This post contains spoilers. But seriously I'm saving you the trouble of slogging through this hot mess.
So I couldn't resist the sequel to Hush, Hush so I scampered out to my local library to get the next installment.
Once again Patch acts like a total douche the entire time. But! Now there is a second dude who's just as jerky as Patch! Nora gets pushed around by 100% more dudes than she did in the first book. And they make sure to up the ante.
The dudes, break into her house, roofie her, chase her, try to blow her up, shoot her (tragically not fatal), invade her dreams, change her thoughts, get in fist fights for her honor, try to sexually assault her, kidnap her, threaten to murder her, try to murder her, abuse her mentally and physically, and of course break her heart.
Once again Nora is fairly certain Patch wants to kill her dead. But he's still so dreamy!
Nora is that unfortunate combination of too stupid to live but unkillable. She stumbles around the entire book wondering if some will kill her and "throw her body in a dumpster." But instead of doing something anything about it she sits around passively leaving the doors to her house unlocked.
Fitzpatrick fails to flesh out the world of fallen angels. And the "plot" remains at WTF as ever. But she does mention the fallen angels built an amusement park in upstate Maine! That makes sense! And adds to my understanding about the motivations of fallen angels.
Finally, at one point the fallen angels and co. go to a club called the Devil's Handbag. Just let that sink in. The Devil's Handbag. You didn't know the devil carries a purse? Well he does! God! It's as hot as the devil's handbag in here! I hope Nora doesn't get murdered in the devil's handbag!
I love reading books that I fully expect to be terrible messes. See: Twilight Series. Reading a book that has terrible writing brings a joy I can't fully describe. It's kind of like Tosh.0 in word form. Watching people fail isn't a delight reserved only for the realm of youtube. The only downside is I can't see the author's face when I eviscerate their hard work.
I seek out books that have no chance of being halfway decent: see Shatter Me. I've been looking for a book as God awful as Shatter Me since the moment the book was over (the sequel won't be out for some time). And although Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick is no Shatter Me, it is terrible. Ah.
If you think this book is a blatant Twilight rip-off that substitutes vampires for fallen angels, you'd be right! Nora and Patch (yes rebel, bad boy, fallen angel is named Patch.) meet in Biology class, as lab partners.
Now where have I read that before?
Both books feature ageless, supernatural dudes who prey on high school girls. Both teach teens horrible life lessons. Both use the power of the internet to confirm their suspicions about their unusual paramours. But Hush, Hush takes the reprehensible genre of paranormal teen fiction to a new low.
Like most mediocre YA fiction Nora is a clumsy do-nothing who is too stupid to live. Without exception every male character, including police officers, abuse Nora in one way or another. They intimidate her, threaten, physically harm, stalk, sexually harass, they alter her thoughts, and act like jerks. Nora's response: OMG should I do something? She never stands up for herself or says, hey your unwanted sexual comments make me uncomfortable.
Throughout the story Nora is half convinced that her smoking hot lab partner is trying to kill her. But he's such a hottie! Example: "If rape, murder or any other miscreant activities were on Patch's mind, he'd cornered me in the perfect place." Let's do a close reading. Nora believes that the chiseled hunk she's falling for wants to rape and murder her. But she can't stay away, because he's so fine. She seeks him out even though she thinks he will cause her physical harm. In the meantime he acts like a tool.
This book follows an abusive relationship = love trend I'm noticing more in YA FIC.
At one point Patch pins Nora to a bed and tells her he wants to murder her. This is after he used his super powers to manipulate her thoughts so he could isolate her, and lure her to a motel room. He tells her no one can hear her scream.
But because he's in love with her it ok, according to Bacca Fitzpatrick. She, like Stephanie Meyer before her, sends the message that if he stalks you, he loves you! He just wants to watch you sleep!
I set out expecting to hate this book because of its poor writing, aggravating characters (one is named Chauncey), and silly plot twists/holes. But I never realized I'd be able to hate it because of the terrible messages it sends to impressionable young tweens. My dislike is so nuanced now!
Never forget girls, if he doesn't threaten to kill you, it's not true love.
