Finale | by: Becca Fitzpatrick

*Don't read this review unless you've read the other books in Becca Fitzpatrick's Hush, Hush Saga. This will probably contain spoilers for those who haven't, but there won't be spoilers for those who have read the previous three but not this one.

The Hush, Hush Saga is one of my favorite YA paranormal romance series, but it has reached its end with Finale, a roller-coaster of an ending that kept me turning the pages and fearing the outcome. Though the other three books in the series held so much action and surprise, none of them match up to Finale in that department.

But I wasn't so excited to get through this one at first. I knew that Nora and Patch were in a (rather complicated) pickle, and I wasn't so sure how they'd manage. Nora has become the leader of the Nephilim army and must fulfill her oath to the Black Hand, but in order to do so, the Nephilim are going to have to believe in her, whether she has the self-confidence or not. She must undergo training along the way, gaining the strength she needs to defend herself, and she can't let the Nephilim realize that her boyfriend is Patch, who they'd automatically consider an enemy since he's a fallen angel.

While dealing with these dilemmas amid training, Nora discovers something that will make her even stronger... and upon this discovery, I started getting irritated with Nora. I just had that feeling one gets when reading and the character does something stupid, and then the reader sits there rolling his/her eyes thinking "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" In the past few books, I've felt relatively connected with Nora, but between her decisions with devilcraft broke this connection along with her new, unnatural dialogue. I just couldn't relate to her or understand her.

Thankfully, any negativity towards this book ends there. (At least for the most part.) Characters like Vee, Scott, and of course, Patch, still stood their ground as fabulous characters while Nora was starting to falter. I mean, what more could I ask for? Patch is one of my favorite love interests while Vee and Scott are two of my favorite BFFs.

But all in all, the best elements of Finale are the moments of action that are often followed by unsuspected twists and turns. There were a few times when I wondered if some of Fitzpatrick's twists were even plausible due to their seemingly random appearances, but that's not the case. Fitzpatrick is just so sneaky! I don't know how she keeps everything so well-hidden; I don't think I've ever been so surprised while reading before! The second half of this novel is magnificent!

Now, I'm not saying I'm in love with every single aspect of this book, either. As I previously mentioned, I had some issues with Nora, and Fitzpatrick's general writing style didn't impress me that much. But my goodness, Finale has perhaps the most explosive ending out of every book I've ever read. It's such an adrenaline rush, and it even started to tug at my heart strings. As far as how the plot progressed and came to a close, this was the perfect ending to this series. People keeping secrets, traitors, jealousy, violence, the brink of war, Nephilim officials in cloaks... Yep, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

A lot of the series I've been keeping up with are coming to a close, and though I'll miss them, I must admit, I've gotten an amazing ending out of the Hush, Hush Saga. It's been such a fun series, and the crazy/amazing ending surpassed my expectations for this anticipated Finale.

4/5 Stars

Silence | by: Becca Fitzpatrick

Silence is the newest installment in Becca Fitzpatrick's Hush, Hush Saga, an addictive, action-packed series that I just can't seem to stay away from. I warn that the summary (the following paragraph) may contain spoilers if you haven't read the first two books in the series, Hush, Hush and Crescendo.

Nora Grey has been missing for multiple weeks, but now she has returned to the life she left behind. However, she can't remember anything about what has happened during her time away from home, nor can she remember anything from the couple of months before her disappearance. She struggles to find the truth of all she's forgotton as well as return to her normal, ordinary life. But she's coming to find that what she can't remember of her life was anything but ordinary, and that her captor is closer to home than she ever anticipated. With plenty of deja vu and discoveries, Nora finds that some memories may not have been so bad...

There is something special about this series. Maybe it's the mystery. Maybe it's the way that the paranormal suspense makes me feel like I'm watching a movie.Maybe it's that the action makes me never want to put it down. Or, maybe it's just Patch. Either way, this series exceeds the cliche standard of paranormal romance, and Silence merely emphasized this point.
Like the other books in this series, Silence begins with action right away, catching my interest. But then, lo and behold, my eye-rolling began. Nora. Lost. Her. Memory? I figured right off the bat that this would lay out a long, irritating road of Nora being clueless while I'd be understanding everything that happens, making me want to scream at her everything she needs to know. But, I was pleasantly surprised that this didn't really happen. This element wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be, and Becca Fitzpatrick actually made it work in a way that didn't tick me off. The plot moves along pretty quickly, actually.

Silence is also like the previous books in the series in the sense that it's creepy and full of mystery, but now the story has taken a darker turn. Everything seemed to get a little more serious, dangerous, and perilous now that we know more about the Black Hand and his intentions. This book seemed to have the most action and suspense of the series because of it, helping make it possibly my favorite of the series. Honestly, I don't really have any complaints about this book in terms of plot. Nor do I have complaints about the writing. Becca Fitzpatrick may not be my favorite writer or anything close to that, but the writing was efficient. Nothing wonderful, but nothing great, like with the other books.

As I probably mentioned in my reviews of the first two books, there never seems to be enough Patch. This doesn't bother me very much in other paranormal romance novels because I usually don't like the main guy THIS much. However, I'm so happy that there was actually a sufficient amount of Patch in this novel! But, we do get more from antagonists. Even though this makes the action skyrocket, the primary antagonist of this novel really got under my skin. You know, the stuff an antagonist is supposed to do.

After the scariest cliff-hanger in the world at the end of Crescendo, I was afraid that Silence would do the same. Although it's easy to tell that there's still more to Patch and Nora's story, readers should be satisfied with the degree of closure given.

Silence proved to be an amazing installment in this awesome series. Despite that it's probably quintessential paranormal romance, this book (and the rest of the series) is darker and quite mysterious. It has suspense in its quickly-paced plot, and I love it.

4/5 Stars


Fitzpatrick, Becca. Silence
New York: Simon & Schuster
2011