Hush, Hush & Crescendo

Picture this: a cold, snowy, icy day, a girl and her two dogs snuggled up reading a book.  She reads, reads, and can't seem to stop.  She unfortunately lives in a town with no book store.  She begs her husband to brave the road conditions to take her to the next town in order to buy part two of this story.  He gives in, because really, why wouldn't he.  This is exactly what happened when I read Becca Fitzpatrick's Hush Hush on a snow day this winter.

This book had me at hello.  This is the story of Nora Gray whose father was killed in a mysterious accident previously.  Nora lives in a small town

with her usually absent mother.  Nora seems to be your average girl but meets a new student at her school with whom she has an instant connection and repulsion.  This is none other than the mysterious Patch, who turns out to be a fallen angel.  At this point, I must tell you that in my mind, Patch is the late, great Heath Ledger as he appeared in the movie What I Hate About You.  See I told you.  I mean does that face say fallen angel turned guardian or what?  Exactly. 

The story's basis is that fallen angels interact with us mere humans all the time.  Patch has fallen out of grace with the other angels because he wanted to be human.  As a way of redeeming himself, he is serving as Nora's guardian angel.  Despite her seemingly regular girl facade, she is involved in the world of the supernatural more than she would ever have guessed.  Nora and Patch develop a relationship and battle the forces of evil in a way that leaves the reader wanting more.  Which brings me to the follow up novel, Crescendo. 

As the name promises, Crescendo brings a symphony of action and drama to the story readers came to love in Hush, Hush.  Nora becomes confused as Patch seems to distance himself from her.  She digs deeper into the mystery of her father's death.  She begins to see that her life is inexplicably tied to the Nephilim that she is only beginning to understand.

Becca Fitzpatrick's first novels are certainly in my humble opinion a huge success.  She made me feel as drawn into the story and excited as the first time I read Twilight.  Even the titles of the books in the trilogy are smart.  For those literature geeks like myself, I am sure that you've noticed that the trilogy's titles fit perfectly along the classic plot diagram we all dutifullly learned in middle school.  I mean way to go Becca!  Not only did you write an amazing series, you also laid these titles out so beautifully to indicate what the reader will find in each installment.  You are awesome!

So despite starting my quest for silence on a snowy, icy day, I continue to snuggle those same two dogs and impatiently wait until Silence arrives on October 4.  Good grief.  It's like the story of my life...waiting for slience.