Hush, Hush: A book Review

Genre: Mystery/Fantasy

Reading Level: ages 13 and up

Summary: Romance was not part of Nora Grey's 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 who have fallen -- and, when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost Nora her life.

My Review: I don't know why this book is called Hush, hush. It's not particularly quite or relaxing like the title implies. The cover and font are awesome though. Ahhh I gotta say, I loved this book. It is my guilty pleasure. I had so much fun reading it it's not even funny. :P

Okay seriously it isn't the most amazing book ever. The romance, oh gawd the romance was so unbelievable. I didn't for one second truly believe Patch loved Nora. As for Nora she was only mildly infatuated with the boy. She didn't love him though. Becca will definitely have to work on writing a well developed romance in the future. This one started out slow and then BAM~! Insta-love. Also Nora was pretty sure for most of the book that Patch was out to kill her so um, I'm not sure how that endeared him to her. One of the many problems of Teen romances today. Girls are just willing to throw themselves at any psychopath they cross.

Other than that I actually quite liked Patch and Nora. They we're both fun characters. I liked Nora for the pseudo detective skills she showed, but truthfully she was a bit indecisive which was at times annoying. I loved it when she wanted to solve the mysteries surrounding her life, and I found it relatable how every time something odd happened she was pretty sure she was going nuts instead of instantly thinking "oh gosh that boy must be a fallen angel out to kill me" although she did google it. Seriously what's with google and finding out peoples secrets. I mean if I thought someone I knew was a paranormal being I wouldn't google it and then accept it as fact. Just because it's on the internet doesn't make it true. Now on to Patch. Number one, that name is weird. You get used to it, but it's still weird for a romantic lead. His last name (Cipriano) is awesome though. I've heard Patch described as a brooding bad boy. I feel this is a terribly wrong description of him. He doesn't brood. He's annoying. He's the get all up in your face bad boy type. I actually enjoyed that switch. His banter with Nora is quite funny, I found myself grinning at certain parts. I liked Patch. He was funny, psychopathic, and annoying, and never pretended to be anything else. In real life I would hate him. But not in a book. Vee Sky, Nora's friend was a fun sidekick I enjoyed reading about her, and I thought she went well with Nora. It's nice to see heroines with friends they care about. There we're actually a few bad guys in this novel, I won't disclose who they all are here because River Song would never forgive me but I enjoyed them all and found them sufficiently evil. :P

Now for the part I particularly enjoyed. I thought Becca did a great job with the mystery and suspense bits. I really enjoyed watching the mystery unfold throughout the book. Of course you know Patch is a fallen angel. The covers a dead giveaway. What you don't know is who is trying to kill Nora, and why. Unlike Twilight the plot didn't arrive in the last few chapters. It was there from the beginning and was what drew me in immediately and kept me reading.

Which brings me to the Angel lore. It wasn't fully developed in this book. There we're bit's and pieces here and there but I'd didn't completely grasp it, even at the end. I'm guessing more will be discussed in book 2 and 3. I'll have to wait a while to read Crescendo though. The waiting list at the library is over half a year. *sigh*

Characters I'd name my Children After: Top Ten Tuesday (Feb.08)

It's time for another Top Ten Tuesday and this weeks question is: Top Ten Characters (and literary figures) you'd name your children after. Oh dear.

Truthfully I probably wouldn't my children half of these names, but they are names I have thought of for my fictional children (you know, the characters in your head) so here it goes.

1. Nora Grey/Nora Charles (Hush hush by Becca Fitzpatrick, The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammet) I love the name Nora. It sounds very dark, sophisticated, and romantic. I put up both Nora Grey and Nora Charles because they both have such perfectly fitted last names with their first (in my opinion) and because despite their faults (I'm talking to you Nora Grey) I am rawther fond of both of them.

2. Algernon Montcrieff (The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde) I'd never name my child Algernon. It means with mustache. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I've seen severely lovely mustaches in my time, it's just such a random thing to name your child. :D But I like saying it. Try saying it, Algernon, it's quite funny yet, somewhat serious. I also like the nickname "Algy" makes me think of the ocean. :D

3. Edmund Pevensie (Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis) Edmund is one of my favorite CON characters, mostly because he is one of the few characters to actually have any sort of emotional growth (mostly for the sake of Lewis's allegory no doubt) but I've always liked the name, it just sounds nice to me.

4. Jasvinder "Jazz" Dhillon (Bindi Babes by Narinder Dhami) I would like to marry an Indian man, just so I could name my children one of their lovely names. I particularly like Jasvinder it means "Lord's glory" which in and of itself if beautiful. It also has a fantastic nickname "Jazz".

5. Tabitha Ruth "Turtle" Wexler (The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin) Like I said in post for Top Ten Female Characters I Admire I love this name because it is pretty much the only characters I've seen in a book with the same first name as me. I wouldn't name my child Tabitha, that would be narcissistic. :P I still love it though. I also think Turtle is a funny nickname, and quite original.

6. Luna Lovegood (Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling) gotta love Luna, that's all I'm saying. Also the name Luna means "moon" and the moon reminds me of my mother.

7. Klaus Baudelaire (Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket) I was never sure how to pronounce this name until the movie. I liked it much better than the way I had been pronouncing it. :P

8. Oliver Twist (Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens) I like the name Oliver. I don't know why. I think it sounds cute though.

9. Milo (The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster) Again, it sounds cute to me nothing besides that.

and last but certainly, absolutely, and positively not least is:

10: Isaac (Abraham's son from the Bible) I love the name Isaac, I will name one of my sons Isaac, I think it is the most beautiful name ever. It means "laughter" basically, and I love to hear people laugh, I dearly love to laugh, and look forward to hearing my son laugh. So it has a lot of meaning for me, and I saved it as number ten because I wanted to end my post with my favorite name. :D

A Giveaway Not to Be Missed :D

The brilliant bloggers of A Life Bound by Books, Kid Lit Frenzy, The Bookologist, and The Undercover Booklover are hosting a giveaway to win a Kindle 3 wi-fi~! If you have an interest in joining head on over to one of the blogs for all of the information. Lots of luck, but not too much as this blogger hopes to win. :P

Book Blogger Hop (Feb.04.11)

It's time for another book blogger hop hosted by Crazy-For-Books~! Click the link, add your blog, peruse through others, and find blogs you never knew about before. It's lots of fun. :D

This weeks blog question is: "What are you reading now and why are you reading it?"

Ah this weekend I'm planning on finishing up The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. You've probably heard about it, it's gotten a lot of hype. It's very interesting and I'm looking forward to seeing it all play out in the end. I'm reading it because I've had a bit of morbid interest in it for quite some time now and saw it in paperback at the library. I love paperback. So I just picked it up and said, "Why not?" I know it's not a terribly interesting story but there it is. I'm also reading Right Side Talking by Bonnie Rozanski and the reason is because I got a request to review it and I absolutely loved the premise, it is very unique and original. What are you reading now, and why? Leave your answers in the comment section. :D

Musing Mondays (Jan.31)

Musing Mondays are hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. This weeks musings asks...

What’s the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn’t put it down?

Nothing stops me from sleeping. Well no that's not entirely true, but books don't. I'd have to say there is not one book that I actually lost sleep over because I was trying to read it all at once. Not even Harry Potter. I've totally thrown my day away on books though. Not so much anymore because I'm so busy. Now I read right before I go to bed, just a couple chapters or so. Oh wait, just remembered there was one book I was trying to finish but it was pretty late and I kept falling asleep. It was A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle.

Writing Rituals

Writer's have always had their own special techniques that help them develop idea's and focus on their work. It can be staring up at the ceiling, pacing, even talking aloud to themselves. Here's an interesting article from Masters Degree.Net that was brought to my attention about 20 Acclaimed Authors and Their Unique Writing Rituals. It's really interesting, and amusing. Do you have any writing rituals? Tell me all about them in the commen section. :D

Book Blogger Hop (Jan. 28)

It's time for another book blogger hop~! That exciting part of the week where we all head on over to Crazy-For-Books to add our blogs to the hop linky, and purusue through a fantastic bunch of other book blogs. This weeks hop question is: "What book are you most looking forward to seeing published in 2011? Why are you anticipating that book?"

Well this one is pretty hard for me since I usually don't know a book is coming out until well, it comes out. In that respect I guess I'm a terrible bookaholic. Thanks to my fellow book bloggers though I do know when a couple of books are coming out, so I'd have to say out of the ones I do know I'm most excited for Demonglass by Rachel Hawkins the sequel to the very funny and engaging Hex Hall. The other one would have to be Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick. What releases are you looking forward to? Leave your answers in the comment section.