Nora Grey isn't your typical high school student in the sense that she spends a lot of time on her own and yet concentrates on her studies and has her head on straight. She is that good girl that doesn't want any trouble and, slightly reminding me of Rory from my beloved Gilmore Girls in the "has her sights set on Yale and nothing will stand in her way" attitude (and yes, I know Rory was Harvard-bound, but you get where I'm going). But trouble seems to find her in the form of that mysteriously gorgeous bad boy, Patch.
And Patch...how can I describe Patch without turning into a puddle of mush? Well, he's trouble, plain and simple. But he's that good kind of trouble that just about anyone with the XX chromosome is attracted to. He's got the sarcasm down to an art and there's also the fact there's something about him that's not quite right.
Becca Fitzpatrick has done a beautiful job with not only the characters in HUSH, HUSH, but also the imagery is phenomenal. There are moments when she describes the scenery and it feels as if you are walking through places they frequented. And yet even in what should be the most innocent of events, there seemed to be this undertone that something dangerous was near.
And one thing that makes me over the moon is the fact that every character serves a purpose. There's not all these extra characters thrown in there along the way, with no explanation of why. I like that. The only thing about the entire story that got me was Vee, but just a little. I found Vee to be one of those friends that you have to take care of and keep an eye on like you do a child. A bit reckless and self-absorbed, but she still plays her role.
There were times when I found myself literally laughing out loud, like for this particular gem: "I scribbled Jerk on the first line. On the line beneath it I added, Smokes cigars, Will die of lung cancer. Hopefully soon. Excellent physical shape." The above was from Nora, shortly after her first couple of encounters with Patch.
Despite the many humorous gems I found throughout the entire book, this is also a dark novel, and in saying that, there are moments when I would gasp in shock or surprise. It seemed that over the course of 400 pages, I went through every emotion possible, and that's a good thing! Few authors can create a world and a cast of characters that sticks in your head like these do.
Of course, there are already a few different comparisons going on throughout the blogosphere. One being the comparison between HUSH, HUSH and TWILIGHT. Now, of course there are similarities, but they are far from the same novel, or even in the same ballpark for that matter, and the majority of similarities (bad boy/good girl, bad boy has some sort of "different" attribute, fall in love) are similar in books with just about any form of romance over the last couple hundred years. Then there are those (the Biology room as a beginning) that are clearly similar, but they don't make the stories the same.
Then there's the comparison of Edward from said TWILIGHT and Patch. And there's also this comparison of Spike and Angel from Buffy the Vampire Slayer (and later Angel) and Patch. As someone who was never a fan of either of these shows, I can't comment on that side of the argument because I have no insight on either of those characters. But I can comment on the Edward comparison; and boy, let me tell you, Edward ain't got nothing on Patch! The only thing that Edward has over Patch is those sparkles, but Patch has scars, and scars beat sparkles hands down!
HUSH, HUSH seemed to captivate me in a way that no other book has since...I don't quite remember. I haven't stayed up until 2am reading anything in a long while, much less a 400 page book in one sitting! And if my review can't convince you to read this awesomeness, then just look at the cover! It's haunting, beautiful, memorable, and drop dead sexy...just like the story within.
This is the hardest review I've written and I mean that in a good way. HUSH, HUSH is a title that for the most part receives automatic squeals and excitement simply from its name alone, and there is a reason for all of this commotion. That reason, in short, is because it is fantastically amazing!
Reviewed by: Samantha Clanton, aka Harlequin Twilight
