Crescendo Review

Crescendo - Becca Fitzpatrick

*October 19th, 2010 Simon & Schuster

Nora should have known her life was far from perfect. Despite starting a relationship with her guardian angel, Patch (who, title aside, can be described as anything but angelic), and surviving an attempt on her life, things are not looking up. Patch is starting to pull away, and Nora can't figure out if it's for her best interest or if his interest has shifted to her arch-enemy Marcie Millar. Not to mention that Nora is haunted by images of her father and she becomes obsessed with finding out what really happened to him that night he left for Portland and never came home.

The farther Nora delves into the mystery of her father's death, the more she comes to question if her Nephilim blood line has something to do with it as well as why she seems to be in danger more than the average girl. Since Patch isn't answering her questions and seems to be standing in her way, she 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?

Crescendo is the thrilling follow-up to Becca Fitzpatrick's New York Times Bestselling debut Hush, Hush.

Truthfully, I have rather mixed feelings about Crescendo. Back when Hush, Hush came out, there were some rather dividing opinions on it - avid supporters and avid dislikers (whose main offense came from the anti-feminist actions of Nora). Personally, I thought Hush, Hush was a pretty enjoyable read (see review).

On the whole, Crescendo is still an enjoyable read. Fitzpatrick's writing and the particular font of the novel create a magnetic atmosphere that draws the reader in. Personally, I found the climax of this novel better than its predecessor. The twist at the end was a brilliant touch, nicely executed and a pleasantly chilling surprise. Basically, the ending of the novel was great fun to read.

Alas, it took getting to the end of the novel to reach the good stuff. The first couple hundred pages were... shall we say, frustrating? In Hush, Hush, Nora was a little annoying, but still in an endearing way. In Crescendo, she was just annoying. The things she did, the words she said, the thoughts she thought... it was all very damsel-in-distress and irrational and basically very PMS. Those were not the words and actions of a person who has aspirations to attend one of the best colleges in the States. And what happened to the whole summer school plot line? It kind of just disappeared. In short, characterization - not just of Nora, but supporting characters as well - detracted from the credibility of the novel.

So while the climax and plot twists improved in this sophomore novel, characterization seems to have gone the opposite way, unfortunately.

Nevertheless, Crescendo has magnetic prose and can still be an enjoyable read and will no doubt find an attentive, adoring audience.

Goodreads / Becca Fitzpatrick / HushHushBooks / Fallen Archangel

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The winner of Hush, Hush and Crescendo was Carrie from In the Hammock. Congratulations!

Waiting on Wednesday (21)

Unearthly - Cynthia Hand
*January 4th, 2011 HarperTeen

Clara has known she was part-angel ever since she turned fourteen two years ago. But now she is finally getting visions of what her Purpose-a rite of passage for every part-angel-is to be, and it happens to involve a gorgeous guy. Of course, there is the raging forest fire surrounding them, too. When Clara's Purpose leads her family to Wyoming, Clara findsthe boy of her visions, Christian, but complicating her mission are her growing feelings for another guy, Tucker. As the day in her visions draws closer, Clara discovers that her Purpose may play into a larger struggle between angels and Black Wings-fallen angels who spread sadness and misery wherever they go. But when the fire erupts and both Christian and Tucker are in danger, who will she choose to save?

Okay, honestly there's some confusion about this one. First off, Goodreads lists the pub date as January 1st and the cover as blue monochrome, while the author's blog and Harper list the pub date as January 4th, and the cover is more commonly monochromatic purple.

Regardless of the confusion, that is definitely a very pretty cover. The fact that it's monochromatic and simplistic is rather appealing. The font kind of reminds me of the title fonts for Beautiful Creatures and Beautiful Darkness (by Margaret Stohl and Kami Garcia).

It'll be really interesting to see another take on angels (fallen angels, to be specific). Early reviews thus far seem to be pretty positive, so it'll be interesting to see if it lives up to expectations.

And there you have it - my pick for the week. So your turn now - what're you waiting on this Wednesday?

*WoW is hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine

Teaser Tuesday {4}

So I realized that it's basically been ages since I've done one of these. The other day, I was randomly browsing my [failed] attempt at Project 365 this year, going through some of the posts from back in January on my other blog.

And then I found something that I'd completely forgotten writing about. It was a contest entry for a teen diary entry/letter over at agent extraordinaire Nathan Bransford's blog. So I guess I'll share it here:

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Henry –

Some days I wish you were a dragonfly. I wish you were a dragonfly because I want to hurt you, I want to make you feel pain, I want to utterly decimate you. I would grow my fingernails long and clutch your wings between them, digging the edges of the nails into the thin, gossamer material. Fragile. I would then slowly – slowly, to savour the satisfaction – slowly pull my hands apart like they were same poled magnets repelling each other. I would tear you from limb to limb, and prolong the excruciating agony for as long as I can. Then I would crunch your tail between my thumb and middle finger – you know why the middle finger – so that you can’t escape, and then – bam! Squish you flat with my other palm.

You don’t deserve to be called my “father” anymore – you’ve never been him, and iPhones will fall from the sky for free before you ever are him. But you know what’s the most pathetic part of all this? I wish you were him. I wish you could be him, even more than I wish for a free iPhone to just fall into my lap. And then disgust and abhorrence fills me to think that I’d even contemplated letting you back into my life.

Do you even realize how messed up my life is because of you? Sometimes I want to pretend that you don’t know, and that somewhere in that bleak, bleak heart of yours, you have a soft spot for me. The rational part of my mind knows that’s nothing but a lie though. Clearly, you don’t give a shit.

Otherwise, you wouldn’t have called Mom and me last night. The first time we’ve heard form you in about half a year now. And what was your not-so-surprising reason for calling? You got in a bar fight, you’re on the run, and you needed cash. And even though neither of us said it out loud, both Mom and I knew that you were drunk or high, or maybe even both. But by now, you probably don’t even remember doing that. And you’ll never read this letter, because you don’t deserve to know the full impact of your life on mine.

Last weekend, Mom took me to the mall and I saw some hot guys from school. And you know what I immediately did, almost subconsciously? I ran and tried to hide inconspicuously in the closest spot possible. Which happened to be a rack of old granny cardigans and gingham dresses on clearance. You know what else? I’m seventeen years old, about to graduate high school, and I’ve still never been kissed. You know why I’m such a late bloomer? Because I grew up without gender balance. Basically, I don’t know how to talk to guys. Every time I try, all I can do is gurgle incoherently.

You don’t deserve to have me care anymore.

Screw you, Henry.

Screw you, stranger.

Definitely not my father.

Work of Fiction.

In My Mailbox [43]

So none of this stuff is actually from the past week. The Unidentified by Rae Mariz and Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry were actually both mailed to my parents' house, but my dad came to visit and dropped them off for me. Both were surprises - very pleasant ones, I might add! Definitely very excited about both. Two friends have borrowed The Unidentified thus far, one of whom is still reading it (and might be up for writing a guest review, so keep an eye out for that).

The last Pendragon book (by DJ MacHale) and the assorted swag (bookmarks, pins) were from the Word on the Street! festival that I've previously blogged about, the one where I went and heard Yann Martel speak.

So what's been in your mailbox recently?

*In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren

Reviews: Skinned & Crashed

Because Skinned & Crashed are consecutive books in a trilogy by Robin Wasserman and I read them one right after the other, I'm just going to review both together, as the stuff I thought about one book generally applied to the other as well, for the most part.

Skinned and Crashed - Robin Wasserman
*September 9th, 2008 & September 8th, 2009, respectively

With the Skinned trilogy, Robin Wasserman has created an engrossing, three-dimensional and thought-provoking world of a hypothetical future.

One of the best aspects of these books was the world-building. Key elements of creating a realistic potential future include being able to visualize it, being able to feel it, being able to suspend disbelief and - however fleetingly - believe it. With these two books, Wasserman has accomplished that. The mechs, as a concept, feel so real.

Another strong point of both books is the voice. It's very distinctive, and at times even metallic - machine-like. Skinned focuses more on the psychological aspect, and as such moves a little bit slower, whereas Crashed is more physical-based. At the same time, Crashed is the second book in a trilogy, and for science fiction especially, it would be nice if it read like it were written that way. Honestly, there was so much repetition of concepts and background info (mostly revealed in Skinned) that it got to the point of being annoying.

Skinned and Crashed are both also very thought-provoking; there's definitely a bit of social satire in there, and it's really cool - and a little disconcerting - to see elements of our society reflected in that. Although the concepts explored weren't mind-blowing, if one bothers to ponder into it deep enough and make the effort to actually think about the implications while reading, it's definitely got some deep stuff that'll leave you unable to stop thinking about it long after the last page's been turned.

With intricate world-building, cool concepts and a distinctive voice, Crashed and Skinned are both very fun YA sci-fi reads.

*Wired, the third book in the trilogy, was recently released on September 14th, 2010.
**The back-cover synopsis of Crashed really bothered me - it didn't exactly fit the plot. Those of you who've read it, did you find that too?

berry acrobatic.

tomorrow -
today...
is a new day.

Upcoming CSN Review

We all know that online shopping is basically explosive in popularity these days. One amazing, super-comprehensive store is CSN Stores - they honestly have just about everything.

From gorgeous nightstands to beautiful lamps to sturdy bookshelves, CSN's series of stores has got you covered.

Those of you who've been visiting Lucid Conspiracy for awhile might remember a contest hosted in conjunction with CSN Stores back in June where a giftcard was given away. This time around, the lovely people over there have offered me the opportunity to review an article from one of their stores.

Living in a university dorm room, there's definitely a lot of stuff that would come in handy. At this point, I'm trying to decide between a desk chair, a mini fridge, or a portable space heater. Any opinions? Either way, definitely be on the lookout for a review coming soon!

In the meantime, pop by CSN Stores and check out their amazing selection of just about everything - furniture, shoes, bags, etc!

Giveaway: Hush, Hush & Crescendo

Let's start October off with a bang. September was rather hush, hush in terms of posting, but hopefully this month we'll crescendo in terms of volume! And what better way to kick it off than by having a giveaway?

And so, in conjunction with Simon & Schuster, Lucid Conspiracy is pleased to announce a giveaway for copies of both Hush, Hush and Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick for one extremely lucky winner. Be sure to check out the new book website at HushHushBooks.com! First, some basic background information:

Becca Fitzpatrick

Becca Fitzpatrick's first book, Hush, Hush debuted as a New York Times bestseller. She graduated college with a degree in health, which she promptly abandoned for storytelling. When not writing, she's most likely running, prowling sale racks for shoes or watching crime dramas on TV. She lives in Colorado. Find out more at beccafitzpatrick.com.

Hush, Hush - Now available in paperback!

A sacred oath, a fallen angel, a forbidden love.

Nora Grey has had a rough year. Her father was murdered and as a result, her mother had thrown herself into work, leaving Nora alone most of the time in their secluded farmhouse. Despite this, she manages to be a very good girl, never missing school, never even driving without permission.

But when the transfer student, Patch, gets assigned as her lab partner in biology, from the moment the two are together, there's an inescapable magnetism that draws Nora deeper and deeper into his dark world. When she discovers the enormous V-shaped scars on his back, she discovers that there is a battle going on between the fallen and the immortal. And she's the object.

The magnetism she feels is now more inescapable than ever.

Crescendo - Available October 19th!

The sequel to the New York Times Best selling phenomenon, Hush, Hush!

Nora should have know her life was far from perfect. Despite starting a relationship with her guardian angel, Patch (who, title aside, can be described anything but angelic), and surviving an attempt on her life, things are not looking up. Patch is starting to pull away and Nora can't figure out if it's for her best interest or if his interest has shifted to her arch-enemy Marcie Millar. Not to mention that Nora is haunted by images of her father and she becomes obsessed with finding out what really happened to him that night he left for Portland and never came home.

The farther Nora delves into the mystery of her father's death, the more she comes to question if her Nephilim blood line has something to do with it as well as why she seems to be in danger more than the average girl. Since Patch isn't answering her questions and seems to be standing in her way, she 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?

And now, onto the details of the giveaway. First entry is a freebie, just for name & e-mail. Additional entries are as follows:

`+1 for Twitter followers (@lucidconspiracy)
`+5 for Blog Followers
`+1 for each place you link the contest
`+1 for totaling up your entries

Contest ends October 19th, 2010. To enter, please fill out the entry form. Beyond that, good luck!

And now, I leave you off with the Crescendo book trailer: