Hush, Hush

Title: Hush, Hush

Author: Becca Fitzpatrick

Reading Level: Young Adult

Location: YA Fitzpatrick

Nora Grey's class seating chart forces her to sit next to a new student at school, Patch. Though he's tall, dark, and handsome, he makes her feel uncomfortable. She's not interested in romance. He's interested however. His interest in her starts to worry her as he starts showing up wherever she is. Is he stalking her? Eventually though, she finds herself drawn to Patch and his mysterious demeanor. She wants to learn more about him.

After a number of strange and terrifying incidents, Nora doesn't know who to trust, including herself. When she finally thinks she has the answers, she finds out how she fits in a struggle between what she never thought could be real and humans. Someone has to make a sacrifice that will change her life forever. The question is, who will make the sacrifice?

The Bottom Line: I thoroughly enjoyed the premise of the book, both realistic and supernatural, but it did take me a while (Chapter 19) to get a real clue as to what was going on (trying to put the very telling cover art to the back of my mind). In the end, the character development won me over and I wanted to hear more from Nora and Patch, not to mention the very real and intense moments that drive them together.

Meridian

Title: Meridian
Author: Amber Kizer
Reading Level: Young Adult
Location: YA Kizer

Death has always been a normal part of Meridian's life. As a child hiding under the blankets, bugs and other small creatures would crawl under the covers and die beside her. Plagued by constant stomach pains and headaches, she became accustomed to them, just as she did the chore of cleaning up carcasses before making her bed every morning. On her sixteenth birthday, a car crashes into a group of her classmates and her body, though untouched, is wracked with pain. She doesn't know what's wrong with her, just that no one will explain or can explain.

She is sent to her aunt's house in a town called Revelation, aptly named for what she discovers there about herself and about the people that choose to live there. She begins to lead a life she never could have imagined, a dangerous destiny, but one that she learns she is more than ready for, especially with a new friend by her side, and the special helpers she finds cloaked as normal people along the way.

Bottomline: This is a fast-paced read and thoroughly well-written. Love, danger, independence, all of these topics are covered and covered well: "I tasted tomorrow on his lips." This is a great book for those teens that like to read about the perceived outcasts overcoming obstacles with a touch of goth and impossibility thrown in. I liked it and am hoping for a sequel!