Hush, Hush (Hush, Hush #1) by Becca Fitzpatrick
1 star
Well …. I guess I can say I’ve done that now … *tosses book in the trash*
I was recommended this book by one of my best friends who, before now, I thought had great taste in books. I am now questioning our friendship (kidding, kidding).
I really thought I was going to love this book. It had so many ingredients that I like. Hot boys, Dark hero, romance, danger. Turns out it also had about a bazillion of the ingredients I don’t like. Predictability, instalove, abusive and controlling behavior being glorified. And to top it off, this book hit the cliché nail on the head!
No thanks. Not for me.
The Story
“A SACRED OATH
A FALLEN ANGEL
A FORBIDDEN LOVE”
Sounds awesome right?
Patch is an overprotective (bordering on abusive) fallen angel. Nora is a typical high school student. Aaaaaand we all know where this is going don’t we?
(Goodreads synopsis):
“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 that have fallen – and, when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost Nora her life.”
What I didn’t like
Let’s have a little talk about controlling and abusive behavior for a second. It’s not cute/hot/attractive!!! Our “hero” tends to be a bit on the stalker-y/overprotective/abusive side of things and I do not feel like the issues with this behavior were ever really addressed. I just don’t see a relationship starting out like this to be a lasting formula. I strongly feel like it is very dangerous for books like this to glorify and romanticize this type of behavior/situation.
The target demographic for this book is young teenagers who are just starting to explore the idea of romantic love and sex. I really didn’t have anyone to teach me what a healthy relationship was and how to spot dangerous red flags in my relationships. because of this, I ended up falling for the quintessential “bad boy” and it did not go well. Unfortunately, a lot of people in this target demographic live with similar situations. This controlling, stalker-y trope needs to be addressed. I repeat … IT IS NOT OK!
Insta-love by the truckloads which is legit my second least favorite trope of all time. Insta-lust I get. It happens. But to take this normal human reaction and portray it as true, deep, lasting romance is absurd and I WILL NOT STAND FOR IT! *Drops mic*
*Picks mic back up because I forgot I wasn’t finished*
Predictability… so much predictability. I’m sure that after my short synopsis above you could accurately guess the entire plot of this story.
And as if that was not enough …. let’s throw a good old fashion love triangle in there with yet more overprotective stalker-y/abusive behavior. Sounds goooooood to me… NOT!
In Conclusion
I think maybe you can tell that I was not a fan? Yeah… I think that was obvious.
There was just nothing about this story that made it special or unique to me. I think perhaps I may have enjoyed this when I was younger, but hey, I was dumb and glorifying overprotective abusive relationships of my own at the time.
New refined me says NO to this book and I will not be continuing with this series.
A Thousand Lives of Frankie Lovely 
I actually had this on my TBR, but I didn’t realize about the abusive/stalking aspect. I agree, this is not an attractive quality and shouldn’t be glorified. I will pass on reading this one as I think I will have similar views as you. Thank you for the honest review.
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This book came out around the time that all of these YA books were sort of doing the same thing … like Twilight. And in all honesty, this book just read too young and predictable and trope-y to me above all else. You might read it and realize that the issues I had didn’t really seem like issues for you.
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Hm…maybe, but I don’t like young/immature writing and/or characters while I read. I get annoyed easily when the characters act too young, lol. That’s not to say I don’t like children’s book because I do (Harry Potter, Wonder, etc). I just like the characters to be a bit more on the mature side.
I hope your next read goes better! 🙂
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Yeah I hear that! You would most likely have a lot of the same issues then. It’s a pretty cliché mess also.
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In that case, maybe I’ll just push this down the bottom of the list, lol.
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ahahah awesome review, Frankie! I read this around the time Twilight came out and loved it so much … i don’t think i’ll ever get to re-reading this xD
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it was absolutely the type of book in abundance at that time!
I might would have enjoyed it if I had read it back then … but I didn’t.
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Twilight the movie** :3
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Great review Frankie!! I read this book around the same time it was published and remember loving it ! I’ve been wanting to reread it for a while to see if I would still like it as an adult, and I’m kind of scared to, because I don’t think I will. I don’t want to tarnish my memory of this book lol!
You’re so right about the stalker-ish behaviour – unfortunately that was such a theme in YA novels at the time, and I remember thinking it was romantic. Ugh. Especially because so many other books portrayed that kind of behaviour as well, from Twilight to Jessica’s Guide, to Wicked Lovely … it’s so disappointing, but I’m glad we acknowledge that as abuse now and show how wrong it is and that people no longer accept that in novels typically meant for teenage girls.
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Thank you and YES! It was THE theme at the time, but this was my first read so I didn’t have that younger me pov, though like I said, I’m pretty sure younger me would have liked this. I say, if this book has a positive place in your memories now … don’t risk tarnishing it. I always fear a re-read of my favorites for that reason lol.
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Oh yes, younger you definitely would have liked it lol. I remember at the time I thought Nora was a really strong character because she acknowledged that Patch’s behaviour was creepy, unlike Bella, but my memory could be playing up here, I’m not to sure if that’s right.
Yeah, might give this reread a miss! 😀
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No that’s right. She did acknowledge it … which was something Bella never did. I remember being OUTRAGED when I watched the movie Twilight! I have a background in abusive relationships so this sort of thing hits me hard especially when it comes to the teen target audience.
But yes … Nora was freaked out by it so at least there is that.
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Ok I at least remember that. Not bad for someone who read the book like 8 years ago!
Yes, I can understand. It’s important that young girls know about this type of behaviour, but so terrible when it’s romanticised.
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I’m sorry you didn’t like this one… A very good friend of mine also adores the series (although she did read it when she was younger so I’m cutting her some slack here) and has recommended it to me many times. But being the book stalker that I am, I’ve read quite a few reviews on it and realized it’s not for me.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading your take on it 🙂 Sometimes, our very well-intended friends are wrong and we have to accept it. Sigh.
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lol … my friend also had read I when she was younger, and after I read it and told her how I felt she said that she thinks she might not love it anymore if she read it again. Im glad she is able to have it in fond memory though. I want people to enjoy books.
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Yeah, I think that’s awesome 🙂 There are just some books we should never revisit hahaha
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