Miss Page-Turner's City of Books: Book Review: Hush, Hush, Crescendo, Silence & Finale (Hush, Hush #1, #2, #3 #4) by Becca Fitzpatrick

Title: Hush, Hush (Hush, Hush #1), Crescendo (Hush, Hush #2), Silence (Hush, Hush #3), Finale (Hush, Hush #4)

Author: Becca Fitzpatrick

Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK

Publishing Date: May 2010, April 2011, June 2012, October 2012

Length: 391 pages, 432 pages, 464 pages, 454 pages

Keywords: YA, fiction, romance, fallen angels, arch angels, Nephilim

Source: Bought, For Review

A SACRED OATH
A FALLEN ANGEL
A FORBIDDEN LOVE

Romance was not part of Nora Grey's the plan. She's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how hard her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her. Not until Patch comes along. With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Patch draws Nora to him against her better judgment.

But after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora's not sure whom to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is and seems 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 she 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 Nora her life.

Summary by Goodreads

This review contains light spoilers for people who haven't read past CRESCENDO!

The events of HUSH, HUSH have been set into motion decades ago, when an unfortunate man is being forced to swear fealty to a fallen angel. A war between fallen angels and Nephilim, the children of angels and humans, breaks out and enormous sacrifices are demanded of everyone involved.

Meet Nora Grey, who is drawn into the conflict against her will and, to additionally complicate things, feels attracted to fallen angel Patch.

Nora is a naturally kind girl. Patch is the total opposite of Nora. He is a real bad boy, playing games all the time. His character confused me and never appeared as likeable as Nora sees him or wants him to be.

To be honest, Patch in his all-black uniform, never achieved to put a spell on me. Many fell for his bad-ass attitude and craved his tough, sometimes almost aggressive demeanor. He never became a well-rounded character to me that I could’ve said, I knew the true essence of.

Although it says opposites attract, I simply didn’t see the necessity for Nora and Patch to be together. But I suggest you’d better decide for yourselves if Patch matches your version of an admirable book boyfriend.

Besides the war and her relationship with Patch, Nora miraculously still has some time to spare to meet up with her best friend Vee. Or later into the story with Scott, who poses as alternative love interest in CRESCENDO. Good choice to let their attraction to each other recede, so that we didn't have to worry about a possible love triangle for long. Jealousy is still a dominant part of all books in the series with potential to easily displease readers. The secondary characters felt almost more important to me than the actual protagonists, they are diverting and especially Scott was one character I loved.

The HUSH, HUSH books can’t be sold as your typical angel series. There is no heavenly mission to rid the world of evil. The angels we meet are definitely no heroes. They all felt shady and it appeared they weren’t 100 % honest with their allies. These dark and vengeful versions of angels are quite zestful indeed. Even Nora developed an unhealthy pattern of deceit in the last book that tended to annoy me.

Overlooking the entire series’ course of action, I can’t seem to see a major progress from the first book to FINALE. HUSH, HUSH was a good start into the series, with so much happening in the first book and the appeal of a brand new story. CRESCENDO was the worst out of all of them, because Nora kept on constantly putting herself in dangerous situations and fought with Patch about the most enervating issues. A definite turn-off!

Next up, SILENCE posed as the part of Nora’s story which I enjoyed most. Due to her abduction, Nora has lost her entire memories concerning her boyfriend Patch and everything about fallen angels and Nephilim. I liked to see Nora rebel against her blockade and act out at everyone who would try to hold her down. The third book marked the part of the series in which things finally got interesting.

Fallen angels, arch angels and Nephilim have been hating each other for years. Their conflict has been simmering in the first three books, only waiting to fully break out towards the finale. But the ending we are waiting for, never actually results in an epic battle scene. Instead it comes short in detail and misses out on drawn-out one on one fights. The ending in general came too suddenly and didn’t serve all the information about the characters’ futures I was hoping for.

1) we like our Tacos hot

2) of exceptional mind-communication techniques

3) loyal friends stay with you till the bitter end

4) its angels are not of the ordinary peace-seeking kind

5) of tough heroines who learn to stand up for themselves

3/5 *** HUSH, HUSH series- No need to keep this novel quiet, tell all angel novel fans about it!

Recently I've been feeling highly attracted to YA books with their focus on heavenly missons and angelic beings. The HUSH, HUSH series couldn’t score a place on my top list and I wouldn’t exactly recommend it as a first choice read to anyone who hasn't read an angel-related book before. Nevertheless Becca Fitzpatrick has shown her qualitative writing skills with varied sentence structures and easy-flowing dialogues. I am very looking forward to find out more about her next book!