Customer Reviews

Hush, Hush

5 star:		(248)
4 star:		(139)
3 star:		(76)
2 star:		(45)
1 star:		(48)

 

 

If I hadn't received this via Amazon Vine, and therefore obligated in return to review it (as opposed to purchasing), I probably would let it pass into my reading life's obscurity. We all know the basics of the book by now: hot, yet jerky mysterious guy meets lovely, yet clueless girl who must be with jerky guy and solve the Mystery of Him.

Hush, Hush left me with a rather annoying cross between disbelief, disgust and at times pure apathy. One thing in the book's favor: despite a completely unbelievable romance and sequence of events to reach said romance, it is an utterly readable book. Very easy to slip into and get lost in. I admit the only reason I kept going was in vain hope it would all pan out into something good through a cool plot twist or stellar character growth.
The romance, this is where my sense of disbelief and disgust comes in, and being that the blurb bills this immediately as a romance, I'm also bewildered. Patch is the typical "twilight era" young adult hero, or so it seems. He's smart-mouthed, mysterious, and dangerous, and despite his rather blatantly lacking qualities, he attracts the heroine like a bear to stinking trash. Yep, Nora just has to wade through all his crap, because something is telling her that beneath all of Patch's jerk wad facade, there's a heart of romantic gold. How else to explain why she pursues him?

Patch is one of those types that immediately rubs the heroine - and this reader - raw. He's constantly insulting Nora, and uncooperative in their typical science lab partnership. He leads her on the craziest dance I've ever seen, meanwhile Nora following behind, picking up his crumb trail of crazy as if it was honey. I say honey because even though she is highly suspicious of him, as well as wary and guarded against him, she does eventually go on to love him. How? WHY? Never once do these two have a scene worthy of igniting a romance. They only trade insults, argue and mistrust and frankly, Patch is one creepy mofo.
And with good reason. His motives are not in any way pure, not even romantically. His actions are confusing, highly suspect and then at times downright see-through. Nora fears he means to do her harm, and despite this being about the only smart thing to come out of all her musings on him, she still goes on to put herself in one dangerous scenario after another.

Nora has this best friend...the kind of friend that makes backstabbing enemies look inviting (because, you know, the enemy would be much more straight-forward). Vee was the kind of friend who is with you because she wants to catch as much of her cooler, prettier and all-around "better" friend's glow. On the surface, the friendship appears solid and born of years of fast and true experiences that make their relationship stronger. Beneath this, though, I got a sense of jealousy from Vee, who is the "curvier" one we all know to be the slightly less perfect one who worries too much about her weight and other similar insecurity issues. Vee didn't come off as a true friend to Nora to me. She constantly says things that are embarrassing to Nora not to mention she does things that get Nora in trouble. Vee engages in several actions that make no sense. If this book in any way made sense, Vee would have hit the best friend door, gone.

There are also two boys of the same age as the rest of our main troupe of characters, Jules and Elliot, who go to a private school several miles away. One never says a word hardly - Jules - and goes about the book almost entirely till the end seeming as bored as I was getting with the whole affair. Elliot seems to have a strong romantic interest in Nora, but changes tune drastically and suddenly at one point, revealing his intentions in an entirely different light. I think these two characters were meant to me more subtle, but due to a prologue that takes place in Loire Valley, France, 1565, it doesn't take rocket science to figure out who and what all these people are and what in the heck is going on.

The bottom line is, Hush, Hush exemplifies yet another young adult romance with no romance in sight. I cannot give on this one: if the heroine is afraid of the hero for most of the book, and the hero even WANTS to hurt the heroine for most of said book, romance isn't the word that comes to mind. Psycho works better.

While I felt the writing itself was competent, too many things jump the gun or feel clumsily written in. The clues are blatantly tossed out, from the cover for one thing (yes, it's beautiful, but it pretty much gives it all away), to a carnival ride that Nora almost dies on called the Archangel. **SPOILER ALERT** Yes, Patch almost kills her on it. **END SPOILER** She knows this, is confused by it, but she continually ignores her instincts, choosing instead to "investigate" Patch. To instead fall in love despite him never giving one un-creepy vibe or romantic gesture.

How is someone that WANTS to harm the heroine time and again a hero? How is one that stalks her, threatens her, is downright nasty to her...a hero? Why is this billed as a romance for young adults, or young girls, I should say. It takes the theme of forbidden romance a step too far, twisting the idea that true and exciting love must be dangerous and also demeaning to the heroine.

I'm all for the air of forbidden desire and the excitement it can bring to a growing romantic relationship, but this wasn't romance. A hero does not prey on the heroine's fears, enjoying it all the while and then suddenly the two are "in love". Sometimes the ends justify the means in these kinds of situations, but after all of this book's particular means, I do not feel anything was justified. Had Patch stopped being such a jerk, and Nora such an addlepated twit, perhaps a more believable romance could've risen from the ashes.

This is the kind of book that beats home such a wrong air the entire way through that by the end I am rather apathetic towards it all. Numb to the idea that Nora and Patch could have any kind of romance, even a future in which to continue fostering a romance. The horse was beaten to the point that who really gives a crap if these two love one another or not. It's not a healthy love and it is disturbing to say the least.

I ordered this book after hearing a fellow book club member raving about it, but I have to admit I was hesitant at first because of the reviews here on Amazon. The first few pages of reviews here made the book sound horribly mundane. I am sooo glad that I decided to by pass the criticism and give it a try.

I'm a 28 year old, who was just so entirely wrapped up in this fictional realm that I couldn't put it down and half way through the book I already had Crescendo, the sequel, being shipped to my house. I simply couldn't get enough of Patch, Nora and Vee. I have read and adored the Twilight series as well, but saw no resemblances between the two series and frankly am tired of those who constantly think Twilight is being ripped off by other authors (Twilight, although loved by many, including myself, is a HUGE rip off of many many authors). It's the business of literature. Besides... Patch is much much more sexier than ECullen.. by far!!

So pick the book up, I'm sure you won't be disappointed, and the second book is even better...!! I already have em both completed and am soo sad I'll be waiting months to read the 3rd and 4th book of the series, but I know Becca will deliver another fantastic sequel. Happy reading :)

Hush Hush sweetheart...I found this novel in the Barnes and Noble and picked it up because of the hypnotic cover and my love of fallen angel stories. I sat at the small, round tables donning the Starbucks and began devouring the book right away. An hour and eighty pages later, I knew Becca Fitzpatrick's introduction to the unexplored territory of fallen angels hit the mark in my hook factor.

But, Hush Hush left me with a sensation similar to riding a new, well advertised roller coaster. I just wasn't sure how I felt after plowing through Nora and Patch's story in one sitting. The story follows the somewhat unbearably gullible Nora, her best, at times annoying friend, Vee, the object of infatuation, Patch, and two new kids on the block, Elliot and Jules, through an introductory style plot where the setup rings of a sequel. The chemistry between the main characters, Patch and Nora, was fair because he kept putting her down in every imaginable bad boy manner. By the end of the novel, I felt as if Nora deserved better and didn't care very much for Patch at all. The novel's slippery execution through Acts I and II are vindicated at the end if you stick with it.

-Spoiler alert-

In my opinion, some portions of Hush Hush felt formulaic. Much of the love triangle rivalry reminded me of the ending scene of Evermore. As other readers pointed out, there were many phrases Patch used with Nora that gave me the feel of Twilight déjà vu. By the time I got to where the intruder broke into Nora's house, I'd begun to feel the weariness associated with too much mystery and not enough revelations, literally.

Overall, I did enjoy Hush Hush's coverage of my favorite subjects. For me, this is where the ambivalence factor comes to play. Though the characters seemed somewhat detached, the plot line has great potential. Maybe Patch will redeem his over the top, bad boy ways in the sequel. Nora just might pop him one next time he humiliates her in class. As previous reviews have indicated, the reader will either love or hate this novel. Pick it up and see for yourself.

***Vague spoilers***

I really, really wanted to love this book and pretty much only continued to read through to the end because I hoped things would get better. The fallen angel concept seemed new and exciting but wasn't done justice. You don't get any of the fallen angel stuff until close to the end. Some of the events were too planned or too convenient. Certain traumatizing events weren't as big a deal after the fact when they very much would be. Some things seemed pointless. Did Nora have to be anemic? Maybe that will play a larger role in the next book? Otherwise, it did nothing for the story. The bulk of the characters weren't developed and I was really disappointed with Vee's character because she ended up annoying me more than anything. I've read a lot of out-of-this-world stuff, bought into them, and enjoyed them but I just couldn't see the logic in the decisions the characters were making at all. The wig and sharkskin heels? Patch wanted to leave Nora alone to make sure things were safe when clearly the people who wanted to harm her needed her alone. And why is it so much easier for Nora to find the trouble while it takes Patch forever and we don't even know what he's doing or where he is (even though he's in the same exact location) while horrible things are happening to Nora. The plot twists, though unpredictable, only made me continually question why instead of taking me by surprise. And throughout the book there were many questions left unanswered so you find yourself turning the pages with impatience more than interest.

I especially looked forward to the love story but I just couldn't buy into the idea that they both really loved each other. In fact, throughout the entire book I never got the sense that Patch had any deeper feelings for Nora other than wanting to get in her pants. It seems like that's all he wanted from any female mentioned that was linked to him except for the few times he showed some concern for Nora's safety and well being. The supposed electric moments that occurred between Patch and Nora never happened for me because the moments happened so many times and in weird places. It was overkill and it made it hard for me to fall in love with the bad boy. And I still don't really know much about Patch (and any other character for that matter) and what makes him who he is after almost 400 pages with him.

I'm the type to start and finish a series, good and bad, so they're still going to get money out of me. I'm hoping the second book is much better because I still want to love this series and believe that It has the POTENTIAL to be amazing.

About three things I was absolutely positive:

First, that Hush, Hush was, without a doubt, one of the worst Twilight rip-offs I've ever had the misfortune to read.

Second, there was a part of me -- and I didn't realize how dominant that part actually was -- that insisted on reading Hush, Hush to the bitter end in the hope it would redeem itself.

And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably wrong in that decision.

I am loathe to admit that Hush, Hush did entertain me - somewhat. I would give it 1.5 stars for that reason alone if I could. The plot, however, is utterly ridiculous. Here are some things you will enjoy in Hush, Hush: High-schoolers being stalked outside Victoria's Secret, ski-masked men assaulting defenseless girls, high school teachers lecturing about sexual attraction while singling out classroom examples (while still holding a job), an emotionally unstable, crazed, murderous angel fueled by sexual jealousy (can you guess this angel's gender?) and so much more. The list goes on and on.

Aside from the shaky and almost laughable plot, the characters are superficially drawn, particularly Patch, which has to be the most amazingly terrible character name ever devised. The name Patch does not jive well with this supposedly dark, dangerous and handsome fallen angel. It makes me think of a Lucky-smoking, redneck mechanic sporting grease-soaked coveralls. Patch is a horrendously underdeveloped character. The reader has no idea who he is, other than the obvious, what makes him tick or why he even fell in love with Nora from afar. Nora, the female protagonist, is more developed than Patch, but still lacking. She is a walking contradiction, which would be acceptable if the author had presented her character as such. Instead, we get a straight-A, goody-two-shoes who has her life planned out, yet she continuously makes poor decisions that land her in dangerous situations and she fails to ever reevaluate her decision making processes, thus defying her very own character. Nora, of course, has a great disdain for Patch at first but can't help but to fall head over heels for him. Why? Because he's that good looking...and dangerous. Of course, Nora's mother is conveniently absent throughout the majority of the novel, which is a disconcerting trend in young adult romance fiction. I suppose the message is that parents contribute nothing to their children's lives other than presenting a pesky intrusion upon their teenage sex lives. Surprisingly, the most developed - and likeable - character in the book is Nora's best friend. I suppose she should have been the main character, but she was described as large and loud (is it just me, or do these two qualities always seem to go hand-in-hand?), so I guess that wouldn't be socially acceptable. Expect the cliche in this novel.

Aside from the ridiculous and cliche plot elements and the shoddy character development, this story is very long and dragged out. It takes entirely too long for Nora to learn the truth, which is especially stupid considering the cover art - we, the readers, know what Patch is. This also means that certain plot elements were also brought to light too late, thus executed in a rushed and careless manner. The author was obviously running out of pages. Execution is an overwhelming problem in this novel that can't be overlooked.

I do have a pet peeve with the plot line, which is commonly overlooked in fallen angel stories. Have people forgotten that a fallen angel is also known as a demon? I am not a stickler for fact-abiding storylines, though, so I can easily accept an alternate theory to the whole fallen angel bit, but the author has to give me reason to believe otherwise! For instance, in Dogma the two fallen angels were condemned to Wisconsin - ridiculous, yes, but God deviated from regular protocol by delivering a specialized form of punishment. I don't care what the reason is, just give me one and do it convincingly! The reader is never told exactly why Patch fell or what his punishment entailed other than losing his wings. All we know is that it had something to do with a human woman and that he was ousted from heaven because of it. I wish the author would have taken the time to explain [her version of] the fallen angels, why they fall, how they are punished and redeemed, etc. This story needed a frame of reference. Instead, nothing is adequately explained and the reader is forced to stumble through the possibilities never really sure what is what and what anything really means for the characters or the plot. And that, my friends, is poor storytelling.

I found this story to be minimally entertaining despite gaping plot holes and characterless characters. I think it was somewhat entertaining because of the sheer lunacy of the entire story. The story is just so ridiculous I found myself continuing to read just to find out how the absurdities would pan out. I was disappointed, yes, but I did laugh out loud quite a few times. The ending is so inconclusive - and, again, ridiculous - that I am sure there will be a second novel. I won't be reading it. Read this one at your own risk. But be warned: If cliches make you sick, I suggest skipping this one.

I was pretty excited to get a hold of HUSH, HUSH after I saw the cover, which is completely awesome, and began hearing murmurs of dark goodness floating around the verse. Then I was fortunate enough to win an ARC. I'm going to preface my comments by saying that if you really want to know what I thought of this book you should go read Chelle's review over at Tempting Persephone because I agree with every single thing she said. No joke. Chelle and I are often one on our reactions to a book, but this time I felt exactly the same way. In every particular. Unfortunately, in this case, it was a book neither of us loved. We wanted to. But we didn't. Several things got in the way.

Nora Grey is your average high school sophomore. Intent on getting through the year with her grade point average intact and her best friend Vee at her side, she is dismayed to find herself partnered with the broody, mysterious Patch in biology class. Patch seems to delight in intimidating the hell out of Nora. He goads her, teases her, persists in getting to know all her hidden quirks and fears and exploiting them. No one seems to know where he came from or who he really is and, as he continues to pursue Nora, she becomes obsessed with finding some answers to the mystery of Patch and his mercurial smile. Against her friend's, her counselor's, even her mother's advice, Nora spends more time in Patch's questionable company. Bit by bit, as she puts two and two together, Nora develops an impossible theory as to stalkerboy's origins...along with a pretty healthy attraction to her dark shadow.

Let's start with the good. Becca Fitzpatrick displays some solid writing skills in her debut novel. I enjoyed her way with words, the honest and wry observations Nora made about her world, and the deft descriptions of bad boy Patch. And you've got to hand it to Simon & Schuster's packaging job. That's one gorgeous cover, coupled with a killer title given the subject matter of this YA paranormal. Lastly, the whole idea behind this book is top notch. The Paradise Lost fangirl in me loves the notion of fallen angels, struggling to reclaim their former glory and still maintain their fierce independence, tangling their destinies up with mere mortals. It's a recipe for a cracking good story. The problem I ran into was in the characters themselves. Everyone knows I'm a sucker for the bad boys. I'll take Spike over Angel, Logan over Piz, Eric over Bill, and George over Jonathan any day of the week. On the surface of things Patch seemed made to order. Except he never won me over. He was just bad. No boyishness at all, really. Don't get me wrong, there was plenty of chemistry between these two. But when he wasn't smoldering, Patch was pretty creepy. And not in a good way. He felt cold, alien, and like your worst stalker nightmare. I was unable to find romance in his meanness and I didn't want Nora to be with him. Unfortunately, I didn't really want him to be with her either. Nora didn't wear any better for me. She felt like a stand-in for a cool character and I couldn't seem to summon the energy to care whether or not she died, fell in love, or passed biology. Not necessarily in that order. The rest of the characters felt annoyingly one dimensional and forgettable and this proved to be the ultimate stumbling block for me. There were also several unfortunate and distracting similarities to Twilight (I'm sorry, but it's just no longer possible to have your smart-but-uncoordinated heroine meet and become lab partners with the dangerously-handsome-and-supernatural-to-boot bad boy in biology class), some strangely pointless plot threads, and an unconvincing denouement. But my lack of enjoyment remained rooted in the unsympathetic characterization. Now, this reaction is mine alone and will certainly not be true for all (or even very many) readers. I see HUSH, HUSH finding a very fond, dedicated readership (just check out some of the glowing reviews). It just wasn't for me.

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.

Wow, I'm still speechless to how terrific this book was. One of the best I've ever read? YES.

This novel is filled to the brim with creativity, and a summary that will hold your attention even past the last page. I was really absorbed in Nora's story and her character felt so alive and real to me. Even by the first few sentences in the book, I was already hooked. And unlike some books that start out great, and eventually lose my interest, this one did the opposite. I was craving more of the story the closer I got to the end. And I actually read the last chapter extremely slow, just so I could savor it that much more.

The twist at the end was GREAT. I was definitely not expecting it. Throughout the book I kept making mental predictions of who could be the "bad guy" or villain, and I was way off the whole time, ha! But oh man, the suspense in this book was killer. With Nora being stalked by a stranger in a ski mask, out to deliberately murder her? Creepy! But addicting to know what would happen next.

Patch. The mysterious, sexy, bad-boy. He was one of the best male fictional characters - and I'd choose him over Edward any day! I loved how the author portrayed him, and kept him secretive. It made me long to know about his past, which he purposely tried to avoid talking about with Nora. Which brings me to my next point - their relationship. Wow the chemistry between them was so believable! Nora's a very smart girl with self-control, which I liked. She didn't throw herself at Patch, even though she wanted to, and tried logical thinking to stay away from him.

This was a case of a bad book ruining a fantastic front-cover. I was lured into buying Becca Fitzpatrick's debut YA novel, `Hush Hush', because of the wonderful cover art by photographer James Porto. I was also persuaded to purchase by Borders clever marketing that stacked the book beside Stephenie Meyer's `Twilight' and a sign that read; "if you liked Twilight, you'll love `Hush Hush'".

The books prologue has a noblemen being confronted by an angel who mysteriously insists on meeting with the man every Cheshvan (the start of the Hebrew month). The Angel's parting message to the nobleman is the information that he is a Nephilim, the product of a human/fallen Angel coupling. Intriguing, true - but after that tempting prologue there is no mention made of the Nephilim until more than halfway through the book. The biggest problem with `Hush Hush' is the lack of supernatural storyline. It's false advertising - the beautiful front cover has an image of an angel and the tag line `A fallen Angel... A forbidden love'.

It puts the reader in an odd position - the cover and tagline lets us know what supernatural characters are to appear, but we are forced to read Nora's none-the-wiser POV. There's no suspense for the reader, we know what to expect - angels - but we have to sit through Nora's confusion and her amateur sleuthing into Patch's past. And it is amateur - Nora's big break in the mystery comes in the form of a Google search; she literally types `angel wing scars' into the search engine. And what prompted her search into fallen angels? - a carnival ride called the `Archangel'. If that's not a sledgehammer to reader's intelligence, I don't know what is.

One of the reasons `Twilight' worked so well was because, in conjunction with the Edward/Bella romance, there was the added mystery of animal attacks in Forks. The mystery angle upped the stakes for Edward and Bella and offered a respite from the romance, which would have come across sweet and cloying if not for the respite in storyline. In `Hush Hush, the added mystery is clearly an after-thought compared to the Nora/Patch romance. The storyline of a mysterious ski-masked man following Nora is occasionally thrown in for good measure, but other characters reactions to Nora's tales of a spooky stalker are utterly contrived and unbelievable. And then the story behind the masked stalker is hastily wrapped up - there's not even a scene drawing that storyline to a close, rather it's explained through another character's summary. Sloppy. The mystery storyline is further battered by the fact that Fitzpatrick has her bad-guys breaking the number one rule in the villain handbook. Never, under any circumstances (and no matter how large your ego), give away your evil intentions and motivations while you are in the process of carrying them out. Fitzpatrick literally has her cardboard-cut-out bad guys giving away all their evil intentions while holding Nora hostage.

The connection to `Twilight' is dubious - one of the reasons for comparison is the fact that Nora and Patch are thrown together by a random biology seat-swap that turns them into lab partners. I wonder if Biology attendance has doubled in High Schools, since YA fiction would have us believe this is the perfect setting for budding teen romance. Ah, the sound of beakers clinking - like wedding bells. The smell of dissected frogs - a sweet and heady bouquet. And who can resist a man in a white lab coat and protective goggles?

The biggest 'Twilight' connection is that of a mortal human girl falling for a supernatural (replace `vampire' with `fallen angel') but whereas `Twilight' made this big reveal quite early on in the book, it's not until page 294 (of 391 pages) of `Hush Hush' that this plot twist (but not really because there's an angel on the book cover and the words `fallen angel') comes to the fore. The fact that readers have known from the get-go that Patch is a fallen angel makes his big exposure pretty uneventful. It's not until page 294 that Fitzpatrick delves into the Nephilim myth, which is actually pretty interesting. But when you read all the interesting myth and lore regarding fallen angels, it makes you wonder why Fitzpatrick didn't just start her book at this point - why have 294 pages of Nora wondering about Patch's mysterious past when as readers we've known all along that he's a fallen angel.

I wish `Hush Hush's' ending had been the books starting point - because Fitzpatrick does come up with an interesting conclusion for Nora and Patch... and the possibilities of that storyline intrigue me far more than the entirety of `Hush Hush'. If there is a sequel I would be interested in reading it.

You really can't judge `Hush Hush' by its cover (though it is very, very pretty). Though readers know the supernatural outcome from the get-go it's beyond frustrating to read the female protagonist plod along unawares. And don't be fooled by the marketing hype proclaiming `Hush Hush' to be the new `Twilight' - fallen angels are not the new vampires and `Patch' isn't nearly as dignified a leading man name as `Edward Cullen'.

I have to rather violently disagree with the reviewers who called this book "well-written". If a book is well-written, it needs to follow a logical progression, have fully-developed characters with consistent, if not understandable, motivations, and it needs to just plain make sense. I really can't say "hush, hush" has any of those qualities.

Spoilers ahead to support my point.


I'm all for the literary bad boy. I just love them. But, there needs to be at least something likable about that bad boy, some hint that he's tortured or conflicted in some way. Patch is just one innuendo after another. And when we find out very near the end of the book that Patch "wanted" to kill Nora, but she somehow unwittingly convinced him not to, that's a so-called declaration of love that any sane girl should shy far away from. I won't even go into the whole mess of who is an angel, who is fallen, who is magically a guardian angel (even though he's doing exactly what he did that caused him to lose his wings initially). It makes no sense.

So there's no basis, logical or not, for any relationship between Patch and Nora. That's the biggest, though not (by far) the only flaw in this story. Nora sets off to find Patch at Bo's Arcade, apparently a place she's never been before. But instead of MapQuesting the location (or some equivalent of that), she takes one of the maps (?) off the refrigerator and is then surprised, during her drive, to find that the arcade is over 30 minutes away. That's a pretty interested map--one that doesn't show distance, but does have Bo's Arcade as a landmark. Later in the story, Nora goes off to ride a rollercoaster with Patch, leaving her friend Vee and two boys behind without letting them know where she's going. When she does contact Vee, Vee is initially very upset that Nora disappeared. She even says the boy Elliot was showing a picture of Nora around the parking lot. But when Nora tells her she was with Patch, everything is fine. And Elliot never mentions the incident to Nora when he sees her again. Even more distressing about that whole rollercoaster thing is that Nora believes that her seatbelt came undone during the ride and she fell onto the tracks, but then no, she's fine and that apparently didn't happen. I don't know about anyone else, but having halucinations like that would royally freak me out and I'd dwell on them or try to get some help, not just blow the incident off or treat it as casually as Nora does (she treats another instance of this type of thing just as casually earlier in the book).

Then there's the whole plot device of Nora's anemia. She pops iron pills when she feels faint or distressed. I'm no doctor, but that just makes me laugh. And at another point in the story the author wants us to believe that by just wearing Nora's coat, a stalker would mistake Vee for Nora--after at least twice telling us how their hair color and body shape are so completely dissimilar.

I'm so disappointed that I believed the initial glowing reviews posted here. I can honestly say that "hush, hush" is the worst written book I've read all year. And, as a school librarian, I read a LOT of YA books.