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Crescendo
(Sequel to Hush, Hush)
by Becca Fitzpatrick
Simon and Schuster, Oct. 2010

Thank you Simon and Schuster for sending me an ARC to review!

Description via Goodreads:

The sequel to the New York Times Best selling phenomenon, Hush, Hush!

Nora should have know her life was far from perfect. Despite starting a relationship with her guardian angel, Patch (who, title aside, can be described anything but angelic), and surviving an attempt on her life, things are not looking up. Patch is starting to pull away and Nora can’t figure out if it’s for her best interest or if his interest has shifted to her arch-enemy Marcie Millar. Not to mention that Nora is haunted by images of her father and she becomes obsessed with finding out what really happened to him that night he left for Portland and never came home.

The farther Nora delves into the mystery of her father’s death, the more she comes to question if her Nephilim blood line has something to do with it as well as why she seems to be in danger more than the average girl. Since Patch isn’t answering her questions and seems to be standing in her way, she has to start finding the answers on her own. Relying too heavily on the fact that she has a guardian angel puts Nora at risk again and again. But can she really count on Patch or is he hiding secrets darker than she can even imagine?

My thoughts:

Becca Fitzpatrick took a gamble. In Hush, Hush, we watch (sometimes painfully) as Nora falls in love with Patch. By the end of the book we are in love just as much as they. Then, everything changes. Chapter 1 of Crescendo begins where things left off. I was so excited to continue reading about Nora, Patch, the archangels, and what would come next. But by the end of Chapter 2 I was screaming, and nearly to put the book down.

Obviously, I kept reading. I pushed through the fighting and the bullying because underneath Fitzpatrick was creating an intricate web of suspense and mystery. As the title suggests, the book’s intensity steadily grew until it exploded. And the best part? The ending took me completely by surprise. It’s not often I get to the end of the a book and I’m blown away.

So, back to the gamble. Fitzpatrick turns everything upside down in the sequel to Hush, Hush. Authors take a risk when they do this with beloved characters. Her mastery of plot building kept me reading and in the end it was worth the anguish. I commend her for not taking the easy path.

Readers will be shocked at the turn of events in Crescendo, but they are also going to love this book!! Maybe more than the first. I gave it 4/5 stars!

Teaser:

Here’s a teaser to let you in on a bit of the strife going on in Crescendo. This is part of a conversation between Nora and Patch.

“Shooting you wouldn’t kill you,” I pointed out. “One of the downsides of being immortal.”

He nodded, a fierce smile creeping out beneath the shadow of his ball cap. “But you would if you could?”

I hesitated before answering. “I don’t hate you, Patch. Yet.”

*This review was original published at amandamakepeace.com

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