Review: Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Title: Hush, Hush

Author: Becca Fitzpatrick

Publisher: Simon & Schuster (29 Oct 2009)

No. of Pages: 400

Grade Rating: A+

A sacred oath, a fallen angel, a forbidden love...This darkly

romantic story features our heroine, Nora Grey, a seemingly normal teenage girl with her own shadowy connection to the Nephilim, and super-alluring bad boy, Patch, now her deskmate in biology class. Together they find themselves at the centre of a centuries-old feud between a fallen angel and a Nephilim...Forced to sit next to Patch in science class, Nora attempts to resist his flirting, though gradually falls for him against her better judgment. Meanwhile creepy things are going on with a mysterious stalker following her car, breaking into her house and attacking her best friend, Vi. Nora suspects Patch, but there are other suspects too - not least a new boy who has transferred from a different college after being wrongly accused of murdering his girlfriend. And he seems to have taken a shine to Nora...Love certainly is dangerous...and someone is going to have to make the ultimate sacrifice for it.

The Fallen Angel genre seems to be one of the most popular this year and this happened to be the first one I'd read. This book made a speechless first impression due to the beautiful cover art and enticing blurb. Hush Hush is a book you do not want to miss even if you have to walk along a tight rope 1000 ft. in the air over a pool of man-eating sharks and then somersault over The Great Wall of China, it's that good.

I don't know what I can say about this book that a million adoring fans haven't already said except that it's amazing! I went into it thinking it was going to be strongly influenced by Biblical references or some make believe angel politics or something else weird that I wouldn't understand but this book had a very strong premise and plot line that seemed to be clear throughout. From the very first page I was sucked into the mystical realm of the extraordinary. Twists and turns enveloped every page and each word was so addictive that you couldn't put it down without immediately wanting to pick it straight back up.  Fortunately for me, it didn't take long at all to get into and enjoy unlike other similar books that I've read. The length was perfect for the amount of action this book captured and although the revelation that Patch was an Angel, wasn't apparent until the last 100 pages or so, it really didn't bother me.

Many reviewers have slated this book because of it's male lead, Patch. He is very easy to dislike and also very easy to like but for me it was the fact that he was so obnoxious, arrogant and strong-willed that made me think how much of a great character he was. There is no denying that he was a little perverted but once you read past that, I think you felt how much he really did care for Nora. I was expecting to really dislike Nora, thinking she would be just another love-crazed Bella seeking a thrill in a forbidden bad boy but my opinion completely changed of her when I read the first chapter. She was very no-nonsense and sensible that made the contrast between the two so entertaining.

Overall, Hush Hush was a mind blowing debut that will have readers with their hearts in their mouths the whole way through.