hush, hush (aka Twilight?)

by Becca Fitzpatrick

"Even though it would probably come back to haunt me, I was curious enough about Patch to go almost anywhere with him."

Nora Grey is a normal high school student in Coldwater, Maine.  She writes for her school's ezine and is biology partners with her best friend Vee.  One day, Nora's world gets altered forever when the dark, brooding, mysterious transfer student named Patch becomes her new biology partner.  She is thrown into a world where she hears and sees things that aren't really there.  She knows that Patch seems dangerous, but is drawn to him nonetheless.  She acts irrationally; she lies to her mother and puts herself into dangerous situations. She comes to realize that Patch is not human... and she is completely okay with it.  

Alright.  I picked this TEEN book up for a quick read.  Teen fiction is like a little junk food for me.  But the girl-falls-for-supernatural-guy thing has gone on too long for me.  This book, and many others like it, is Twilight. Spoiler-alert: don't read on if [somehow] you don't know the story of Bella and Edward. 

Hush, hush	Twilight
- Patch transfers to new school, falls in love with Nora	- Bella transfers to new school, Edward falls in love (/blood lust) with her
-  Patch is partnered with Nora for Bio	- Edward is partnered with Bella for Bio
- Nora finds Patch mysterious / sexy	- Bella finds Edward mysterious / sexy
-Nora goes to Portland for research and gets saved by Patch	- Bella goes to Port Angeles for research and gets saved by Edward
- People from Patch’s past try to kill Nora	- People from Edward’s past try to kill Bella
- Patch is a couple hundred years old, falls in love with a teenager	- Edward is 104 years old, falls in love with a teenager
- Patch turns out to be a fallen angel	- Edward turns out to be a vampire

I read and enjoyed the entire Twilight series when it came out.  I recognize that it is teen fiction, and should be judged as exactly that.  Twilight haters always go on about Meyer's poor writing style and Bella as a weak heroine.  I know and understand those arguments, but still liked the series. What I don't understand is how this genre is still going.  I mean, the ending of this novel was super predictable. And the author used the word "angel" tons of times - hitting the reader over the head with obviousness.

I only recommend this book to you if you like a "junk food" sort of plot wherein you don't really have to think at all, a teenage romance, and a mysterious bad guy with a secret. 

OR if you're a girl in Grade 8. :P

♥ Meg xoxo