By Tiffany Logue, Contributing writer
Photo from darkfairytales.com
Becca Fitzpatrick’s novel “Hush, Hush” made its way to number 10 on the New York Times Bestseller list, became a best-seller in England, France and Brazil, as well as being a Publisher’s Weekly best-seller.
These accolades may not mean much to readers until they find out that “Hush, Hush” is Fitzpatrick’s first novel.
The novel starts with an oath between a human and “one of the Devil’s brood” being sworn. After this promise is made, Fitzpatrick takes her readers to the novel’s present time.
The book then becomes about a girl’s high school biology assignment, or rather the boy with whom she is forced to work to complete it.
Nora Grey is a promising sophomore in high school at 16 years of age, living in a small farmhouse with her widowed mother and focusing only on getting a good scholarship for college.
Her life is somewhat interrupted when her biology assignment pairs her with the moody, prototypical bad boy, Patch.
Nora must go out of her way to interview Patch for the assignment. As she starts getting answers, Patch makes sure that Nora knows he is interested in being more than friends with her. He embarrasses, chases, and tricks his way into Nora’s heart.
As Nora spends more time with Patch, she finds out that he has many more secrets in his past than she could imagine. She has to keep secrets, confront Patch, run from his past and learn to trust him to survive the mysteries he holds.
The book holds romance, an unexpected ending and foreshadowing that is easy to overlook but incredibly meaningful once it kicks in. It will keep you wondering until the end.
I enjoyed the book because of the story’s plot. Nora’s love for the secondary character, Vee, reminded me of how strong the bonds of friendship are.
These bonds take Nora to many places she would not have been if her friend were not in danger and in need her help.
After I made it to the last page of “Hush, Hush,” I wanted to know what happened next, like other readers. Fitzpatrick answered the curiosity of those readers by releasing the next book in the series, “Crescendo” (released on Oct. 19, 2010).
While still firmly entrenched in the new generation of paranormal romance, “Hush, Hush” is a welcome relief from the glut of vampires and werewolves running around. If you’re tired of pale, glittery and furry, you might enjoy picking this one up.