A Tale of Two Angels (thus named by Alicia)

After much thought about how I wanted to "review" (critique) Hush, Hush, and Fallen, I happened upon what I think is a brilliant idea. I'll attempt a comparison/contrast post because, both are, at the most basic level, love stories. I thought about posting short summaries of each book, but because I just know this is going to end up a long post already, I don't want to add unnecessary words. Instead you can follow the links on each title to a short description of the book from Goodreads.

Since every good comparison and contrast paper (or blog post as it were) must begin with a comparison, let's discuss what is similar about these books. Both books contain a male lead and a female lead as well as at least one best friend and of course one or more antagonists. In Hush, Hush we meet Nora and Patch. Fallen tells the story of Luce (Lucinda) and Daniel. Each couple starts off in the rockiest of relationships, or lack thereof. It was kind of HATE at first sight for at least one person in each couple. As the stories progress, Nora, and Luce, begin to learn more about and fall more in love with their respective men despite the fact that the boys are doing everything they can to make the girls feel that they are not liked. At all. See, unbeknownest to the girls, both boys are angels. In both books the antagonists enter the stories as "like" interests (I don't like the term love interest. call me weird) however, Nora and Luce are both suspicious of the attention they are receiving. This does NOT stop them from feeling flattered with the attention though. Through it all both girls depend on their best friends (Vee for Nora and Penn for Luce) to help them figure out what is going on. Things go wrong. Patch and Daniel start to warm up to Nora and Luce. More things go wrong. The girls get brushed off. More goes wrong, but this time Patch and Daniel are there to help their girls. Girl gets the boy in the end. (don't worry. I didn't spoil the book for you. everyone KNOWS that the girls always get the guys in the end, they're just that kind of books.)

I know the above information makes these books sound like twins separated at birth, but in all honesty, the differences are there. In Hush, Hush, Nora sees things happen only to find out that things aren't as they seem while in Fallen Luce sees things that definitely ARE there. The best friends are also very different. I loved Penn in Fallen. She is the quiet nerd when you first meet her, but as you get to know her you realize she isn't as timid as she seems to be. She's the one to go to for information. Vee, on the other hand, made me want to slap her as I read Hush, Hush. She was stupid. She didn't trust her BEST friend (insert sarcasm). The boys were also different. Patch wanted something and was determined to get it. Daniel was trying not to want Luce and was determined to avoid her. Patch honestly disliked Nora when he first met her. Daniel was and had been in love with Luce for forever when they met. Even the antagonists, though similar because they were all the "bad guys", had their differences. In Hush, Hush murder was on the mind, while Fallen showed that sometimes the bad guys want possession of power instead. The other major differences cannot be revealed without giving away the end of each book so you'll have to trust me that the differences are there.

Hush, Hush and Fallen both had me guessing the whole way through each, even though I walked away from Fallen in confusion while I absolutely thought that I was in love with Hush, Hush. Now, I'm more sure of Fallen while Hush, Hush has me confused. I enjoyed the background story in H,H and felt like I was learning the truth right along with Nora. Fallen left me hanging trying to figure out what was going on. I really did love Luce's friend Penn and I really did hate Nora's friend Vee. I really did like Patch better than I liked Daniel. I admired Nora's determination to sort out what was happening to her and to those around her. Luce had me wondering how a girl could be so obsessed with someone she didn't even know. (Of course, the back story explains it all, but how was I supposed to know that!?!) I'm beginning to warm up to Luce more and more as I think back over the book as I type now, but when I was reading her story I found myself wondering how she could miss things that were sooo obvious! The one part of Fallen that I didn't have figured out was Cam's part in the story. He was the character that kept me reading. I wanted to know who HE was. I think the reason I finished Fallen unsure of how I felt about it was because the ending wasn't really a resolution, nor was it a cliff hanger. It just...was. Hush, Hush on the other hand, I felt ended rather satisfactorily. I didn't feel like it had stopped in the middle of a thought, though it did set the story up for a sequel.

So, here's my recommendation based on my own book acquiring techniques. Don't purchase either book. Get them from your library. I bought both and I'm really torn trying to figure out if I liked either one enough to keep and to continue the series. I keep thinking and hoping that Fallen's sequel will tie up all of those loose ends for me. As for Hush, Hush, I don't know if I WANT a sequel. I mean, I DO, but I can live with the ending the way it is. I don't NEED a sequel for Hush, Hush.

Now, because I am not gung-ho about either book, please take my whole opinion above with a grain of salt. I'd hate to be the person that kept you from reading a book that you might end up adoring.