Crescendo

Nora has been through a lot. People have tried to kill her and her boyfriend Patch went from fallen angel to her personal guardian angel. One would think that after almost being killed things can only get better, but this proves to be false. Patch is becoming more distant from her and Nora doesn't know why. He seems to be getting closer to her ultimate enemy Marcie Millar, but the reason is unclear. On top of all of this, visions of her father's murder plague Nora's sleep. She delves into the mystery by herself because Patch pretty much abandons her. Things get complicated further when Scott, Nora's childhood neighbor, returns and Nora's mom wants to play matchmaker. There's something creepy and menacing about Scott and he may be mixed up in they mystery surrounded her father's murder. Can Nora sort out who she can trust before it's too late?

I wasn't a huge fan of Hush, Hush, but I thought it had some potential and decided to give the second one a chance. It was worse than the first one. The pacing is on par with the first, which isn't good. The plot just meanders around, almost nonsensically, until the big reveal at the end with not much leading up to it. I was hoping this would improve.

Unlike the first novel, I actually found Nora unlikeable. She was annoying, whiny, and just grating. The way she deals with Patch's distancing is completely childish, immature, and flat out vindictive. Instead of asking direct questions and having a semi-mature conversation, she goes off in a huff, tries dating another guy, and just makes things worse. When Patch explains the distance, her reaction is even worse. I spent most of the novel rolling my eyes at her. The entire first book was about if Patch was a good guy or a bad guy and if he was a homicidal maniac or not. I thought the plot would at least be a little different, but she goes through the same doubts and thought processes as before, except this time slutty Marcie Millar is thrown into the mix. Nora's behavior in general seemed much more emotionally erratic and out of character. I get that teenage girls are emotional, but this is a little extreme. And even though it was briefly mentioned in the first book that Nora played the cello and liked baroque music, the only appearance of said instrument happened when Nora hid something in the case. Why bother even mentioning it?

The supporting characters aren't really much better. Vee is unfortunately still in this book. She manages to get Nora into more trouble with her stupid schemes. Nora seriously needs to get some new friends. She's just a two dimensional character to provide a foil for Nora. All she cares about is food and having "fun," which usually translates into getting Nora into some sort of trouble. Patch was a little bit better than the first book. The big problem was that so much of the book could have been skipped if he had just told Nora the truth. Other than that he was the typical tough guy/ bad boy that broods in a corner, kind of like a less awesome version of Angel from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

The sequel to Hush, Hush was largely a disappointment. Many problems from the first novel recurred unnecessarily and Nora became an annoying shrew. If you really liked the first one, you might like this one. I'm still planning to read the third book just to see what happens, but I will be getting it from the library.

My rating: 2/5 fishmuffins