BR: Crescendo

Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick

4 out of 5 stars

You can read my review on Hush, Hush here

After reading the first book in this series, Hush, Hush, I couldn't wait to get back to my dark and unpredictable Patch. So yesterday I sat down with this book expecting an engaging YA read.

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...

Blurb

Feisty teen Nora Grey somehow survived the crises of Hush, Hush!, but dangers just as frightening loom in this standalone sequel. Patch, her guardian angel and love interest, appears to have a dark side and a wandering eye. Worse yet, he seems intent on obstructing Nora as she hunts for the truth behind her father's mysterious death.