Despite starting a relationship with Patch, her guardian angel (whose title is the only angelic thing about him), and surviving an attempt on her life, things are not looking good for Nora Grey. Aside from fearing her boyfriend is interested in her nemesis, Nora is haunted by images of her father and becomes obsessed with understanding his disappearance. As Nora delves into the mystery of her father’s death, she begins to wonder whether her Nephilim blood line has something to do with it. And since Patch isn’t answering her questions, Nora 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?
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- Crescendo (Hush, Hush #2)
Crescendo (Hush, Hush #2)
Editor reviews
We find out that while our resident hot angel boy can feel her emotionally he can't feel her physically so when they're playing tonsil hockey or snuggling he feels nothing, nada, zilch. How bad is THAT?! As far as boyfriend/girlfriend relationships go, it kinda helps if you can feel each other when you're holding hands or kissing goodnight. This realization puts a damper on things for them. It's also not fun to be the first one to say those three words and not have them reciprocated which is what happens when Nora tells Patch she loves him and he takes off. He gives her the excuse that the arch angels are watching them and could quickly banish him to hell is they find out their relationship is more than strictly "guardianship". WHAT-EVER!
He becomes more aloof and to make matters worse, begins to hang out with Nora's arch enemy Marcie. (Do they not teach these guys relationship skills in angel school?) At least Nora doesn't haven't to suffer alone because old childhood friend Scott moves back into own with his Mom. The only problem is Scott is acting like a jerk to Nora at first...takes her out several times but leaves her stranded, having to fin her own way home each time. He's also a full blooded Nephilim which he doesn't fully realize but means he's playing for the wrong team so to speak. It seems the Fallen Angels and Nephillim are waging war against each other. After a few scary encounters, Scott redeems himself with Nora and much to Patch's distaste, she wonders if her future might be with Scott.
Rixon, Patch's BFF is not as nice as we were led to believe in Book 1 which is sad because I liked him and Vee just LOVES him in "Crescendo" but then again, Vee loves just about any guy she deems as hot so she'll get over him, I'm sure. He plays an evil game with several people's lives that backfires on him but not before doing some serious damage.
Marcie is just as catty as before but she shares some interesting info with Nora that changes the way she views Marcie and the score keeping they've both been doing over the years. Turns out, Nora's Mom hasn't been all that honest with her over the years and while it unlocks some of the answers to her past, Nora is still left with more questions. One question that IS answered is who killed her father.
"Crescendo" certainly lives up to it's name, right up to the last few sentences. I just hope that in "Silence" we finally get to see Jev, (Patch's real name) and Nora get a happy ending- one where they get to be together for longer than 5 seconds.
Okay the fan girl in me has to get this out, can I please have Patch as my guardian angel?! please!!! Okay, got that off my chest, on to my review. I really enjoyed this book. I devoured 'Hush, Hush' in 2 days and this one as well. I could not put it down!
I love how strong Nora is. She is tough and doesn't take you know what from anybody. I'm not saying she makes the greatest decisions, but it's nice to see a female character with pizazz!
I craved the scenes with Patch and Nora and shook my fist when they were not together! I could not wait to find out what happens next. Becca Fitzpatrick delivered! Now I have to wait another agonizing 9 months for the 3rd book of the series! Gah! Seriously, if you loved 'Hush, Hush' and you have not yet read this book, go get it now! NOW! You are missing out. And if you haven't read either 'Hush, Hush' or 'Crescendo'...well, you're missing out as well! A strong 4/5 stars for this one! Now I will wait impatiently for the 3rd book....
User reviews
I am left feeling like Hush, Hush was originally written as a stand-alone, and that Crescendo is a botched attempt at turning it into a feasible series. "Why do you think that Kelly?", you might be asking. Let me count the reasons why!
1. By the ending of Hush, Hush, Nora and Patch are both ecstatic that Patch has been assigned as Nora's guardian angel, because they can continue to be together. Within the first few chapters of Crescendo, however, Patch explains that he will be banished to hell for loving Nora - and that the archangels are watching closely for any excuse to revoke him of his new-found angel status. Nora responds to this in the only way she knows how, by jumping to the most ridiculous conclusion - Patch is cheating on her with her arch nemesis, Marcie. So she calls off their relationship under the pre tense that because Patch cannot physically share in the pleasure of her touch, he must not love her (great message there). Luckily for us (please not my sarcasm), we get to repeatedly bear witness to Nora's angst and confusion over the reason(s) for their breakup, and her lack of courage leaves her unable to do the right thing, and walk away.
2. Clues are leaked throughout Crescendo, and eventually we find out a (not-so) shocking truth (for those who were paying attention) about Nora's past: Harrison Grey is not her biological father! In fact, her biological father is her arch-nemesis Marcie's father, Hank Millar! Dun dun dun! But wait, didn't the entire premise of Hush, Hush revolve around Harrison being a descendant of Nephilim and that's what makes Nora an acceptable sacrifice in Patch's quest for a human body? Looks like we have a gaping plot hole to fix! The solution? Are you sitting down, because it's going to make your head spin! Harrison and Hank are distantly related to the same Nephilim blood line! Phew, that explains everything then! But wait, does it? Because in Crescendo we learn that Hank gave Nora to Harrison to protect, as he feared his Nephilim heritage may come back to harm her later. But if both men are descendants of Nephilim, granted Hank is a much closer descendant then Harrison, would that not put Nora in danger either way? And if Hank was that concerned about his offspring, why did he keep Marcie? So terribly confusing, that I'm sure that was the point. Maybe if we're confused enough, we won't question the inconsistencies.
3. Considering it's maybe a month or two since we left Patch and Nora in Hush, Hush I got to wondering how the rise of the Nephilim under "the Black Hand" is only now becoming news. Wouldn't that have explained Patch's desperation to get his own human body in Hush, Hush?
4. Why couldn't Patch just tell Nora she was in danger? He ended up going rogue for her in the end anyways, why risk her life? Or why didn't he just tell her the truth in her dreams, where the archangels couldn't hear their conversations? Why did he try to feed her clues instead of just being straightforward? Considering absolutely nothing happens until the last few chapters, we could all have been spared the 350 pages of angsty filler fluff if Patch hadn't been so elusive about everything that was happening. Oh I know why, because this was never meant to be a series, and Fitzpatrick had to come up with something to cause conflict.
I was hoping that at least the ending would have some redeemable qualities, but alas, it wasn't the case. The final showdown between Nora and the person looking to harm her is one big bad guy tell-all info-dump (such a cop out) and after passing out from being shot in the arm (I wish this girl would grow a pair) she awakes to forgive Patch for all of his transgressions and they live happily ever after!
Joke!! How could there be two more books in this series if that was the case?! Of course we're left with a cliffhanger ending, but at this point I couldn't care less.
I thought it was quite mean of Patch to start dating Nora's worst enemy! That is just plain mean! I thought it was a bit weird of Patch to be a guardian angel as he doesn't really seem to be the angelic type. His character is quite well written and so is mostly everyone else's.
With a few exceptions, this book is a stunning sequel to Hush Hush and is a great read for all dark romance fans and angel fans. AND for all those Hush Hush lovers out there!
Hush, Hush is one of my favorite books of all time, and after I read Crescendo, it was too. I remember when the cover first came out, I was sorta disappointed cause I wanted Patch on the cover. (Who doesn't?!) After reading it, I get WHY Nora's on this cover. There was Marcie in it, and ... *ARG!!* I don't want to give anything away.
There was a lot of mystery in it which I liked a lot. It gave me a lot to think about after especially since I can't believe Becca left us all hanging like that. (I'm slowly dying inside) 5 Stars of course! I wouldn't expect anything else = ]
I was extremely excited for this second book and it did not fail to impress me. I love this book just as much as the first.. Becca Fitzpatrick is fastly becoming my favorite Author. I enjoy her writing style and the fact that all her characters are thought through.
Patch is a great mix of everything yummy... seriously. I like his relationship with Nora I love that he can be dark and naughty while caring and loving with Nora.
We meet new characters in this book which really do add to the story.. Rixon, Scott & Marcie.
While Scott was seen as the Bad one.. it turns out he is just misunderstood.. always look out for the wolf in sheep's clothing!!!
Vee is one of my most favorite people she and Nora made me laugh so many times with the situations they get themselves into.. but it really makes great reading
I liked that the novel wasn't lovey dovey all the way through that can get a little boring..true to form Fitzpatrick is great with the mystery, the twists and turns and keeping the reader guessing.
I had alot of expectations for Crescendo because I absoloutley loved Hush, Hush and I was not dissapointed. When Crescendo starts your with Nora and Patch and they're living happily ever after just as you would expect. But as unusual things begin to happen to Nora and Patch is hanging out with Nora's arch enemy Marcie Millar, Nora begins questioning Patch and therir relationship. This book made me want to jump with joy when Patch and Nora were together, and yell at Nora when she pushed him away. I love it when books make you feel emotion towards the characters. I had no idea what was going to happen in the end and was amazed. I really liked the new characters that were introduced like Scott, who was a little confusing at times but he was still totally awesome. I can only say one bad thing about this book at that is is that it ended, it left me on a total cliff hanger and I can't wait for the next book to come out. Becca Fitzpatrick is an amazing author and I love her books so far and I can't wait to read more.