Hush, Hush
Hush, Hush is a 2009 New York Times bestselling young adult fantasy novel by Becca Fitzpatrick and the first book in her Hush, Hush series. The novel received rave reviews and focuses on Nora Grey, a teenager whose life is at risk after beginning a romance with new student Patch, a fallen angel with a dark connection to Nora.
Book rights to Hush, Hush have been sold to over 13 countries, with LD Entertainment purchasing film rights.
Plot
Nora Grey is an average sophomore student living in Coldwater, Maine. Her life is largely uneventful until she is seated next to a mysterious senior named Patch Cipriano in biology class, who had failed the subject several times before. The two are initially at odds, but Nora finds herself inexplicably drawn to him, his behavior both attractive and repelling. Despite the strong pull she feels towards him, Nora continues to tell her best friend Vee that she's not interested in Patch.Vee later invites Nora to a local amusement park, Delphic, in an attempt to set her up with Elliot, a boy who has expressed an attraction to Nora. The trip turns awkward when the group runs into Patch, who makes Elliot jealous. Nora confronts Patch and he persuades Nora to meet him in front of the newly reformed roller coaster, the Archangel. Nora later makes an excuse to find something to eat and sets off to find Patch.
After she finds Patch, he manages to persuade her to ride the Archangel. The ride turns into a disaster after Nora falls from the roller coaster, only to realize it was her imagination. The incident leaves her shaken up. When Nora is unable to locate Vee and the others at the amusement park, she is left with no option but to allow Patch to drive her home. Once home, Patch offers to make tacos. Nora becomes suspicious and worried as the knife he uses changes sizes. The two nearly kiss but are interrupted by her mom calling in an attempt to check on Nora.
Nora becomes increasingly more connected with Patch and begins to change her opinion of him, especially after meeting his closest and only friend Rixon. Meanwhile, she also begins to grow more curious and suspicious of Elliot after discovering his involvement in a murder case in his last school.
Nora becomes extremely afraid after a bag lady is murdered in front of her. She'd given the woman her coat and hat in exchange for directions. She calls Patch for a ride home due to the rain and her fear, but his Jeep breaks down partway through and the pair are forced to take shelter in a shabby motel. While in the room, Nora finds that Patch has an upside down V on his back, which she earlier thought was her imagination during a play fight between Rixon and Patch at Bo's Arcade. Fascinated by it, she manages to touch the scar and is pulled into his memories of his past. This prompts Patch to demand to know what she had seen, and Nora to demand answers about what she has seen. This leads to the revelation that Patch is actually a fallen angel from Heaven who was trying to kill her, and in doing so, gain a human body. Her death would kill his Nephilim vassal Chauncey Langeais and make Patch completely human. She also discovers that Patch has an ex-girlfriend named Dabria, who is also Nora's new counselor at school, an angel of death who wants Patch to save Nora's life so he can become a guardian angel and so he can get back together with her. Patch had initially discarded Dabria's idea out of a desire to become human, but the plan failed because he had fallen in love with Nora.
It is soon revealed that her friend Jules is actually Chauncey, who wants revenge on Patch for tricking him into swearing an oath that will allow Patch to take over his body during the Hebrew month of Cheshvan. After leaving the motel and going home, Dabria breaks into Nora's room and says that she wants to kill Nora in order to prevent Patch from doing so and becoming human. Nora is narrowly saved by Patch, who goes after Dabria and strips her of her wings in vengeance, already knowing the archangels would have done the same for trying to kill Nora.
Nora is later invited to a game of hide-and-seek with Vee, Jules, and Elliot, with Elliot hinting that Vee will not survive the game if Nora doesn't participate. Despite Patch attempting to get her to remain behind in the car, Nora goes after them. She soon discovers Jules unmoving body, presuming Elliot killed him, only to be cornered by Jules, who confesses that he was behind various attacks on her life as a way of getting revenge on Patch. The game continues as they are held at gunpoint by Jules.
Nora struggles with Jules while Patch tries to distract him, but this fails and Patch is forced to possess Nora's body to fight him. The process leaves Patch unconscious after he's separated from her body because it is not the month of Cheshvan. In an attempt to escape, Nora climbs to the rafters of the school gym, but Jules uses mind tricks to make her believe that the ladders are breaking and that she is going to fall to her death. Patch manages to break through the tricks by making her focus on his voice in her mind. Jules begins to climb the ladder after her, but Nora confronts him with the knowledge that if she were to sacrifice her life, Patch would become human and Jules would die. With this in mind, Nora throws herself from the rafters, which effectively kills Jules.
To her surprise, Nora wakes up alive and well. Patch explains that he did not take her sacrifice because there was no point in having a human body without her. In doing so, Patch has saved Nora's life and is now her guardian angel. The two share a romantic moment, ending the book.
Characters
Nora GreyPatch Cipriano
Vee Sky
Elliot Saunders
Jules/Chauncey Langeais
Marcie Millar
Dabria/Miss Greene
Sequels
Hush, Hush was followed by three books, Crescendo, Silence, and Finale. The novels were released consecutively each year, with Finale being announced as the final book in the series. The series was initially promoted as being a trilogy, but it was later announced that the series would comprise four books, thus being a tetralogy.Adaptations
Film adaptation
On December 4, 2012 Entertainment Weekly revealed that the entire Hush, Hush series had been optioned by LD Entertainment as producer and distributor Paramount Pictures. LD Entertainment announced that they would be turning the books into a film series, with Greek creator Patrick Sean Smith set to write the screenplay for the first installment.On July 8th 2014, Becca announced on her website that she has decided that now is not the right time to move forward with the Hush, Hush movie and did not renew the movie option with LD Entertainment.
On July 20th 2018, Becca posted an update stating that a Hush Hush movie would be headed to production 'very soon'. BCDF Pictures, along with Kalahari Film & Media, announced that Kellie Cyrus would be directing the film - who is best known for directing The Vampire Diaries and The Originals, as well as an episode of the upcoming drama You from Greg Berlanti and Sera Gamble.