Book Review: "Hush, Hush" by Becca Fitzpatrick

NORA GRAY IS RESPONSIBLE AND SMART
and not inclined to be reckless. Her first mistake was falling for Patch. Patch has a past that could be called anything but harmless. The best thing he ever did was fall for Nora.


After getting paired with Patch in biology, all Nora wants to do is stay away from him, 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. 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?

My Review:

Well, let me start by telling you, and those of you who know my style by now, know that this is not at all my type of book.  Far from it.  We got an ARC to review from Simon and Schuster and it was tagged for Lauryn.  A "Twilight" junkie, this one was perfect for her.  It was on her schedule for this weekend's reading.  Halloween, along with first year Jr. High homework knocked this right off the list of things to do this weekend. I was waiving the book in the air telling her that if she spent less time after school playing around and more time doing her schoolwork, she would have had time to read this.  I happen to take a peek at the back cover, which led me to flip through some pages, which led me to read the first few pages, which finally led me to complete 391 pages over 6 hours of trick-or-treating, driving around (passenger) doing errands, and dinner at a friend's house.  I COULD NOT put the book down. Seriously, I was hooked.  The book is a NY Times Best Seller and first time author Becca Fitzpatrick deserves every last bit of it.  Packed with just the right amount of well, everything, the book was great!

With not too many lead character's, the story revolves around Nora, her best friend Vee, Patch, a fallen Angel, Elliot, Jules, and Dabria.  Nora meets Patch for the first time in biology class when the teacher, "Coach" decides that he is going to switch up the class seating, separating Nora and Vee for a project.  Patch just happens to land next to Nora, and the major portion of the assignment is to find out as much as you can about your partner.  Immediately Patch starts to freak out Nora by knowing way too much about her inner thoughts, but at the same time, attracts her to him just as much.  Over time, both the "freaking out" as well as the attraction continues to grow stronger.

As soon as Nora meets Patch, mayhem strikes loose.  Someone is out to kill Nora, and strange occurrences continue to happen, or at least in her mind they do.  Nora finds herself in the presence of Patch more and more, most of the time unexpectedly. In the mean time, her BF Vee has the hots for this guy Jules, and selfishly continues to push his best bud Elliot on Nora so the four of them can spend time together. All the while, the strange, horrible things that are happening keep getting blamed on (Patch by Vee) to get her to stay away from him and gravitate towards Elliot, again for selfish reasons (Jules).

Several times throughout the book someone tries to kill Nora (and ends up killing or hurting other people they think are Nora).  Nora can not figure out who or why.  The problem is that it could be Patch, as she knows that there is definitely a dark side to him, possibly Elliot who Nora finds out transferred to her school right after being questioned for the murder of his old girlfriend at the private school he attended, or someone else.  Whomever it is, they are wearing a ski mask, so they can not be identified.

There is SO much that I am leaving out, as I usually do.  I can not get myself to write much more here, because I feel like I will be giving too much away, and I really think this one should  be read asap.  I will conclude by telling you a few things that do happen ,but simply leave out the "who's and why's."  Towards the end of the book, Nora does find out who is trying to kill her and why.  I definitely thought that I should have figured that out, but Becca leaves the door open for anyone, so of course I didn't have that one pinned.  She also finds out what she had been deeply desiring to know throughout the entire story.... who is Patch, what is Patch, and why did he fall into her life.  The good news is that there will be a book number two, which Becca leads you right into.  I guess I can tell you that both Nora and Patch are in book number two. The rest you need to figure out yourself.

What was great, for me at least, and kept me turning page after page was there was not too much of anything in the book- love, hate, good, bad, murder, blood, or anything else that has prevented me from reading this type of book before.  I felt that each had just the right amount of it sprinkled into the story.  I would be willing to promise that this one is worth getting and that you will not be disappointed. Again, for those of you who know my style, for me to say that about a book that does not fit my normal read, that is a lot coming from me.  I hope you take my advice and get this one.

I have included the book trailer below, as perhaps it will give you a bit more of a sense of what the book is about.  I always hate giving too much away, and tried hard here not to.  In case you are looking for a bit more, the trailer should cover it.  Enjoy, and if anyone else has read "Hush, Hush", please feel free to fill any holes I might have left.  

Dave