For a small town girl Blakely Henry, any hope of finding her biological parents died when she stopped believing in fairy tales and Disney princesses. This is, until she spots her boarding school's new British exchange student, Max Ryder, staring at her. Why would a boy who looks like he stepped out of the pages of a magazine be looking at her? Because Max knows something Blakely doesn't.
Following the tragic demise of one of Europe's most beloved royal families, Max has stumbled upon information he thinks may lead to a lost royal heir, and now he is on a quest halfway around the world to see if he's right. Sworn to secrecy by his university professor and the headmaster of Lakeview Academy, Max is admitted into an exchange program with the sole purpose of finding out the truth. But will his personal feelings for Blakely get in the way?
When a stolen email surfaces, Blakely and her friends' lives are threatened, and Max starts to question what he is really after.
From the exclusive rolling lawns of Canada's most prestigious boarding school to the University of Saint Andrews' hallowed grounds, Blakely quiet, unassuming life is turned upside down. Is she really who she thinks she is? Can she survive long enough to help Max unearth the truth?
Firstly thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read this book through Netgalley.
Originally from reading the synopsis of this book I was so interested in read it and when it got sent too my Kindle I was itching to read it. However I realised from the first few chapters that this book was more for young teens rather than young adults, mainly because of its uncomplicated language and the way its told.
I loved the modern fairy tale aspect of the book and Hush is potentially a great story- a boy discovers a princess his aunt worked for and was adopted, her life is changed forever. It all sounds very much to me like the film Anastasia, a Disney film I adore.
Sadly the problem I had with enjoying Hush is really the lack of character development and its relationship to the reader. I felt that the book was just told to the reader, it didn't give any "experience" to help the reader connect with the character. You're told the story, there's no mystery to it all like "ooh will this happen?...or maybe he will do this instead". There's no need as you're simply told what happens, I found this annoying. I wanted to discover this book for myself not have it all told to me.
I didn't feel the romance between Blakely and Max because of this lack of character development, it all seemed so rushed and simple. I could see where it was going and was corrected each time, I wanted something explosive to happen to really throw me off the path but despite me waiting for it, it never arrived. The villains didn't seem serious, despite being trained assassins. It wasn't scary or vicious as I would expect from such characters.
As much as I loved the idea of this book I was sadly disappointed. Hush for me needed something dramatic to happen, for there to be a connecting between the characters and the reader. An element of suspense and mystery was needed, everything seemed to fit in its place ever so graciously for such a complex background to the plot.
It makes me sad writing rubbish reviews but at least I'm being honest in what I thought. Have any of you read Hush? What did you think of it?
