Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

HUSH, HUSH SERIES BOOK 01

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Simon & Schuster BFYR

Published in 2009

ISBN 9781416989417

391 Pages

PLACES TO BUY FROM:

Amazon (Hardcover)
Barnes & Noble (Hardcover)

CHECKED OUT THE BOOK FROM MY PUBLIC LIBRARY.

Review/Rating:

4 out of 5



Nora Grey has always been a normal girl: trying to get into a good college, a worried and overprotective mother, and a best friend who thinks she needs a little spice and a man in her life. Nora has never thought about boys or even romance, to the disappointment of her best friend, Vee, at least, not until Patch comes along. Then after meeting him, strange and terrifying things start to happen to her: Patch turning up almost everywhere she is, a strange figure following her and attacking her, and Patch's mysterious ways that make her unable to decide to love him or run away. As she discovers the truth behind her attacker, Patch, and herself, she finds herself her in the battle between fallen angels and immortal beings called the Nephilium. Will she choose the right path that will keep her alive and next to Patch?

Ahhh... another fallen angel book. Is it me, or are novels with fallen angels getting popular? >.>" Well, at least with this novel, it was a lot better than Fallen, which completely reminded me of Twilight. Good news, this one only sort of reminds me of Twilight. Though the way Patch acts like sort of reminds me of Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side, where Lucius acts with mysteriousness and what seems like verbal abuse.

Unlike Fallen and Twilight, the lead female character acts with both strength and weakness, which makes her out as a believable teenage girl. Also, the lead guy character, even though he's still mysterious, he acts almost like Lucius, a bad boy character, but without showing that much violence towards the one he loves. Another thing that made this book better than Twilight was the humor attempts were actually kind of funny, and it reminded me of how I was as a teenager. Unlike with Twilight and Fallen, you were actually able to tell the characters were all teenagers without having to remind yourself -- which was the main things that made it better than Twilight, despite the similarities they still kind of share.

Even though it was better than Twilight and Fallen, you couldn't miss how some things were kind of similar. Like, how Nora discovers she's not completely human and has a side to her she doesn't understand. Also, how there are some plot holes and didn't explain the past of Chauncey's/Jules's that much, or explain more about the Book of Enoch. However, unlike the Twilight saga, which is completed, I'm willing to wait until the series are completed before I judge on plot holes.

I thought the descriptions were kind of okay and had enough to make the first book interesting, but I'm going to expect much more in the second book. Go ahead and read it. The characters are not that annoying, and I find it much more delightful than the Twilight saga. *SHUDDERS*

Other Reviews/Author Site:

Becca Fitzpatrick
Goodreads: Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
Library Thing: Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
The Crescive Library: Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
What to Read After Twilight: Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
After Twilight: Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Wicked Girls by Stephanie Hemphill

 

Wicked Girls by Stephanie Hemphill

Balzer + Bray (Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers)

Published in 2010

ISBN 9780061853289

408 Pages

PLACES TO BUY FROM:

Amazon (Hardcover)
Barnes & Noble (Hardcover)

CHECKED OUT THE BOOK FROM MY PUBLIC LIBRARY.

Review/Rating:

2 out of 5



In the village of Salem, during the 1690's, several young women accuse many people of being witches -- which is now known as the Salem Witch Trials. In Wicked Girls, this book is told from the perspective from the lead girls: Ann Putnam Jr., Mercy Lewis, and Margaret Walcott. Each having their own reason for doing so, they have to decide whether or not it is too late to tell the truth.

I really don't know what to say about this book without revealing too much about the book and spoiling it. However, like with most historical fiction books, if you know the history and the book is completely based on it, you already know how it will end. :( Well, that's how it is with this novel, but it is still kind of interesting. ;) I'll just compare this novel with the one I read back in high school. :|

Compared to The Crucible by Arthur Miller, which is a play and considered "non-fiction", Wicked Girls is told by three of the girls and is a fiction novel. Also, the person who leads the group of girls is different, it's Abigail Williams in The Crucible, and in Wicked Girls, Ann Putnam Jr. starts it, but it ends with Mercy Lewis leading them. There is also a difference in who seem to pity in them, in Wicked Girls, you pity the girls, and in The Crucible, you pity the people the girls accuse. I don't remember, but you also see a new side to how the girls are treated after they put an end to the accusing. In The Crucible, I don't think the author ends the accusing in the actual play part. Also, I think you don't even meet Isaac Farraer, the guy that Margaret Walcott marries, in The Crucible. As you can tell from the comparisons, there are some very distinct differences between books, even though they have the same topic.

Personally, I didn't really like this book, but I like the idea behind the book. However, it felt like something was missing from the book -- it could have used more substance, action, and plot. The way it was left and how it was written made it feel like one of the Dear America books, but lacked the descriptions and substance the Dear America books have. I definitely would have liked it even more if it expanded it with more description and substance to it. >.>" Oh, by the way, I finished this book in one day, that's how short, unfulfilled, and (a little) interesting it feels like. Also, it felt more like a junior fiction book, like how the Dear America books are, than a young adult book, despite having a little sex scene in it. >.< However, that scene didn't go that into detail, so you don't have to worry about it too much. ^^ I also hated how it was in verse format. Don't know why, but I just didn't like it. ^^;

The idea is worth reading, but the lack of descriptions, details, and action makes it feel too incomplete and short. >.>" Read at your own risk. ^^; It would have been rated an one if it weren't for the idea behind the book, but no higher than a two because the author failed to pull it off with the lack of the things I mentioned

Other Reviews/Author Site:

Stephanie Hemphill
Goodreads: Wicked Girls by Stephanie Hemphill
Library Thing: Wicked Girls by Stephanie Hemphill
Book Envy: Wicked Girls by Stephanie Hemphill
Simply Books: Wicked Girls by Stephanie Hemphill
My Reading Room: Wicked Girls by Stephanie Hemphill
Book Whisperer: Wicked Girls by Stephanie Hemphill
Dog-eared and Well-read: Wicked Girls by Stephanie Hemphill

The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein by Peter Ackroyd

 

The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein by Peter Ackroyd

Nan A. Talese/Doubleday

Published in 2008

ISBN 9780385530842

353 Pages

PLACES TO BUY FROM:

Amazon (Paperback)
Barnes & Noble (Paperback)

CHECKED OUT THE BOOK FROM MY PUBLIC LIBRARY.

Review/Rating:

5 out of 5



When Victor Frankenstein goes to London to study at Oxford, he meets Percy Bysse Shelley, and they form a friendship. Will this radical thinker change Victor's musings into creating life. If he succeeds this madness, what will befall him and those around him?

In this retelling of Frankenstein, Peter Ackroyd makes it out so that Victor Frankenstein, a fictional character, actually knows Percy Bysshe Shelley, Godwin, Lord Byron, John Polidori, and even Mary Shelley, historically accurate people. I find that part of this part kind of intriguing, and it also made this book rather interesting than if the author just told it through Victor Frankenstein's and a little bit from his monster's perspective.

The description and characters' personality were all wonderful, but whether it is from solely from this author, borrowed from Mary Shelley, or a combination of his and Mary Shelley's works, I wouldn't know. Reading this retelling has made me want to read the original writing of the novel, so I can compare and see how much is his and how much is from the original. Also, the person who turned out to be the "monster" was someone Victor Frankenstein knew and maybe even friends with. I found that also very interesting and even gave the monster even more of an identity.

Let's see, I don't really know what I didn't like about the book, but the ending may be a little disappointing and unfulfilled for some (most) people. To me, the ending is only a little disappointing and unfinished, but the ending is still a little bit intriguing. Also, I think the ending of this book differs from the original. I'm not sure. :|

Other Reviews/Author Site:

Peter Ackroyd
Goodreads: The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein by Peter Ackroyd
Library Thing: The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein by Peter Ackroyd
New York Times Book Review: The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein
A Study of Reading Habits: Peter Ackroyd - The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein
Everything of Something: The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein by Peter Ackroyd

First Light by Peter Ackroyd

 

First Light by Peter Ackroyd

Grove Press

Published in 1989 (Republished in 1996)

ISBN 0802134815

328 Pages

PLACES TO BUY FROM:

Barnes & Noble (Paperback)
Amazon (Paperback)

CHECKED OUT THE BOOK FROM MY PUBLIC LIBRARY.

Review/Rating:

3 out of 5



With the discovery of an ancient astronomically aligned grave site in Dorset, everyone is excited over it --- well, pretty much everyone. You see, something or someone is doing its best to sabotage and scare the archaeologists, led by Mark Clare, from digging there and Pilgrin Valley. How is it that something as small as a grave site will bring together a group of people, who seem to have nothing in common with each other?

I'll be honest with you. I absolutely hated this book. :| And it isn't because of a lack of descriptions, which I love to have in the novels I read. I'll continue with the reasons why I didn't like the book in another paragraph since there are a lot of them. :( Oh, yeah, there might be some spoilers about the book toward the end of the review. :X

The first thing I didn't like about this book is that it was really redundant, which is one of the reasons why the book was extremely slow-moving. The slow-moving plot is another thing I didn't like about the book. It took about 100 pages just to get the characters digging and for the something/someone to sabotage the dig. Then, it went back to slow-moving until the last couple of chapters. The slow-moving gets kind of annoying, so I suggest just reading 20 pages each time you read, then take a break, and then start reading again. It kind of eases the pain of it. ;) Oh, also, the book kind of jumps from one point to another, which may confuse you if you don't take breaks to think about it.

Another thing, I found the characters rather, umm, boring and depressing. I'm used to reading books where it shows different personalities for each character, like them being happy, sad, etc. In this book, they remain their depressing selves. I can just imagine a frown on all their faces everyday.I think that's also what made it slow-moving because the characters were a little too depressing for me. :(

That's pretty much the only things I didn't like about this novel, now for the things I did like about it. Even though it is very slow-moving, the characters are depressing, and very little action, I liked how the descriptions were always there, no matter how boring it got. I know I say the book is "boring", but in a weird way, it isn't. The author uses poetry, metaphors, descriptions that make it a little less boring, and the author also uses the poetry to bring out a deeper meaning than just having a plot.

I read online that some people might be confused about the ending of the book. I have my own opinions about what it means. Think about it like this the theme mostly is about stars and how everything is connected in some sort of way, it is also about time, change, and death. At the end of the book, the characters realize that even though their find is old, the person's family, still has the right to send them back to the sky to be stars (which you may say God, in some sort of way). Also, that as stars, the souls can still be with their loved ones and watch over them. And that to see every star (soul) in the sky, will be nothing but light, which is what one of the characters sees at the end of the book. Well, I that's what I think what the ending means, whether it is right or not, I don't know.

Also, I know I put "supernatural" and "horror" as the genre, but it isn't really supernatural or horror. I just put that because of the summary on the back of the book. Unless you scare easily or are very superstitious, it won't be those genre for you. :)

I rated it a three mostly because of the deeper meaning... I would have rated it a two, that is, if it didn't have that deeper meaning that I like so much. ;) So don't read, if you don't like slow-moving, redundant novels. Also, you have to figure out the deeper meaning to really enjoy the book, but you have to get through the parts I found annoying first. :D

Other Reviews/Author Site:

Peter Ackroyd
Goodreads: First Light by Peter Ackroyd
Library Thing: First Light by Peter Ackroyd
LA Times Book Review: First Light by Peter Ackroyd