I started reading this series two years ago when a student thrust Hush, Hush into my hands and swore her life that it was the best book she ever read.. The fourth and finale book, Finale, came out this past October. I was very eager to finish the series, so when the opportunity arose for me to get the fourth book, I snagged it and read it as quickly as possible.
The whole series is centered around two characters, Patch and Nora. They meet in high school and immediately you know there is something unique about Patch. Nora is drawn to him like a moth to a flame, and he isn't exactly staying away. He has the whole bad boy vibe down and that only draws her in more.
Later we find out that Patch is a fallen angel and Nora is a Nephilim, which is the offspring of a fallen angel and a human. The whole series focuses on all the issues that arise for them because they are not meant to be together. Not like Romeo and Juliet, star-crossed lovers, not meant to be, but on opposite sides of a eons old war not meant to be. They have to constantly fight to be together through crazy situations, back stabbing friends, mind tricks, possessions and devilcraft. Patch has to deal with his past catching up to him while Nora has to figure out how to stay alive long enough to have a future. They fight to be together for a love that runs blood deep, literally.
The struggles Nora and Patch face were interesting. The inclusion of the back story of their existences was very intriguing to me. This series actually launched my interest into the concept of fallen angels, which unbeknownst to me at the time, has quite a market. I like the concept of the fallen angel because it veered away from the whole vampire thing that has blown up the market. While I used to love reading vampire lore, it was back when they still killed people for fun, pre-glittering in the sun. So, as a paranormal/fantasy/sci-fi lover, I liked finding a niche so to speak to learn more lore about.
I will admit I thought the first book of this series was the best. It grabbed your attention and made you want to know what was going to happen. After that, though, I got over it. The second book focused too much on them being apart and Patch having to be the antagonist (read: asshole). This made me lose a lot of the connection I felt to the main characters. I though the third book was the last one, so after I read it this summer I was really disappointed. Then, silly me found out there was a fourth. While I liked the third and fourth, I could put them down. I found the beginning and middles were good, but the drama in the relationship between Patch and Nora got old to me. Granted, these books are not aimed at my demographic, so perhaps the teenagers will be able to find them more relative, but for me I was very much wanting them to just get over it and talk about the issues and move on. I don't do drama in real life well, and I feel this is beginning to role over into my literary interests.
The characters were well developed, and I like that it ended with no strings dangling in the wind making you wonder. Like I said, overall I liked the series, but much like the Hunger Games, I feel the best work was in the first one.
