hushhush

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Book Reviews and Synopses

Hush, Hush

Becca Fitzpatrick

Fitzpatrick, Becca. Hush, Hush. Simon & Schuster. N. Y. New York. 2009.

Becca Fitzpatrick has delivered a haunting new novel, Hush, Hush. The book had drawn readers in for the few years since it was published, and will soon become a major motion picture. It is a dark romance novel for young adults, about battling the instincts inside you to feel what is right.

Deep in the layers of modern society, illegal science is taking place. Jack has always been full of hate, but also, he holds just a few strands of remorse. Jack is the only one of his blood-thirsty kind to ever back away from a kill. He is the result of a twisted experiment, the DNA of a raven grafted into his otherwise human cells. A pair of wings grow from Jack’s shoulders, and an inhuman hate for the innocent lays curled in his heart. The only thing that changes him, is that he knows it was the scientists that planted the emotions there along with his feathers. Jack understands that his hate is not real, and he pushes to overcome it, hiding his feelings from the other human hybrids that live at the secret lab in the mountains.

In a single moment of indecision, Jack wrenches himself away from a human girl whom he was ordered to kill. He knows that the scientists want the girl dead, so he escapes with her, to a cave in the mountains. Jack finds that her name is Adrian, and that she is not weak and pathetic like Jack first assumed all humans to be. She is a fighter, and tries to get away from Jack for weeks. Jack finally convinces Adrian that the only way her family will be safe from the scientists is if they’re busy looking for her. She relents, and Jack starts to see her as an equal, rather than someone lower than him; somethings grows in his heart. Jack convinces Adrian to take her flying with him; during their single flight, Jack carries Adrian over the mountains, and he realizes what she means to him—that he would die if she were killed by the scientists.

Out of habit, Jack brings Adrian back to the cave, and suddenly realizes that he’s not willing to leave her where the scientists could find potentially her. Adrian seems to understand, but convinces Jack that the scientists will become suspicious if he doesn’t return to the lab. He leaves her reluctantly, and flies back down to the valley where the lab resides. As he returns, he overhears the scientists talking. They say that they know where Adrian is, and they’ve sent someone to kill her. Jack’s heart almost stops, and he turns around and streaks through the sky like a bullet, towards the cave and the only person he will ever love.

Just like Becca Fitzpatrick’s other stunning novels, Hush, Hush will leave you in tears for all that you have lost and what you can overcome. Becca Fitzpatrick has won many awards so far with this novel, and will probably win many more. Hush, Hush is the first book in a series to come about Jack and Adrian.

4 out of 5 stars

Contributed by L. Hansen

April 24th, 2013