Goodreads Review: Hush, Hush

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It took me approximately 3 1/2 hours, reading straight through, to finish this book. That is including the time my cat would jump on the book and force me to lose my place.)

Becca Fitzpatrick is a good writer, she has a good feel for suspense and she knows how to keep the reader guessing. Unfortunately, this is becoming a tired storyline very fast.

Beware, spoilers lie ahead.

We all know the story, right? Teenage girl gets thrown together with hot, standoffish boy who makes her sincerely uncomfortable. It develops into romance, there is a lot of danger associated with possibly loving him..someone dies in the end. These are pretty much givens.

While the overall plot was comfortable (or highly predictable, rather) Ms. Fitzpatrick's own unique style did add some truly good moments. Interactions with Patch are, appropriately, very uncomfortable at first. But towards the end when he starts relaxing around Nora he develops into a more likeable character.

There are some unrealistic acts where disbelief can be suspended by the reader based on the beings performing them: angels (ie. An angel becomes the new psychologist for the high school with no problem).
On the otherhand, there are times when the humans commit these unbelievable acts as well. While Nora's mother comes across as a nice, caring woman, she somehow finds it okay to leave her 16 year old daughter home alone in a rural setting for days on end. Forget the elderly housekeeper, this kid is ALONE at night. Had the mother been put forth as absent minded and apathetic this would be acceptable, but she genuinely seems to be a loving mother.

Vee, Nora's supposed soul sister and best friend constantly disregards Nora's feelings. Now I know there are many people who behave this way to their friends, but she honestly did not have enough lovable moments to justify the hell she puts Nora through towards the end. If my own best friend acted in such a way, she would nolonger be my best friend.
Coach, the biology teacher (yeah, try THAT one on for size) doesn't find it odd or put a stop to the fact that Patch is behaving completely inappropriately for a classroom setting. And was it a biology class or sex-ed? Because I'm still really confused by that turn of events. I understand that Fitzpatrick was using it as a plot mover to get Patch hitting on Nora, but honestly it felt really really weird.

I like the fact that Patch becomes the anti-hero. He's not meant to be the hero in the beginning, he's supposed to be the bad guy. But over a short time he shifts, believably, and becomes the protector and good guy...good thing because it's his enemies out to kill Nora.
The good news is that I'm definitely interested in seeing where Fitzpatrick takes this in the sequels. I just hope that she gets more original in her plotline, because she has the talent to carry a good tale.
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