zelda_queen | Hush, Hush: The Story

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Hush, Hush: The Story

ZeldaQueen: So, we've gone through the story, and now it's time for one last test. We get to look at the book summary and see if we get an accurate representation of what it's about. Everyone ready?

Projection Room Voices: Starting Media in 3...2...1...

The Story

Falling in love was never so easy . . .

or so deadly.

ZeldaQueen: And never so unbelievable. Seriously, there is not a single thing in that book that warrants Nora changing her mind about Patch being a dangerous asshole. Not to mention that it was hardly easy. Fitzpatrick dragged Nora kicking and screaming

For Nora Grey, romance was not part of the plan.

ZeldaQueen: Good to know, since we only have a vague idea of what her "plan" is. I mean, she says she's going to a scholarship prestegious college, but we don't see any signs of her taking the SATS, writing applications for said scholarship, getting letters of recommendation, keeping up her grades (unless it involves hanging around Patch) or doing any extracurricular activities besides the school newspaper (which is mentioned sparingly). Besides fawn over Patch, she doesn't have much of a plan for almost all of this book!

She's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how much her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her.

ZeldaQueen: Yes, as we see in that one, single scene, which comes across very much as Vee being overly judgemental. Also, you ever notice how it's always that the girl has never had any interest in guys before The Love Of Her Life shows up? What, does it make an epic love unbelievable to imply that there were relationships before that? Or, considering how Patch treats Dabria, is it a disgusting double standard that it's fine for guys to date around, but girls should be demure and save themselves for the Right Guy.

I have a feeling it's a bit of both, actually

Not until Patch came along.

ZeldaQueen: And tried to kill her. Go on, just give that sentence a proper ending

With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Nora is drawn to him against her better judgment.

ZeldaQueen: Um yeah, if by "easy" you mean "slasher", sure. That doesn't sound like something that would draw me towards a guy, but hey what do I know? I guess plenty of people find creepy stalkers attractive

But after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora's not sure who to trust.

ZeldaQueen: The ice-cream man.

And I love how we're skipping over the stuff Patch definitely does, like invade her space, call her names she doesn't like, make crude sexual comments to her, and generally terrify her. Even if he wasn't involved with said encounters, I'd avoid his ass anyway

Patch seems to be everywhere she is, and to know more about her than her closest friends.

ZeldaQueen: And...that's a seductive trait?

She can't decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide.

ZeldaQueen: Let's see...she thinks this guy is stalking and spying on her. WHAT DO YOU THINK???

And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is way more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel.

ZeldaQueen: Yes, finding out that the guy pursuing a relationship with you is trying to murder you, whilst manipulating and mindraping you to spend the night with him and make out with him does inspire unsettling feelings. What, you think I'm letting that go? No, I certainly am not!

For Nora is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen - and, when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost her life.

ZeldaQueen: What? Where, may I ask, does Nora EVER get to choose sides? That implies that she has some modicum of choice and power. For that matter, what "ancient battle"? One dude was after her because Patch ruined his life and not because of fallen angels! Other than that, no other Nephilim show up, and only one other fallen angel appears, for a handful of scenes!

So yeah, typical summary here. Vague, hopes to be alluring and interesting, and is one big, fat lie. Hmph

Onward to: The Story Behind The Story

Back to: Acknowledgements

Return to: Table of Contents

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For Nora is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen - and, when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost her life.

Well, SUBTLE foreshadowing for the sequels. Subtle because it's only in the summary and not in the actual book. There's NO implication whatsoever that there's any battle between the angels, fallen or otherwise, and the Nephilim (I'm assuming they're the ones being talked about here) and there's no mention of Nora having to choose sides. IT MAKES NO SENSE. At least Meyer, once she had the idea of werewolves VS vampires for New Moon, went back and sort of wove it into Twilight.

I hate you, book.

You know, I had a sporking of this started a few months back, but never got around continuing. Do you think it's worth continuing, Zelda, since I've already read someone else's spork on it?

Indeed, it is. Although given how painfully obvious it is that Fitzpatrick didn't plan for the sequels, it's probably more like she took the idea from the book jacket and ran with it. -_-

Sure! I say go for it! :) And if you continue on with it, send me a link. I'd love to read it. ^_^

Also, you ever notice how it's always that the girl has never had any interest in guys before The Love Of Her Life shows up? What, does it make an epic love unbelievable to imply that there were relationships before that?

If there's one thing I could go back and tell myself ten years ago, it's that One True Love™ is the exception rather than the rule and though it always sucks when a relationship goes south, it's not the end of the world. And I can only imagine how much worse it is for girls, because boys aren't bombarded with the YOU MUST FIND YOUR ONE TRUE LOVE message to anything like the same extent.

I will give one teensy weensy reality point: we are dealing with teenagers, here. In reality, it's not uncommon for someone in their late teens to be inexperienced with relationships. In reality, if Nora's town is really so teeny-tiny, it's possible that she's reviewed her list of candidates and was all "screw that noise, I need some new options". In reality, teenage boys are by and large not the most desirable people to date.

In this instance, however, I will concede that there are all sorts of skeevy and DO NOT WANT attached with the constant trope of the Pure Maiden, Untouched By Love Until He Shows Up. I mean, hasn't she had crushes? Celebrity boyfriends? Is she asexual (which would actually be kind of interesting)?

Authors seem to forget that teenagers - yes, even teenage girls - are chock-full of horomones. THERE SHOULD BE FEELINGS SOMEWHERE. Drawing purely from my own experiences, my teenage years were full of sexual confusion, ill-fated crushes, and a few bad relationships. None of my relationships, bad or otherwise, led to THE ONE. Why isn't there a paranormal YA book that represents MY experience, damn it?

For another reality point, I'd also find it reasonably believable that, if her town is really that tiny, she has a hard time being attracted to any of the guys she knows because she grew up around them and just doesn't see them that way. Then it would make at least a little more sense that she's intrigued by the new guy in town. Of course, in this version, it would help if she was shown to have been attracted to some guy before that, like a movie star or the lead singer from her favorite band or something. Because the way it stands now, it just seems like she's never even thought about it before, and that is a little too close to the Pure Maiden trope you mention.

you ever notice how it's always that the girl has never had any interest in guys before The Love Of Her Life shows up? What, does it make an epic love unbelievable to imply that there were relationships before that? Or, considering how Patch treats Dabria, is it a disgusting double standard that it's fine for guys to date around, but girls should be demure and save themselves for the Right Guy?

Yeah, I'd say it's a disgusting double standard. It reminds me of the Ginny Weasley Wars of the Potterverse, in which large numbers of fans developed a hatred for Ginny because she dared to date Michael Corner and Dean Thomas before dating Harry. It took me quite a while to realize that the hostile fans were presuming that Ginny wasn't just dating the boys, she was fucking them regularly and b)while the hostile fans were okay with the three boys having sex with Ginny, they were FURIOUS that Ginny would have the effrontery to fuck a boy who wasn't her True Love (TM) or to start and end a relationship with a boy, rather than waiting for him to do either.

Don't you just love the presumption that a girl can't have any agency in a relationship? And that while it's okay for a boy to fuck someone who isn't his True Love, a girl can't POSSIBLY do the same thing?

For Nora is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen - and, when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost her life.

Awww, how cute. Fitzpatrick is trying to make this sound epic. And yet there's only one immortal in the story--a guy who wouldn't be immortal if Patch hadn't tricked him into making a promise that was more long-term than he realized. And there's one fallen angel--Patch. It's not an ancient battle, either. Chauncey's only been around for a few hundred years. "Ancient battle" makes it sound like it's been going on for millennia at the very least.

And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is way more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel.

The way he makes her feel? Until Fitzpatrick lobotomizes the poor girl, Nora feels creeped out by sexual harasser, stalker, rapist and murderer Patch! And it really says something that Nora has to lose the ability to think and reason before she can be coerced into a relationship with him!

This is a horrible, evil book. If I could, I would un-write it. If possible, I think it's more damaging to girls than Twilight, and that's going some!

"It took me quite a while to realize that the hostile fans were presuming that Ginny wasn't just dating the boys, she was fucking them regularly and b)while the hostile fans were okay with the three boys having sex with Ginny, they were FURIOUS that Ginny would have the effrontery to fuck a boy who wasn't her True Love (TM) or to start and end a relationship with a boy, rather than waiting for him to do either."

Yeah, I know. -_- At least Ginny gets her own back on that argument, when she tells Ron that her dating life is her own business and to stop nosing and gossiping about it.

You know, it also occurred to me that that's why Hermione isn't thought of the same way, even though she dated two guys before hooking up with Ron. Both of her relationships were mostly quiet and offscreen and in the case of Cormac, pretty obviously nonexistent. There's nothing wrong with that of course (at the very least, it's expected because it's Harry's point of view and he of course is never around when Hermione's on a date), but it seems that the Ginny-haters equate "passionately making out with your boyfriend" or "taking initiative in a relationship" to "being a brazen harlot". I think one of the dumbest things I saw was on Emerson's Harmony Wall of Shame on Mugglenet, where one person insisted that Ginny didn't REALLY love Harry, because she didn't cry when they broke up and what sort of a horrible girl doesn't dissolve into tears when Her Man leaves her? -_-

"Awww, how cute. Fitzpatrick is trying to make this sound epic. And yet there's only one immortal in the story--a guy who wouldn't be immortal if Patch hadn't tricked him into making a promise that was more long-term than he realized. And there's one fallen angel--Patch. It's not an ancient battle, either. Chauncey's only been around for a few hundred years. 'Ancient battle' makes it sound like it's been going on for millennia at the very least."

Technically there's two fallen angels, but Rixon really serves no purpose to the story. And while the sequel does expand on the Fallen Angels vs Nephilim thing (while making the Nephilim FAR more sympathetic than that bastard Patch), I sincerely doubt that Fitzpatrick had thought it up when this book had been written.

"This is a horrible, evil book. If I could, I would un-write it. If possible, I think it's more damaging to girls than Twilight, and that's going some!"

I know! This book just stunned me, and the sequel stunned me all over again. It's just...horrible. This is the book that was so bad, it got the girl running the Sparkle Project to defend Twilight.

And hey, in the true Suethor fashion, Fitzpatrick has posted her account of the fateful day she scribed this shit, so we'll know which day to head for, should we ever discover time travel.

... That idea saddens me. Particularly since Ginny was obviously a bit upset when they broke up, but there were way more important things going on. Like, y'know, Dumbledore's death. Besides, she knew, he knew, and lichens growing under rocks knew (though apparently this loser didn't) that it was because Death Eaters were bent on killing everything Harry ever loved or cared about and, assuming they were both still alive once Voldemort was gone and dealt with, they would probably get together again. I mean, it was pretty obvious.

"Besides, she knew, he knew, and lichens growing under rocks knew (though apparently this loser didn't) that it was because Death Eaters were bent on killing everything Harry ever loved or cared about and, assuming they were both still alive once Voldemort was gone and dealt with, they would probably get together again. I mean, it was pretty obvious."

Stupidly, that too was something the Harmonians were in denial about. Apparently they thought that Harry having broken up with Ginny at the end of HBP was some magical doorway to all sorts of new relationship options (*cough*Hermione*cough*). This led Emerson to note "Have you read the sixth Harry Potter book? Or the series in general? Or read an issue of Spider-man?"

And word on that. Heck, if anything, Ginny's reaction was one of the few mature ones in break-up scenes as of late, in YA literature! She doesn't scream, she doesn't beg, she doesn't fall over dead from a Goddammed Hole, she talks to Harry and understands why he's doing what he's doing, and while she's clearly worried about him, she still goes back to Hogwarts and leads the effort to get the Death Eaters kicked out. And yet, people think that's a sign of not really caring. -__-

/And never so unbelievable. Seriously, there is not a single thing in that book that warrants Nora changing her mind about Patch being a dangerous asshole./

*mock-fangirl voice* But – but he’s *hot!* And he fell in love with Nora along the way and stopped himself from killing her! Isn’t that so romantic?

/no matter how much her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her./

The language of that phrase is very telling. Vee doesn’t try to help her find boys to date, she doesn’t suggest possible boys for Nora to date, no, she “pushes them” at Nora. She forces Nora to come into contact with boys whether she wants to or not. Because that’s what best friends do, don’t you know? They push their friends around and force them to date boys against their wishes. Don’t you wish you had friend like Vee? *sarcasm*

/Also, you ever notice how it's always that the girl has never had any interest in guys before The Love Of Her Life shows up? What, does it make an epic love unbelievable to imply that there were relationships before that? Or, considering how Patch treats Dabria, is it a disgusting double standard that it's fine for guys to date around, but girls should be demure and save themselves for the Right Guy./

Yeah, it’s the sexist double standard that really bothers me. I wouldn’t be as annoyed by this trope if it weren’t so one-sided. I mean, let’s look at a few bad YA books:

1. Jace from “The Mortal Instruments”: Randomly made out with a waitress while at a restaurant with Clary and Co. and tells the reader that there were “other girls” when Clare gave us his POV for some reason. Is praised as a stud and a ladies’ man and a sexy bad-boy, while Isabelle, who also has apparently dated a lot, is portrayed as vain and shallow. Clary has apparently never dated anyone before Jace.

2. Patch from “Hush, Hush”: Dated Dabria, cheated on her with another girl, and continued to treat her like garbage after he dumped her. Nora has apparently never dated anyone before Patch.

3. Damen from “Evermore”: Dated Drina (is it just me or is it an incredible coincidence that both Drina and Dabria have names that start with ‘D’ and end with ‘a’ and are painted as psycho exes for daring to be angry that their partners dumped them for someone else?) before dumping her for Ever (or Ever’s reincarnation before she was killed).

4. Chen Yong from “Silver Phoenix”: Had a romantic relationship with a childhood sweetheart before getting together with Ai Ling. Ai Ling has never dated anyone before Chen Yong.

So, yeah, guys, feel free to date around! Boys will be boys, after all! If girls get upset about it, then they're just jealous harpies who are getting in the way of your fun! But don't let your girlfriends have any boyfriends before you, then they're just promiscuous playgirls who are only good for a one-night-stand! *sarcasm*

The only exception I can think of right now is, of course, Edward Cullen. But Meyer wasted a great opportunity there (just like she did with everything else). Instead of making Edward endearing and shy or confident and comfortable with his virginity, she made him an obsessive control freak when it came to sex and marriage.

As for Zoey and Erik of “House of Night,” yes, Zoey did date Heath before getting together with Erik, so she is an exception in that sense. But Erik also dated Aphrodite, so it’s not like Zoey was his first love either.

/Nora is drawn to him against her better judgment/

Ahem, you mean against her *sanity, self-respect, and common sense.* Anybody with two brain cells would steer clear of Patch.

/when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost her life./

*flatly* The “right” choice involved her throwing herself from a great height so that Patch would get a human body. If not for Fitzpatrick’s contrivances, *that* choice would have cost her life.

/One dude was after her because Patch ruined his life and not because of fallen angels!/

And one woman was after her because her sole purpose was to be Patch’s jealous and crazy ex-girlfriend. Yeah, what epic conflict and struggle. -_-

But Erik also dated Aphrodite, so it’s not like Zoey was his first love either.
And yet Erik isn't vilified, but his ex-girlfriend is. Granted she was trying to blow him in public and against his wishes, but still. Aphrodite gets branded as a slut by the writers and by the rest of the cast, Erik is...well, he's just there.

...the fact that a lot of female authors do this is frightening to me.

Well, there is a bit where Zoey basically says that she isn't sure she wants to date Erik because he had been with Aphrodite, but it still comes across as bitchy, given how unwilling he was. Given how Kayla was treated for wanting to hook up with Heath and how the two girls who later try to hook up with Erik (who has blessedly dumped Zoey by that point), I think the rule of sexuality and dating in the House of Night world pars down to "Does Zoey think that guy is hot? If so, he is forgiven any trespasses and any girls who try to date him are whores".

Well, the childhood sweetheart one in number four sounds okay, on paper at least. Still, I'm betting there's some execution fail for it to get mentioned? Plus, it's an annoying trend.

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Hush, Hush: The Story

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