I read the Hush, Hush Series 10 years late and here's what I thought of it...

Hi everyone! 
For those of you who follow me on Instagram (I’m @the.overflowing.bookshelf on there if you don’t 😉), you probably saw that at the beginning of the year I started a buddy-read with my good friend Courtney (@courts.book.nook on Instagram). We’ve done buddy-reads in the past and decided that we wanted to do one to start 2022 off on a fun note! So we compared bookshelves to figure out what book we both owned already that we could read together.

The book we decided on? Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

The Set Up
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the book, it is a young adult supernatural fantasy novel that was considered a YA classic in the mid-2000s/2010s.

It was actually kind of surprising that neither of us had ever read this book before because we were directly in the target demographic for this book at the time of its release and it had been on my bookshelf for so long that I totally forgot that I even owned it! 😂

{Just to judge how old this book is, the little fake sticker on the cover of my copy says to preorder Becca Fitzpatrick’s newest book called Black Ice, but that book came out in October 2014…. 😬 So basically this book had been on my bookshelf for a minimum of 7-8 years}

Before starting this buddy read, I also made the choice to NOT read the back of this book (aka read the summary) and go into reading it fully blind! Now I had a vague idea that this book was about a girl in high school and angels existing in the real world, but besides that I was in the dark.

This left me with a few questions:
-Is this a stupid move? Probably but I think that it’ll definitely make things more interesting… 🤔
-Will we like this book from the peak of YA fantasy fad?
-Does this 2009 book stand the test of time?
-Will two adults in their 20s feel nostalgia while reading this book or just cringe-y?

So off we embarked on our reading journey, and boy was it a rollercoaster…

Basic Book Info
But before I get to my actual reviews of each book, let me share a brief description of the first book:

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.

TL;DR: The series follows Nora, a regular teen, and Patch, a fallen angel, as they try and grapple with the supernatural world and the tensions between fallen angels and Nephilim (half-angels).

So the plan was to buddy-read the first book and be done with it, but we had so much fun with it and reading comments that we said “let’s just buddy-read the whole series!” And let me just say: it was a whirlwind!

I don’t want to give away too many spoilers, but the mini reviews of each book will probably spoil just a bit of the events that take place in prior books.

Mini Reviews
Book 1: Hush, Hush
I have had this book on my shelf for about 7 years and finally decided to read it and I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed it!

This YA fantasy novel from the 2010s is a little dated with its lack of modern technology and tropes that were very popular back in the day; however, my middle school heart still fell in love with Patch and his broody and mysterious vibe. And while I spent most of the book mentally yelling at Nora for all of her stupid decisions, I still found the plot engaging and thrilling.

I think if I would’ve read this book when I originally bought it (aka 2015), it might’ve ended up being a 4 or 5 star read for me, but I think since I’m no longer a teenager, and therefore not in the target demographic for this novel, it was just good and not amazing!

That being said, I am definitely still going to check out the rest of this series because I’m interested to see what Becca Fitzpatrick has in store for these characters and this fantasy world!

TL;DR: This book screams YA 2010s nostalgia and despite being out of the target demographic, I still enjoyed this book!

Book 2: Crescendo
I was so frustrated by this book until I got to the end…

I found Nora so stupid and annoying and I constantly found myself thinking “how is this girl not dead yet??” She’s very wishy-washy throughout the whole book, makes TERRIBLE decision, and is so spiteful yet oblivious to everyone and everything. I legitimately said out loud while reading “No sh*t, Nora!” at a major revelation.

I honestly thought that I probably wouldn’t want to continue the series after this book. And then I read the end and this was the series of events that followed:

-I put the book down
-I said “Goddamnit…!”
-I went on Amazon and ordered the next (and final) two books

Despite my annoyance with most of the characters and the whiplash the plot/Nora’s opinions gave me, Fitzpatrick just has a way of hooking in readers and I got so caught up in the dramatics at the end of the plot that I was like I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!!

*sigh* so yeah I’ll be continuing this series so wish me luck 👍🏻

Book 3: Silence
I swear every time I start reading a book in this series I go through the same emotions:

-I hate all of these characters
-Why is Nora so stupid/whiny
-I’m gonna DNF I swear
-Patch!! 😍
-Finally, something interesting!
-Ok more confusion…
-Action and adventure
-DAMNIT BECCA! Now I need to read the next book!!!

So yeah… I will be reading book 4 so wish my luck

Book 4: Finale
Well I finally finished this series…. Yay?

I’m honestly shocked I made it this far tbh I was getting very frustrated with the characters by the end and honestly there were too many random “plot twists” that just seemed like cop outs or laziness on the author’s part.

If I wasn’t buddy-reading this I probably wouldn’t have had much motivation to finish this book (not that I had much to begin with), but I honestly only liked about 2 characters (aka Patch and Scott).

As I said in the rest of my reviews of each book, I’m sure 15 y/o me would’ve loved these books but 23 y/o me? Not so much…

The plot was just too all over the place, the ending felt abrupt, and this series as a whole could’ve literally been 3 books shorter.

Overall Thoughts
I can see what’s appealing about this series: 
-the forbidden romance
-the bad boy male lead
-the action and mystery interwoven into the plot

However, reading this book series in my 20s was not as exciting as it probably would’ve been in my teens… I really regret not reading this book when I first bought it and while I didn’t love the way this series ended and got frustrated with certain characters and plot points, I am still glad I finally crossed this book off of my TBR.

What's the Point of this Post?
Now you may be wondering why I’m telling you all of this? For two reasons:

1. Do not procrastinate your TBR! Life is too short not to read the books you want to read, so make sure you find the time to enjoy them in the moment.
2. If you did procrastinate your TBR or have had books on your shelf for years that are still unread, it is never too late to finish that book series from 2005. It is not too late to read that sequel book. It is not too late to start a new series!

Anyway, I applaud you if you actually read this entire blog post! It was quite the long one lol!

If you have any other book recommendations for me, have strong thoughts about this series, or just want to say hi, comment below or DM me on one of the various social media platforms I’m on!

Bye for now and happy reading!
-Elisa

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