Finale (Hush, Hush, #4)

by Becca Fitzpatrick

This is the stunning final instalment in the bestselling "Hush, Hush" sequence. Nora is more certain than ever that she is in love with Patch. Fallen angel or no, he is the one for her. Her heritage and destiny may mean that they will always be enemies, but there is no turning her back on him. But now they face their biggest challenge. Can their love survive a seemingly insurmountable divide. And in the end, will there be enough trust left to rebuild what has been broken? The lines are drawn - but which sides are they on?

• ISBN10: 0857072927
• ISBN13: 9780857072924
• Publish Date: 25 October 2012 (first published 23 October 2012)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 10 August 2013
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster Ltd
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 464
• Language: English

Reviews

2,5 stars

"But strength doesn't always mean force. You don't have to kick ass to be a fighter. Violence doesn't equal strength." (Patch Cipriano)

There are things that I dislike and things that annoy the hell out of me in the Hush, Hush series, but there's some unknown force that keeps me invested. As much as the characters annoy me, they are able to evoke emotion from me such as making me as happy as the sunshine or as mad as hell. I support the heroes and I want them to succeed and I loathe the villains with the fire of a thousand suns.

Nora is now a Nephilim and the leader of the Nephilim army. In the beginning of Finale, Nora doesn't care about the Nephilim and their grievances or the war. All she cares about is her relationship with Patch, because without her relationship, she is nothing. If I was a Nephilim, I would be pissed that Nora Grey is my leader. In Finale, Nora is a much stronger protagonist because she's immortal and is able to fight for herself, but she's still extremely trustful and after three books, she hasn't realised that she unnecessarily puts herself in harms way. There are plenty of things that Nora does in Finale, that I couldn't understand. Fortunately, Nora's thoughts in Finale aren't as disjointed and confusing in comparison to the previous books in the Hush, Hush series.

I also appreciate that Nora and Patch's relationship in Finale isn't the back-and-forth mess that it was in Crescendo. In Finale, Nora and Patch's relationship is a hurdle because the leader of the Nephilim can't be seen fraternizing with the enemy, fallen angels. Patch and Nora don't hurt or lie to each other, nor do they hide things from each other in order to protect or do what's best for the other. They communicate and find a way to make their relationship work by pretending to break-up.

There are however, a few things that bother me. In Finale, I feel that Patch and Nora are not on the same level when it comes to their relationship. Patch would literally do anything for Nora and we constantly see proof of this. However, Nora's feelings for Patch don't go beyond physical attraction. I also hate reading about Nora's insecurities and jealousy when she hears about Dabria. She keeps on suspecting Dabria's involvement in every single thing that goes wrong. I also hate when Nora mind-tricks Patch into thinking that she took the antidote. If she had just told Patch that she had drunk devilcraft, he could have monitored her and helped her through her withdrawal symptoms until she could take the antidote. Instead, she has to deal with her devilcraft addiction on her own.

In Finale, Scott really redeems himself and becomes such a great character. Vee is also still an amazing best friend. Vee and Scott become close and it makes me so happy. When Scott died, I felt so bad for Vee, because she doesn't deserve to be unhappy. I didn't want Vee to end up miserable and I'm extremely glad that she got her happiness. I was also extremely suspicious of Dante, the Blank Hand's first lieutenant and I hate that Nora trusts him so easily.Also, Vee's a Nephilim and Detective Basso is an archangel. Is there anyone in Coldwater who's human?

The best part of Finale is definitely the events leading up to the war between the Nephilim and the fallen angels. It was everything that I wanted to be: suspenseful, bloody, chaotic, explosive and deadly. There are, however, some things that I wish I could have seen, that aren't in Finale such as, Patch actually playing a role in the final battle and what happens to everyone else after the battle is over.

There are many things about the Hush, Hush series that annoys me, but it's fun and entertaining. I really like the way Finale ends. The last line is extremely cheesy, but it fits the personality of the character who says it.

"Some people go their entire lives never feeling the emotions you've given me." (Patch Cipriano)

[puchunga]

Me dejó sin palabras y más que emocionada. Estaba segura de que iba a terminar de la forma en que yo no quería y de la nada, y para mi alivio, dio un giro completo. Dios, estoy aturdida, me encantó el final, el mejor de la saga.

[tellemonstar]

Full review here
Um, I’m not really sure how I feel about this one.

There were parts of this that really could have been expanded upon further, and there were some hastily skimmed over plot holes. I know there were in the first three books, but Finale seemed to have more than the others. Devilcraft, Cheshvan, the Fallen Angel feathers, Marcie, not to mention what we learned about Vee in the final moments before the showdown began. Holy shish-kabobs! When there’s only one or two little plot holes I tend to be able to ignore them but they added up in Finale.

I was sad about Scott though, because he redeemed himself in Silence, and furthered that in this book. Even Patch thought so and he’s as jealous about other guys being with Nora as Nora is other girls being with Patch. Which leads me to… for Pete’s sake Nora, what is with you and being totally blinded by all thoughts of Dabria. Yes she wants Patch back, but that is why she is helping hm. He’s also made it pretty clear he doesn’t want anything to do with her. After everything you’ve been through, can’t you just trust him a little bit.

The result of the showdown was good, and I particularly liked the final chapter set a few years in the future. It was nice to see everyone reasonably happy and whole.

[thebookdisciple]

Just as good as the rest of the series!

[Jo]

Originally posted on Once Upon a Bookcase.

I have been such a huge fan of this series since the very beginning, with the announcement of each new installment causing much squeeing and excitement from me. Hearing about Finale, I was super excited but also a little sad the series was ending. But what I didn't expect was to finish the book feeling so disappointed.

With the death of the Black Hand - Hank Millar, Nora's biological father - Nora now has to lead the Nephilim army, bound by the oath she made to Hank before his death. If she doesn't lead the army, both her and her mother will die. Yet, she is under orders from the archangels to stop the war. How can she lead an army, and stop a war? The fact that she is only newly Nephil and not as strong as most, and because of her relationship with Patch, a fallen angel, the people who are supposed to be loyal to her do not trust her or think she's up to the job, and are just waiting for her to put one step wrong and put someone else in her place. Her relationship with Patch must remain a secret, and she must start to train with Dante, a Nephil who was Hank's right hand man, to get the Nephilim on side. Nora does not have an easy task ahead of her. Add to the mix a shady archangel who seems to be out for Patch's blood, and Nora's life has given a whole new meaning to the word "difficult".

Finale sounds pretty exciting, and going by the previous books in the series, it should be, but I really wasn't feeling it. There have been various things that niggled me in previous books, but they just drove me round the bend in Finale. We're four books down the line - the very last book - you would have thought Nora would have gained some common sense by now. Unfortunately, her insecurities stop her from thinking logically, and she continues to jump to conclusions and doubt Patch, and she makes rash decisions because of it. Ok, I don't like having heroines who are completely perfect, but it would be good to have seen some growth in Nora's character. Sometimes I wanted to shake her, sometimes I wanted to slap her, and sometimes I hardly understood why Patch was still with her! God, he must have the patience of a saint. I just didn't like her at all in this book. With every page, I was pretty much thinking, "Come on, Nora, buck up!" Sure, she has a lot to deal with, but it was just too much this time round.

For a final book, things need to be tied up, but it's a whole book, so it needs to have it's own plot and it's own conflict. Both of which Finale has. However, there were a few conflicts that just seemed resolved far too easily. I can't really go into the one that bothered me the most, too spoilery, but oh my god! There really needed to be a lot more going on with that issue, seriously. And then we had the ending, the finale. I expected more. If I was to talk about the whole thing (which I won't, spoilers), it would sound pretty epic, but Nora's part? I just wasn't excited, I wasn't scared, I didn't feel much tension. There are a few points in the book that should have really rocked me emotionally, and they just didn't. I just didn't seem to care about any of the characters in this book, and I finished thinking, "That's it?"

To be fair, the epilogue was pretty cool, I did like it. But on the whole? I remember reading Hush, Hush for the first time, and being completely wowed, and thinking how awesome this sexy fallen angel on a motorbike was. That guy seems to have disappeared in this book. Less sexy, more soppy. It was just too much. I don't know, maybe I wasn't in the mood for it at this particular time, maybe I would enjoy it more if I read it another time, but I just finished feeling so underwhelmed. It has to be said, Fitzpatrick is an awesome author, and her writing constantly kept me turning the pages addictively, despite not actually enjoying the story. But yeah, really disappointed. Do check out a few more reviews before deciding whether you read Finale based on mine alone.

[ellieroth]

¿Siempre habían sido así de densos los libros de Becca?
La saga/serie (elige el que más te guste) es una de las primeras que leí y dado el tiempo de la publicación entre libro y libro, no recuerdo exactamente mi grado de fascinación.

Lee la reseña completa en: link: El Extraño Gato del Cuento

[Cocktails and Books]

Great ending to the series! Review to come!