Finale (Hush, Hush, #4)

by Becca Fitzpatrick

[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.