Crescendo (Hush, Hush, #2)

by Becca Fitzpatrick

[rakesandrogues]

Published at: http://muggle-born.net/book-review-crescendo-by-becca-fitzpatrick/

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.