thebookdisciple
Written on Jan 11, 2011
Nora should know better than to think her life can return to normal after falling in love with a fallen angel. And Nora's life isn't normal - her dad was murdered, and the facts about his death just don't add up. Now Nora's own life is in imminent danger. Are she and Patch strong enough for the battle ahead?
- ISBN10 1442409622
- ISBN13 9781442409620
- Publish Date 19 October 2010 (first published 1 October 2010)
- Publish Status Active
- Publisher Simon & Schuster
- Imprint Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
- Format eBook
- Language English
Reviews
rakesandrogues
Written on Jan 1, 2011
I was a bit hesitant even before I started reading this book. While there were a lot of great reviews for CRESCENDO, I have a bad experience with sequels, especially when they fall under the paranormal genre. But I wanted to make a decision for myself whether or not I liked the book, and I tried my best to read without any opinions clouding my judgment.
Others, including my sister, complained about Nora's character being whiny. She was ambivalent almost throughout the whole book - she thought one thing but did the other especially when it came down to Patch. The whole drama between them can be blamed on her, but I found myself relating to Nora's indecision and overactive imagination about Marcie. If I was in her shoes, I would be feeling the same self-pity and loathing, but I probably would not go as far doing some of the things that Nora had the guts to do.
Honestly, it was Patch that really annoyed me in this book. Was I blind entirely like Nora when I read the first book? Because I don't remember his character being such a huge jerk. Like Nora, I felt torn because I wanted to like Patch but his actions were forcing me the other direction. I just kept waiting throughout the whole book for him to redeem himself.
Despite my irritation about the characters, the mystery behind Patch, the Nephilim, and Scott drew me in. I wanted to uncover the secrets behind them all. There were definitely a lot of surprises along the way and Becca Fitzpatrick was able to keep me guessing.
The book did pull itself together at the end. A lot of the questions that popped into my head while reading were answered. However, I was completely dissatisfied with the ending. I don't want to give it away but I will say this: I felt like Fitzpatrick was trying too hard to leave the readers hanging. Just when I felt that everything was going to be resolved, a new conflict popped up ruining everything that the book was working towards. My curiosity has been peaked, but I feel a little cheated out of a good, solid ending. Was this ending supposed to be a shocker like Catching Fire? It worked but instead of being intrigued, I just felt irritated.
Though I vowed to quit reading paranormal books, I think I'll stick around longer for the next (but hopefully last) installment of the series. CRESCENDO definitely exceeded my expectations - especially considering it is a sequel. I have a few qualms with the book, but it should not be enough to discourage you from reading it yourself. Overall, it was still a solid sequel.
celinenyx
Written on Dec 4, 2010
And that's exactly what I got. I read this book just like it's predecessor in one sitting. In this instalment Patch and Nora go through a hard time. The archangels are interfering and making it almost impossible for them to be together. We also learn more about the mysterious death of Nora's father and the war between the fallen angels and Nephelim.
This is a rather dark book for a young-adult novel. For the greatest part it focusses on Nora's relationship with Patch, and the problems between them. Nora can't seem to make up her mind if she wants to stay with him or if she wants him completely gone out of her life. Some people might find this struggle annoying, but I thought it was a spot-on display of trying to chose what's good for you while you know in your heart you want something else. At one point or another we all feel like Nora. Sometimes it is just impossible to make such a choice.
Nora does a lot of things I wouldn't want my daughter to do. She is unsupervised the whole book, and this shows in her actions. She constantly gets herself in danger that could easily have been avoided. Luckily, she has one hell of an angel that has made it his goal to try to keep her safe. And he doesn't get a day's rest from his task.
The character that made me smile throughout the book was Nora's best friend Vee. She's always there for her with a cheesy remark. I also liked the fact they always seem be talking about food. At one point Vee actually makes Nora carrying a hot dog on one of their reckless break and enter-missions. This was so absurd it made me laugh just picturing the situation.
I really liked this book. It was nicely paced, enough plot twists to keep you interested and some new characters to spice things up. The only thing that really annoyed me was the cliffhanger ending. Why, oh why do writers always do that to us! Now I have to wait another year until the next part, Tempest, comes out...
Linda
Written on Oct 20, 2010
I'm also mad at Nora's mother! Who leaves their 16 year old daughter home alone in a farm house far away from the city, sells her car, tells her not to see her boyfriend, and then thinks she should just cope? When her dad was killed a few months ago, and she had a close brush with death herself? Way to protect your child Mrs. Grey.
Amber
Written on Oct 17, 2010
As usual, Becca Fitzpatrick knows exactly what to do to get your heart racing. I don’t think I’ve ever been so eager to turn the pages as I have with Crescendo, and during certain scenes I honestly thought my heart was going to explode out of my rib cage. The plot of this book was as, if not more, fast paced as that in Hush, Hush and it started from the very first page. There was no slow build up, Fitzpatrick just threw you in there and let you have it.
This book is based around more of the Nephilim, who want to take on the fallen angels who have been invading their bodies for centuries. Honestly, I don’t blame them for wanted to do this - who wants your body invaded every year? But this upcoming war means that, potentially, thousands and thousands of humans could get hurt - including Nora.
Nora and Patch’s relationship is also a main focus in this book, as after the steamy first chapter it takes a nose dive. I think this was the main reason for my near heart failure. Nora became very jealous of Patch and his new found relationship with Marcie and, as usual, Patch kept a lot of things from her. This was the most frustrating part for me, as I honestly do hate Marcie, and I couldn’t understand why Patch would want to spend time with her.
Vee and Nora were, yet again, hilarious together. Vee was a lot less annoying than she was in Hush, Hush and I think that’s a huge plus. I really loved her in this book and her and Nora’s detective skills were amazing.
As for the main twist of the novel… I saw it coming. Does this mean my detective skills are getting better? Or maybe the twist was just predictable. I don’t know, it’s hard to tell. The ending was very intense and if I had been in a room with my parents they would have probably ask me why in the world I am pulling such weird facial expressions.
A certain line on the second to last page is very squee-worthy, but that’s short lived due to the ENORMOUS cliffhanger at the end. I don’t know how I’m going to last until next year to read the third book in the series because I am seriously freaking out here.
Overall, a breathtaking, suspenseful book. Try to compare it to Twilight now, you haters! If you’ve read Hush, Hush, then you’d be crazy not to pick up this book. What’s holding you back? If you haven’t read this series yet, then I highly recommend reading it - but start with Hush, Hush because otherwise you won’t understand the characters at all - especially Patch.
Cocktails and Books
Written on Sep 25, 2010
Melanie
Written on Sep 25, 2010
Jo
Written on Aug 22, 2010
After reading Hush, Hush and falling in love with Patch, and being completely swept away by the excitement, the danger and the mystery, I, just like so many other YA fans, have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of Crescendo. Now I have it and I've read it. Oh my god, you have no idea how much I loved this book! Well worth waiting a year for!
The first half of the book was a bit of a let down, but not in a huge way. I had my hopes too high for the book to start off exciting straight away, but obviously the story has to be set up. It does take a while to get going, but it's necessary for what happens later on. It's like a rollercoaster, it takes it's time chugging up the hill, but once it reaches the top, it soars down.
And boy, does it soar! As Fitzpatrick promised in interviews across numerous blogs, we finally find out what happened to Nora's Dad, and just wow! There is so much mystery behind it. secrets going deeper than you would expect, and Nora finds herself in danger yet again. Crescendo is actin packed and creepy, and just awesome!
I'm still loving the characters. Sometimes Nora drove me round the bend with not talkig, with not saying what was on her mind and asking the right questions when it came to Patch - the girl needs to learn to communicate a little bit more. However, I love how she's so human. She makes mistakes, but you can forgive her for them. She also doesn't have the answers falling into place unrealistically when it comes to the mysterious; she's bright and thinks things through, and can be resourceful when necessary. She works damn hard to work out the things she does, but even then she works harder to put everything together. I did guess quite a few things right before Nora did, but that's not to say Crescendo is predictable, I also guessed several things wrong.
Patch is still as sexy as ever, but it would have been nice to have seen more of him, and being a little more flirty when he was there, but I understand the reason for him not being about as much.
There was a new arrival in Crescendo, Scott; someone Nora knew when she was a child. You never really know whether to trust him or not, he's a bit shifty and has his own secrets to hide. I liked him though, even when he was being creepy - hey, we liked Patch didn't we? And we all know what his original intentions were!
Crescendo is quite simply amazing! Is it as good as Hush, Hush? If not, it wasn't far off! And such a killer cliffhanger! If you loved Hush, Hush, then you should definitely read Crescendo! I can't wait to read what Fitzpatrick writes next!
From Once Upon a Bookcase - YA book blog