Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

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Synopsis from BN.com:

For Nora Grey, romance was not part of the plan. She's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how much her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her. Not until Patch came along.

With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Nora is drawn to him against her better judgment.

But after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora's not sure who to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is, and to know more about her than her closest friends. She can't decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is way more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel.

For Nora is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen - and, when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost her life.

Review

I'd been wanting to read this book for a long time, but I just kept putting it off. Well I finally decided it was time to see what all of the fuss was about. There were parts to this book I really liked and others that really just fell flat - it basically led up to me being very underwhelmed.

I didn't exactly love the characters in this one. I'm not sure what words I could use to describe Nora - infuriating I guess would be a good one. Some of the things she does just made me want to scream. I especially got annoyed with the constant back and forth of "Oh I hate Patch. Now I don't. Aaaaand now I hate him again." True, he was mysterious and at times he seemed to make it his life's goal to aggravate Nora, but it felt like she went out of her way sometimes trying to despise him as much as possible. It wouldn't have been so bad if it had just been in the first part of the book, but it lasted pretty much up until the last page. She would just start trusting him and then *BAM*, she went back to being wary of him all over again. I know it sounds like I completely hated her, but I didn't. She just really grated on my nerves at times. That being said, I liked Patch immensely. I thought his story was great, and we get to see bits and pieces of it as the book progresses. He also had a great sense of humor and I personally loved when he tried to get Nora riled up (which was often).

I didn't love the "relationship" between Nora and Patch. I thought their interactions together were entertaining, but her back-and-forth feelings about him didn't exactly make for a perfect match. I haven't dove into the second book (Crescendo) yet, but I'm assuming my feelings on this will change as the series continues.

To me, this book felt extremely repetitive. Each chapter seemed to start with Patch showing up wherever Nora happened to be and her being annoyed about it. Luckily there some mysteries and twists/turns throughout to keep things interesting, and there is some nice action moments at the end that helped the book finish strong.

Overall, certainly not one of my favorite books. I don't always love characters and sometimes the love stories just don't resonate with me. This was one of those times, but I feel like the series as a whole has a lot of potential. Even though this book didn't live up to my expectations, I'm still looking forward to reading Crescendo to see what happens next.

If you would like to know more about the author, Becca Fitzpatrick, check out her webpage and Twitter.