Book Review - Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick


My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Ummm.. ok. So I've finished reading Hush, Hush today, and in record time for me... it only took me the weekend to get through it. Does this mean that the book was fantastic and therefore I could not put it down? Sorta, kinda, maybe not so much... lol

Alright, I'll start with the pros:
1. BEAUTIFUL cover! I have to be honest, it is what drew me in. I saw this cover and said, "I want that book on my bookshelf"
2. Quick read! If you have been following my reviews for a while, then you may have noticed that I am a slow ass reader! It's true! But I flew through this book. The print is kind of small, but the line spacing is quite large, so there's not as much to read as you think.
3. Tons of dialogue. I love a book that tells a story using a lot of diaglogue and this one does that for sure! The only time that I felt like skimming was during all the descriptive parts of the "fight scenes" lol
4. Some pretty cool angel mythology thrown in there at the end. I always like reading about that kind of stuff.

And now for the cons:
1. How can I put this lightly.... ridiculous characters! You've got your main character, Nora and her best bud Vee. Between these two... I must have hit my palm to my forehead shouting, "WTH are you thinking!?!" at least a dozen times. I kind of got the sense that the author was "making" some things happen just for the sake of taking the story where she needed it... rather than having everything that happens in the story be interesting and valid pieces of the plot. Does that make sense?
2. Three fourths of the book feels like you're reading a Nancy Drew dectective type story... or maybe even an R.L. Stine Fear Street novel. I was seriously experiencing some flashbacks to my junior high days when I lived off of Fear Street books. A lot of this story was kind of "juvenille". And I do know that this is a YA/Teen book, and that I'm a 28 year old woman. So I guess it just depends on your tastes.
3. I did not like the way some of the plot lines were resolved at the end of the book. I don't quite know how to describe what I mean by this without giving away a spoiler. But just trust me... it came across as a "lazy" or "quick" means of wrapping it up.
4. The love story was lacking, seriously. By the end of the book, I was like... "Wait, how did these two actually fall in love with each other?" It was not a gradual build up that had me screaming, Kiss her, Kiss him! It was kind of like all the drama and danger has passed, and now we will kiss and be in love! Tadah!! lol I was disappointed.

So overall, do I reccommend this book? It's hard to say. If you are a young/young at heart reader, than this may be a great book for you. I feel like I went into this book looking for a lot of angel mythology mixed with a love story, and both things were not there until the very end... and even then there was very little. However, I will say this... this book is the first in a series, which means the story is not over. I know that I tend to be critical sometimes on first and second novels in a series because I want every part of the story to be there... and it could be that this author is simply saving the better parts for the latter books. Will I read the sequel Cresendo? Probably, but it will not be at the top of my pile of to-be-reads.

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Unwind by Neal Shusterman

Unwind by Neal Shusterman


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Wow! I got a lot more out of this book than I was expecting! This is a dysotopian novel set in a society that I certainly hope never comes to fruition.


The battle over abortion has resulted in a war and the end result is more disturbing and horrifiying than either opposing side ever wanted. What is that end result you may ask... well it is to "unwind" children. To "unwind" basically means that a team of surgeons dimantle your body. New medical techniques have been developed that allow doctors to replace ANY and ALL body parts with those of an "unwind" child. No more transplant waiting lists because now organs are plentiful. If you are unhappy with your nose, eyes, teeth, etc... no more plastic surgery, just buy a new ones!


They pitch "unwinding" as if it is not death... they claim that it is a new "form" of living. Your body parts are transplanted to those who need/want them. Every piece of you is used, therefore no piece of you technically dies. However, it has to be done before a child is legally an adult, 18. So the decision is made by the child's parents or in the case of wards of the state, the state decides. Many of the unwinds in the story are concerned about their souls and what will happen to them... does it go away or is it streched out thin between every person who receives a piece of you? This is a reoccurring question throughout the novel.


Basically, parents who have problem/troublesome children will sign for their child to be unwound. This is the scenario for one of the main characters, Collin. Also, children who live in state homes are often unwound for various reasons, usually involving lack of funds. This is the back story for Risa, another main character. And then the final, and most bothersome in my opinion, mode of becoming an unwind is to be tithed. The Bible states that you should tithe 10%. So Levi (Lev for short) just so happens to be the 10th child in his very religous family and therefore has known all of his life that his parents have offered him as a tithe and that he will be unwound on his 13th birthday. Crazy, right!?!


So through a series of circumstances these three characters cross paths and then the story really gets going... as if there has not already been enough crazy ideas thrown at you from the little that I've already told you about! Trust me, that is just the tip of the iceberg as for where this story then goes.


This is why I gave this book a four rather than a 5. I feel like there was just TOO much crammed into 352 pages. I really think that all of these ideas could have been explored deeper and a series of books could have come out of all of this. I'm not saying that I was disappointed at all in the things that happened or even how the story ended... I am saying I wanted more!! I wanted to go deeper into this. So if I have to pick out any flaw that would be it... and I'm not so sure if that's so much a flaw! =)


Okay, so do I have a favorite character?? Impossible for me to pick one... all three of the characters are fabulously flawed! I loved it! They are not perfect, they make mistakes, they do stupid things, and I loved them for every choice they made! I didn't really have a full appreciation of how much I liked these characters until the end.


Warnings that I can offer before you venture into this book... pay attention to EVERYTHING! It all comes back into play later on. There is a scene where you get to witness an "unwinding" and it is chilling! Highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good dysotopian story!!




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Book Review - City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

 

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Alrighty then! Finally finished this monster of a book! Haha Seriously though, its taken me nearly a month to read it. So I do apologize for the delay. Now on to my thoughts about it...



Ok, so this is the third book in the series. If you've watched my Youtube videos on the first two books, then you know that I didn't give either of them five stars. I decided to give this book four stars because I did like it... considerably more than the previous two.



The story seriously picks up in this book. I loved the plot line, I loved the directions that it took, I loved the biblical/angel references, I loved the twists, I loved that many questions were finally answered, and loved the happy feeling it left me with once finished! I now have an itch for angel/biblical/mythological books! I went on the hunt for some on Amazon yesterday.



I think that my expectations were too high for City of Ashes and when I read City of Bones I felt slightly more satisfied. Now, with City of Glass I am even more happpy with the experience I got from reading it!



I have to be honest though... I skipped over some of the "padded out" parts in this book also. I'm sorry if this makes me a bad reader, but it was torturous to me and I just needed to get past it! lol I mentioned that I did this in my Youtube reviews on the other two books. And I really don't think that it made me miss out on any of the story line. I focused on reading dialogue and not so much on reading the descriptions of landscape, scenery, and all that kind of stuff.



If I have one major complaint about these books it would be that there is just too much "padding" for my taste. I like a book with a lot of dialogue... that makes me feel like the story is constantly moving along. These books really have some parts in them that just drag out. I feel like they are not necessary to the plot and the story. But that is just my opinion. If you can get past the slow parts there is a very a wonderful story to get lost in!







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My Book Rating System



Five Star Book
A book that sticks with me when I'm finished. A book that tranports me while I'm reading. A book that makes me feel.


Examples: The Host, Hunger Games, House Rules, Twilight


Four Star Book

A book that intrigues my interests. A book that makes me wonder.


Examples: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Wicked Lovely, Perfect Chemistry



Three Star Book
A book that is interesting. A book that has potential, but needs more in the story line to make it satisfying.


Examples: The Forest of Hands and Teeth, Ink Exchange, City of Bones, City of Ashes



Two Star Book
A book with a decent premise, but falls short on delivery and steady entertainment.


Examples: The Lovely Bones


One Star Book
A book that is ridiculously boring, predictable, and cliche'.


Examples: The Heavenstone Secrets

Horns by Joe Hill

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is definitely one of those books that will "stick with me". It's not a "feel good" read. The book definitely is what I would consider "heavy" (sorry for all the quotations, lol) That being said, I still loved it! It really offers a different kind of protagonist.



The main character in this book is Ignatius (Iggy, Ig... LOVE this name)Perrish. The book follows the life of Ig beginning in his pre-teens. Ig comes from a well-to-do family. He falls in love at an early age with Merrin Williams, whom he meets in church. He also befriends Lee Tourneau around the same time. The book centers around these three characters as well as Ig's older brother Terry.



The book begins with Ig waking up one morning after "doing bad things" to discover that he has grown HORNS from his temples. He soon discovers that these horns give him a power. Anyone who comes across his path is suddenly compelled to tell Ig all of their deepest, darkest thoughts and desires. The day that Ig discovers the horns he is confronted with the deep, dark thoughts and desires of multiple people in his life (mother, father, brother, grandmother, priest, doctor, girlfriend, etc...) This is definitely an amazing hook that will lock you into this book from the very beginning.



As you continue reading, you discover that Ig's long time girlfriend, Merrin was murdered the previous year, and though Ig was never convicted, EVERYONE believes he did it.



Ultimately, Ig uses the power of the horns to discover what really happened to Merrin, but he also learns things about himself.



This book has a number of plot twists in the story that give you those OMG moments while reading. It also pulls on your emotional heart strings... especially towards the end. There is one particular letter near the end that had me in tears.



Ig and Merrin have definitely become two of my all time favorite characters. I highly recommend this book, as an adult fiction novel!!



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