Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick

Genre: paranormal, mystery
Series and Book #: Hush, Hush Saga #3
Pages: 448
Summary:

When silence is all that's left, can the truth finally be heard?

Nora Grey can't remember the past five months of her life. After the initial shock of waking up in a cemetery and being told that she has been missing for weeks—with no one knowing where she was or who she was with—she tries to get her life back on track. Go to school, hang out with her best friend, Vee, and dodge her mom's creepy new boyfriend.

But there is this voice in the back of her head, an idea that she could almost reach out and touch. Visions of angel wings and unearthly creatures that have nothing to do with the life she knows.

And this unshakable feeling that a part of her is missing.

Then Nora crosses paths with a very sexy stranger, whom she feels a mesmerizing connection to. He seems to hold all the answers…and her heart. Every minute she spends with him grows more and more intense until she realizes she could be falling in love. Again.

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I had seriously problems with Ms. Fitzpatrick in this novel because she turned everything upside down right after the shocking conclusion of Crescendo! I mean, honestly, do you have to take away Nora's memory, in which she can't remember Patch at all?? Through Nora's patchy (punny, right?) memory comebacks and her amnesia (when moments of her past were brought up and she had no clue what anyone was talking about) I thought that I'd never make it through the book. One of my greatest pet peeves of novels is retelling the entire series. Honestly, if you're reading the second novel without reading the first, GO READ THE FIRST! *Cough* Anyway, I was pushing myself through Nora's slow recovery to make it to the end when Patch came back and everything was hunky dory again!

Nora's stubbornness distressed me in this novel, especially towards the end. I know it wouldn't have made for an interesting novel if she just sat on her hands and waited for everyone else to figure things out, but she could at least have listened to Patch a bit? Especially towards the end when Hank was getting closer and the Danger-o-Meter was in the red range.

Four words to wrap up this novel: good, frustrating, twisty, dark.... The theme of all three of the Hush, Hush novels was darkness, and I thought it was mightily improved in this one. Nora's constant visions of black, black, black almost sent me over-the-edge! You know when a character doesn't know something, but you do, and so you just want to dive right in to the novel and help them? Yeah, that's pretty much a summary of what I was thinking throughout this entire book. It kept it interesting, surprising, and alluring. Once I put it down, I just wanted to pick it back up again!

The Cover: Not quite as impressive as the first two.

Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick

Genre: paranormal, mystery
Series and Book #: Hush, Hush Saga #2
Pages: 427
Summary:

Nora Grey’s life is still far from perfect. Surviving an attempt, on her life wasn’t pleasant, but at least she got a guardian angel out of it. A mysterious, magnetic, gorgeous guardian angel. But despite his role in her life, Patch has been acting anything but angelic. He’s more elusive than ever (if that’s possible) and what’s worse, he seems to be spending time with Nora’s archenemy, Marcie Millar.

Nora would have hardly noticed Scott Parnell, an old family friend who has moved back to town, if Patch hadn’t been acting so distant. Even with Scott’s totally infuriating attitude, Nora finds herself drawn to him—despite her lingering feelings that he is hiding something.

If that weren’t enough, Nora is haunted by images of her murdered father, and comes to question whether her Nephilim bloodline has anything to do with his death. Desperate to figure out what happened, she puts herself in increasingly dangerous situations to get the answer. But maybe some things are better left buried, because the truth could destroy everything—and everyone—she trusts.

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Though it had a rocky start, Crescendo lived up to it's predecessor. Another mystery, more angels, and, of course, Patch.

I thought that after the near-attempt on her life, Nora would be a bit more cautious about who she hung around and where she tried to find information. But she threw caution into the wind and completely disregarded Patch's warnings. This made for an interesting, suspenseful novel in which Nora's running from the bad guys constantly and Patch is always making surprise appearances!

It was really hard for me to get into the beginning of the novel. It was so slow and the only real anxiety was between Patch and Nora. There were no bad guys, just distrust and heartbreak. Nora was so consumed with Patch that she had neglected to discover what was happening (essentially) in her own back yard. But it picked up and got right back on track with the perfect amount of balance between Patch and the mystery of her father's murder.

Overall, not as great as Hush, Hush. I have a feeling that this is one of those middle books that doesn't really have a great story, but it sets up the next novel. I loved the new characters Fitzpatrick added to the mix, and all the new, scarier places where Nora could find herself. Fitzpatrick definitely didn't have "dull" on her mind when she wrote this book! The ending featured a cliff-hanger that I am desperately wanting to un-cliff-hang! So if you'll excuse me, I'm off to read Silence!

The Cover: I really, really love it. Heartbreaking and symbolic.

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Genre: paranormal & mystery
Series and Book #: Hush, Hush Series #1
Pages: 391
Summary:

A sacred oath, a fallen angel, a forbidden love

When Nora and Patch are forced together as lab partners, Nora would rather fall to her death than put up with his elusive answers to her questions, his teasing, and his infuriatingly handsome face and hypnotizing eyes. It seems Patch was put on earth just to drive her crazy.

But before long, Nora’s defenses start to break down as her curiosity about Patch heats up. Why does he always seem to be where she is and know exactly what she’s thinking? How does he know what to say to both attract and repulse her? And what is up with those V-shaped scars on his chiseled back?

As their connection grows stronger, Nora’s own life becomes increasingly fragile. Nora needs to decide: Is Patch the one who wants to do her harm or the one who will keep her safe? Has she fallen for one of the fallen?

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I'm just going to dive right in and say: THIS IS TOTALLY NOT WHAT I EXPECTED. AT ALL. See, I thought that this would be one of those gushy-slash-dark-and-serious fallen angel stories, and, true there was some gushiness and some dark and seriousness, but it didn't consume the entire novel. Fitzpatrick made Nora this lovable, funny girl who was incredibly frustrated and scared of Patch, but who always searched for answers and followed what she thought was right.

Oh, goodness, Vee! The bright and spunky character who played with Nora's theories and always saw the brightness in a situation. Vee was a terrific character. She downplayed the drama of Patch's mysteriousness, and she kept Nora under a logical viewpoint. Nora is officially one of my favorite MC's. She's witty and she's collected but she's just nerdy enough so that she wasn't a character you couldn't relate to. And she was very wary of Patch right from the start. She didn't just suddenly fall head-over-heels in love with him.

I loved the inclusion of a murder mystery. This added spice to the novel and made it less of a stereotypical fallen angel book. The way Fitzpatrick set it up was subtle and she kept adding all these different people who could have been out to get Nora. In the end, I felt as if I was a bit shocked at who the murderer was, but I wasn't entirely flabbergasted by it.

Overall, if you're looking for a funny book with lots of suspense and an undercurrent of romance, this is definitely a book for you. It totally delivered a fresh view on fallen angels, one that hasn't been seen before. I can't wait to read Crescendo and Silence!

The Cover: Falling angel, slant of light from clouds, disappearing feathers... Literally, one of the most accurate I have ever seen. Also one of my favorites.