I also wanted more angel specifics going on. As the driving force behind the action in this book, there was a distinct lack of angel superawesomeness. The same could be said for the romance. There were a lot of moments which felt like Nora or Patch were going to act upon their impulses and have some grand moment but they sort of just… fizzled out.

I own copies of the next three books in the Hush Hush series but I’m not sure I’ll be continuing. Overall I enjoyed the first book but it felt somewhat complete as a single book. I’m not sure what direction the rest of the series is headed and with no cliffhanger I feel nothing compelling me to find out what happens next.