Hush, Hush

A sacred oath. A fallen angel. A forbidden love.


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...until Patch comes 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 whom 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 far 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.

      One thing I will say before I start this review: the cover is freaking beautiful. Why do iffy books have to have such gorgeous covers? It's the primary reason many people bought this book in the first place.


      Now, to the book.


       I could talk about a lot of things in my review. I scribbled down a ridiculous amount of notes while reading this.  But the fact is, I don't feel like writing a several thousand word long rant when I'd mostly be reiterating what all other reviews have already said.  


       No, I'm just going to talk about one aspect of this book.   This aspect has perhaps been talked about the most, but I felt the need to repeat it, because this was my biggest problem with the book.
  
       Patch and Nora's relationship.


        Patch humiliates Nora in front of her whole class.  He stalks her.  He sexually harasses her.  He pushes her against walls, pins her to a bed.  He tries to kill her.  And yet this . . . this is considered romance.


         Please don't get me wrong: I am not saying I hated Patch as a character. I think he could've been a really intriguing character if he wasn't the love interest of the girl he is trying to murder.


         I just really hate the message this book sends. That someone can sexually harass you, embarrass you, force you around, try to kill you, but it's okay--nay, it's good--to love them.  Also, on the matter of love, how long did they know each other? A couple weeks at most. I think that's a little too soon to be making proclamations of love.


         But back to the point.  Their relationship.  It's . . . frankly, it's very, very unhealthy.  Nora spends about 5/6 of the book terrified of Patch, but lusting after him at the same time.  During one of their encounters, she contemplates running to the fire alarm and pulling it so security will come and take him away because he is making her that frightened, and . . . this is about forty pages from the end of the book.  So it's not like she started out terrified and he slowly grew more safe-seeming. No. Forty pages from the end of the book Nora is thinking of how to escape Patch.  This, this must be love.


       Another thing worth mentioning: Nora's logic is crazed.  She's so scared of him for so long,  so convinced that he's stalking her or means her harm before she has any concrete proof, and then when he actually ADMITS to her that he has tried to kill her while pinning her against a wall, she's thinking, "Oh, but Patch couldn't hurt me." (That is not a direct quote, it is the gist of her thoughts. I am too lazy to get a direct quote.)  What is this logic?  You know someone has tried to kill you, but apparently because they're physically attractive, that's perfectly alright.


        Their relationship just really frustrated me.  Even if you ignore the several-thousand-year-old male to teen female relationship that keeps cropping up in paranormal romance these days, the fact that what they have is considered love really upsets me because it sends such a wrong message to all its readers. Ladies, if a man is humiliating you, sexually harassing you, and trying to kill you, please understand that this is not him trying to be romantic; this is the point at which you should run away.


        I gave this book two stars, because despite all my problems with it, it was very readable--it didn't bore me and it did make me want to keep reading, even if I was headdesking at the same time--and the writing itself was pretty decent, although I got a little tired of the ellipses followed by . . . questions?