Book #76: Crescendo

Title: Crescendo (Book #2 of the Hush Hush series)

Author: Becca Fitzpatrick

Date started reading: May 24, 2012
Date finished reading:  May 27, 2012

Publish date: October 2010
ISBN: 978-1416989431
Number of pages: 432

Official summary: "Nora should have known her life was far from perfect. Despite starting a relationship with her guardian angel, Patch (who, title aside, can be described as anything but angelic), and surviving an attempt on her life, things are not looking up. Patch is starting to pull away and Nora can't figure out if it's for her best interest or if his interest has shifted to her arch-enemy, Marcie Millar. Not to mention that Nora is haunted by images of her father and she becomes obsessed with finding out what really happened to him that night he left for Portland and never came home. The further Nora delves into the mystery of her father's death, the more she comes to question if her Nephilim bloodline has something to do with it as well as why she seems to be in danger more than the average girl. Since Patch isn't answering her questions and seems to be standing in her way, she has to start finding the answers on her own. Relying too heavily on the fact that she has a guardian angel puts Nora at risk again and again. But can she really count on Patch or is he hiding secrets darker than she can even imagine?" (http://beccafitzpatrick.com)

Official book trailer:

How I obtained the book: Paid $4.37 for it through the Doubleday Book Club

Memorable quotes:

• "Light had a way of keeping the monsters of my imagination at bay." ~ Nora
• "It's no secret Patch is trouble. He's got the whole bad-boy-in-need-of-redemption thing going on, but the catch is, most bad boys don't want redemption. They like being bad. They like the power they get from striking fear and panic into the hearts of mothers everywhere." ~ Vee
• "Redheads are a liability." ~ Scott to Nora
• "Patch is a lot of things, but honest isn't one of them." ~ Vee
• "Nothing says cheap like shoplifting." ~ Vee
  "Nothing says fat like a double chin." ~ Marcie
• "The only thing a boyfriend was good for was a shattered heart." ~ Nora
• "There's a name for girls like you, Nora Grey. Crazy makers. You're like the fly that nobody can shoo away." ~ Detective Basso
• "Why was it so wrong for (Patch and I) to be in love? Were angels and humans really that different?" ~ Nora
• "Nothing makes me happy quite like a boatload of freshly fried fast food, smothered in good old-fashioned MSG." ~ Vee
• "My life sucks when I'm only half-aware of it. If I quit drinking and saw what it's really like, I'd probably jump off a bridge. ... When I'm wasted, I can almost forget who I am. I know I'm still there, but only barely. It's a good place to be." ~ Scott
• "My sense of adventure stops short of a kamikaze suicide mission." ~ Vee
• "Sometimes bad things have to happen before good things can." ~ Patch
• "I'm really starting to like all this spy work. When my normal life gets boring, all I have to do is sidle up next to you." ~ Vee to Nora
• "I don't know what it is about hot dogs, but they're like an instant shot of courage. I feel like I can do anything after I've had a hot dog." ~ Vee

My commentary:

• Getting through the first half of this book was like watching paint dry. I was bored out of my mind and it felt like the book would never end. It did get better in the second half.
• I'm not sure why so many readers seem to swoon over Patch. Frankly, he's more of a jerk in my opinion than a heartthrob. In order for the bad-boy-as-a-love-interest thing to work, there really needs to be enough good in the guy to outweigh the bad (or at least match the bad). Obviously there is good in Patch, but I don't see that it even comes close to the bad in him. 
• The ending totally caught me off-guard. I did not expect the plot twist that happened with this book's villain. I didn't see it coming. It almost redeemed the book in my mind. I stress "almost" because I'm still annoyed at how bored I was with the first half of the book.

Buy on Amazon.com: Crescendo (Hush, Hush)