Crescendo

By Becca Fitzpatrick

Nora should know better than to think her life can return to normal after falling in love with a fallen angel. And Nora's life isn't normal—her dad was murdered, and the facts about his death just don't add up. Now Nora's own life is in imminent danger. Are she and Patch strong enough for the battle ahead?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Release date: Nov 10, 2010
• ISBN: 9781847389824

Becca Fitzpatrick

Becca Fitzpatrick is the author of Black Ice, Dangerous Lies, and the Hush, Hush saga, including Hush, Hush; Crescendo; Silence; and Finale—all four of which debuted as New York Times bestsellers. She graduated college with a degree in health, which she promptly abandoned for storytelling. When not writing, she’s most likely running, prowling sales racks for shoes, or watching crime dramas on TV. She lives in Colorado with her family. Find out more at BeccaFitzpatrick.com.

Reviews for Crescendo

[heatherlinc · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not quite as good as "Hush Hush" but still an entertaining read and I loved Vee, Nora's quirky, long-suffering BFF.

[ecmross · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Becca Fitzpatrick has a way with words! She's a brilliant writer and keeps you engulfed and guessing until the very end. Patch and Nora's story is such the star-crossed romantic type and you just never know what will happen next.

[bookscantgetenough · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This didn't impress me. I thought that Nora ended up becoming to needy and seemed like she couldn't stand on her own. She was becoming extremely annoying. I wish it was better. I hope that the next book will be better.

[nbmars · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

If you read my review of Hush, Hush, you probably can't wait to find out what happens next in this ongoing saga of angels both in and out of Grace and their interactions with human teens. This review has some barebones plot explication and no spoilers for this book (although a small spoiler for Hush, Hush in the next short paragraph only) .Nora, 16, is dating Patch, a former fallen angel. He earned his wings back by saving Nora’s life. Nora tells Patch she loves him, and wants Patch to reciprocate. She almost wrecks everything [as usual, I might add]. If the archangels catch a Guardian Angel falling in love with a human, they send the Guardian Angel straight to Hell. Forever! [And you probably thought Heaven was only home to nice beings!]Nora has pressures all around. Her best friend Vee really wants her to go to the mall with her:"Vee: ‘Macy’s is having a big sale. I need shoes, I need dresses, and I need a new fragrance.’Nora: ‘You just bought new clothes. Two hundred dollars’ worth. Your mom is going to hemorrhage when she gets her MasterCard statement.’Vee: ‘Yeah, but I need a boyfriend. And to get a boyfriend, you have to look good. Doesn’t hurt to smell good too.’”Thank heavens brains don’t come into play, because these girls don’t exhibit much. And personality? Vee has no interests except food and men, and Nora has The Most Annoying Personality on Earth. Nora decides she needs to break up with Patch in order to prevent the archangels from sending him to Hell. It’s not a good idea to dump her Guardian Angel, however, since all kinds of people want to kill Nora, including the reader.Various suspenseful chase scenes ensue, in which we try to figure out just who is naughty and who is nice. And Patch is forced to communicate with Nora when she is sleeping so the archangels don't overhear! Evaluation: This will make a wonderful holiday book! Or perhaps not. Because you would totally have to give up the whole idea of "heavenly" angels. Even the archangels are meaner than junkyard dogs. As with Hush, Hush, there is lots of stereotypical gender behavior, lots of idiotic impulsive risk-taking and attempts at "sleuthing" by Nora [Nora and Vee being pretty much dead ringers for Nancy Drew and Bess Marvin], and even more evidence that the world is just aswarm with fallen angels. AND, clearly Crescendo is only Number Two in a whole series! I can't wait to find out what Nancy and Bess - I mean, Nora and Vee, get into next!

[meags222_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Well, I have to say I liked this book better than the first novel in the series. As stated in previous entries I have never been one for really reading a lot of YA but I thought I'd give it a try and I am really enjoying what I am reading. By the end of Hush, Hush I didn't quite know what to think of some of the characters in the books. Nora seemed a bit flat at times but in Crescendo I think Fitzpatrick has developed her character a little more. I love that Fitzpatrick writes her novels in the mindset of a teen. Many novels that I read with teens in them have these unbelievably mature teens who rarely fly off the handle. I like that Nora is guided by impulse and her emotions. I have to admit I was this way in high school.One of my critisms of the novel though is that it seems to promote unhealthy relationships. Nora and Patch's relationship is anything but stable/healthy. In a way this relationship reminds me a bit of Edward and Bella in Twilight. I know you die hard Twilight fans will disagree but if you love someone you do not continue to push them away and that being said after so many times of being pushed away a girl needs to move on. (Even if the reason for pushing the girl away is that it's for her own good.) That's just a little pet peeve of mine in some of these novels.That being said, I still quite enjoyed the book. Fitzpatrick is quite good at drawing the readers in. I will most definitely be going out to get the next installment of this series. The book ends on quite a cliffhanger and I actually thought my Kindle didn't download the whole book for a moment. I can't wait to see what happens next. My rating is 4 out of 5 stars.

[strangespecimen · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I loved 'Hush, Hush.' It immediately grabbed me and pulled me in. I wanted to know every character and I was intrigued by the concept. In 'Crescendo' however, it took longer than I would have liked for that spark -- that moment when you realize you must finish -- to happen.

In the beginning, Nora and Patch have a perfect relationship, then suddenly things change. Nora becomes the type of female protagonist I cannot stand; insecure and jealous, letting her emotions trump logic and getting herself into terrible situations. She's as naive and impetuous as in the first book, but it's not acceptable anymore. It's annoying, because she should know better. Patch is the same person he was and I love his aloofness, but even he had his unlikeable moments.

We spend more time with Vee, who is outrageous and mildly annoying, and Marcie, who has an ongoing feud with Nora that comes to a head as Patch and Marcy seem to be getting closer. We learn more about Nora's heritage and whether or not her dad's murder has anything to do with her Nephil ancestry.

What I did like was that there are more threads to follow, unlike the first book which focused mainly on Nora and Patch. There's not only the complex relationship between Nora and Patch, but there's Nora's ongoing feud with Marcie Millar, the friendship between Nora and Vee, Vee's budding romance with Patch's close friend Rixon (who is also a fallen angel), and a new kid Scott, who's probablydefinitely trouble and may or may not be a threat to Nora.

The world expands in 'Crescendo' and it becomes increasingly difficult to discern the good from the bad, the wrong from the right and that is what makes the story intriguing; that everything falls in a gray area. There's no black or white, the villains and the heroes are non-existent and every character can go either way.


I rate this book 3.5 out of 5 stars. I liked it, but I did not love it. However, I am anticipating the next book in the series.

[vampiregirl76 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Nora has survived the threat on her life and still has Patch by her side...plus it's Summer. Life couldn't get any better. Nora feels at this moment it's just perfect. But her perfect falls apart fast. Nora is in danger once again, but from who she doesn't know yet. The death of her father is still haunting her. She has becomes obsessed with it, she needs to find out what happened that fateful night. Past memories and secrets may hold the answers to what she's looking for.Crescendo is a dark, enthralling read. Filled with mystery and romance that keep you turning the page. The action and drama keep this story at a wonderful pace - there isn't one dull moment. I was one of the many that loved Hush, Hush (the first book) - so I was surprised and ecstatic that I got an advance copy. While there were a few times I would have loved to shake some sense into both Nora and Patch, the sequel definitely lived up to all the anticipation. Plus the ending is to die for. When the cliffhanger hits, you'll be thirsty for more.

[Lesley Smallbone · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The book takes you into another world full of fantasy and myths!

[Iman Gajrbekov · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Basically same story line as the first book, somebody tries to kill Nora , Nora blames patch turns out patch was just trying to save her but didn’t communicate with her properly ,they fight ,they make up plot twist patch is not the enemy, they win

[myurbanfantasies · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Originally published on my blog, My Urban FantasiesCrescendo takes place roughly two months after Hush, Hush. The prologue is a flashback to the night Nora's father was murdered, a huge hint towards the storyline of Crescendo. Nora's personal life is becoming a complicated mess. More importantly, Nora's life is once again in danger. As if matters were not difficult enough Nora is being haunted by images of her father. She keeps seeing him in the most random locations. Nora also receives a mysterious envelope pointing her in the direction of her father's murderer. Nora vows to find out what happened the night her father died. The Hush, Hush series is becoming the bane of my existence, well at least as far as reviews go. I find myself loving some parts of Crescendo and absolutely hating others parts. *sigh* Again the characters personality's are not consistent. Nora has switched from a sweet naive girl to an obsessive, neurotic stalker. It's never a good sign when Vee seems sane by comparison. The part of Crescendo that I abhorred was how unbelievably cruel the characters were to each other. The hateful remarks were completely overdone and need to be significantly toned done. I'm still completely in love with the paranormal aspect of this series. I still think is an amazing concept and I'm glad it was stretched out over the entire book this time. The love and hate aspects of this book cancel each other out, leaving you with simply a good book. If Fitzpatrick had managed to get her characters under control and stop writing everything to its most extreme, Crescendo could have been an amazing book.

[elizavetac.b3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Nora has been living her life with her one and only boyfriend/guardian Patch. But things aren't looking up. Patch starts pulling farther away from Nora and she can't figure out if its for her own good or because he has an attraction for her enemy Marcie Millar. Even worse, Nora starts getting visions of her father and becomes obsessed with finding out what really happened to him on the day he left for Portland and never came back. Since Patch won't help her and give her answers she starts to find answers on her own. I think this book was very exciting and fun to read. I couldn't put it down! There was tons of action and i think the plot and the book itself was better than the first one in the sequel, Hush Hush.

[stembie3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I can only imagine how difficult it is to write a sequel as good as the first book in a series. Especially when you need to leave a cliffhanger to attract readers to a third book. Still I was not as enamored with this story as I was with Hush,Hush. As a book seller I often recommend Hush, Hush (and Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater) to teen girls as antidotes to the Twilight series. I'll continue to do so, and hope that the third book in the series has the protaganist returning to being a strong independent woman who just happens to be in love with an angel.

[kr_patterson · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A little of a disappointment after the first. I did find it compelling enough to keep reading, but the girl protag in this book was acting far more immature than she did in the first, and I found it hard to read for that reason. I cringed at so many things she said and did and found it hard to believe that Patch was still interested in her. Sometimes it was painful to read, but sometimes interesting.

[fefferbooks · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This one hovers right between 3 and 4 stars for me. It was just so, so much better written (for me) than Hush, Hush that I'm sort of shocked. Enjoyed getting to read this one w/o my OCD habit of having to mentally edit it creeping in!

[texasbooklover7 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Yikes! What an ending!

[bookloverslife · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Loved Cresendo, more action but not much Patch :( Cant wait to see what happens next.

[jacobsbeloved · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I waited quite a while for my tiny, local library to get this book in for me, and I devoured it in about a day and a half. Ironically, I was a little disappointed with the way it turned out in the end, as I do not really consider that much of an ending at all. It felt more like one of those cliff-hangers television writers use when they have run out of air time. But I am getting ahead of myself.
The book flowed much like the first book in the series. It opened with a scene that takes place in an undetermined time period in relation to the previous book. Then it finally returns to Nora and her life, which is assumed to be perfect since Patch has become her own personal guardian angel. But as usual, unexplained events happen and Patch keeps Nora in the dark. Nora behaves in her predictable, highly emotional ways and gets herself in one bad situation after another. I could not help thinking that so much of Nora and Patch's problems could have been avoided if they both would have been completely honest with each other from the beginning.
Because the book is told mostly through Nora's viewpoint, I felt as much in the dark about what was really happening as Nora did, which became very frustrating after several hundred pages. Even after the book ended, I still had a number of questions regarding the Nephilim secret society, such as the deal with the multiple rings. Hopefully, these will be answer in the final book, Silence. I did find the character of Scott growing on me towards the end, as it became obvious how much of a victim he was, which made me wonder how many more there were like him. Marcie was just as annoying as ever, though I guessed what her problem with Nora was very early in the book, which only created more unanswered questions. And really, how hard would it have been for Nora to just read the diary? That drove me bonkers.
On the whole, as much as I loved the first book, this book was a distant second in many ways. I can only hope that the concluding book fixes what was wrong with this book.

[geraldyc.b1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In this book Nora and Patch start to fall apart because he can't tell her that he loves her and because he starts to hang out with Mercie, Nora's enemy. After having a fight with Patch Nora's mom invites an old friend of Nora's, Scott, and his mom for dinner.After dinner Nora's mom asks her to show Scott around town. In school Nora tries to think of ways to tell Scott that she is canceling, at the end she tells him that her cat is sick( which is not true because she does not have a cat). After school Nora fallows Scott around because she thinks that he is a Nephilim. After she stops at a shop she swears that she saw her dad but her dad has been dead for a year and a half. After that she gets a letter from a person telling her that "the Black Hand" killed her dad. After that accident she sees Patch with Mercie and she thinks that they are dating so she tells Patch that she fires him from being her guardian angel. Later that day she tries to make Patch jealous which turns in to both boys fighting. A few days after the accident Patch wants to get back with her even if it means that he will go to hell but Nora says no because she does not want to be the reason of his downfall and to and more confusion of her feelings about Patch Rixon, Patch closest friend and a guy Vee is dating, tells her that Patch is the Black Hand. After that Nora is really confuse about her feeling about Patch and to add more confuse feelings Mercie tells Nora that her mom has been having an affair with Mercie's dad for 11 years. That night Patch gets in Nora's dreams and she tries to break up with him but he refuses to and he tells her that he is Mercies guardian angel. In the end of the book Nora discovers that Rixon is the person that killed her dad and that Mercies dad is her dad to. I like this book because of the action and because I think its funny.

[ahnya-2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The story picked up. I liked this one much better than the first.

[cynditefft · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I just finished Crescendo and I have to say... I'm confused. I try to avoid spoilers in my reviews, so I won't go into detail, but let's just say I didn't follow the ending. It seemed like this massive dump of information to try and help make sense of the madness, but even that left me shaking my head, thinking "But why would she..." and "If that's true, then how could he..." and so on.

So, okay, baffling ending aside, I thought the action scenes in this book were fantastic. Fitzpatrick's prose was tight and spot on with phrases like "The heavy fog sank its teeth into my skin." Great stuff.

But I have to put this out there: I missed Patch. I hated the fighting that consumed the entirety of this book, where Nora would say one thing and think another. It was exhausting and frustrating.

So (heavy sigh), this was a fast and engrossing read, but not satisfying.

[lmeza-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I declare outloud I AM OBSESSED with these books!!! Somebody help me!!!!! I don't know why I feel so touched by them, I simply can't stop. It's like falling in love; they even make me cry! Bring on Silence - here I go! (Happy birthday to one of my own angels too!)

[boogirl_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I wasn't a huge fan of the first book but I decided to give this one a try...I have many opinions about this book, all of then negative, but my biggest problem is the plot seemed to be thrown together without much execution. and WTF was that ending about? I gave it 2 stars because it somehow held me enough to finish it. I don't think I'll be moving on with this series.

[cocktailsandbooks-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Love it, loved it, loved it!!!!

[rawrrbot_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I loved 'Hush, Hush.' It immediately grabbed me and pulled me in. I wanted to know every character and I was intrigued by the concept. In 'Crescendo' however, it took longer than I would have liked for that spark -- that moment when you realize you must finish -- to happen.

In the beginning, Nora and Patch have a perfect relationship, then suddenly things change. Nora becomes the type of female protagonist I cannot stand; insecure and jealous, letting her emotions trump logic and getting herself into terrible situations. She's as naive and impetuous as in the first book, but it's not acceptable anymore. It's annoying, because she should know better. Patch is the same person he was and I love his aloofness, but even he had his unlikeable moments.

We spend more time with Vee, who is outrageous and mildly annoying, and Marcie, who has an ongoing feud with Nora that comes to a head as Patch and Marcy seem to be getting closer. We learn more about Nora's heritage and whether or not her dad's murder has anything to do with her Nephil ancestry.

What I did like was that there are more threads to follow, unlike the first book which focused mainly on Nora and Patch. There's not only the complex relationship between Nora and Patch, but there's Nora's ongoing feud with Marcie Millar, the friendship between Nora and Vee, Vee's budding romance with Patch's close friend Rixon (who is also a fallen angel), and a new kid Scott, who's probablydefinitely trouble and may or may not be a threat to Nora.

The world expands in 'Crescendo' and it becomes increasingly difficult to discern the good from the bad, the wrong from the right and that is what makes the story intriguing; that everything falls in a gray area. There's no black or white, the villains and the heroes are non-existent and every character can go either way.


I rate this book 3.5 out of 5 stars. I liked it, but I did not love it. However, I am anticipating the next book in the series.

[aoibhealfae · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I agree, Fitzpatrick is a much better writer than Meyer. Its still dragging and a lot of fillers (marcie, scott, patch, scott, patch, jealousy, wanna kill that girl but wait she's.. my.. omg!! and etc) in the end, it did give a slight interesting curve but I still wish it could have gone way a lot better than that.

I still dont like Nora nor Patch in this matter. Along the way, I wish Kate Daniels could have possessed Nora for a moment and act less like an anti-feminist girl who like to get herself trouble. I mean, jealousy was the main reason she snoop (and phail!) around so much.

[mtlkch-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Not nearly as good as Hush, Hush. Nora really got on my nerves in this one, so it was hard for me to enjoy her character. Great cliff hanger ending!

[mlh2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

** spoiler alert ** Where to start...I really enjoyed this book - it only took me two days to read it. The writing was definitely better in this book than the first. The only reason that I didn't give it 5 stars was because of a few things that irritated me throughout the book - sometimes there was more detail than anyone really cared about (like when Nora was getting dressed and what she was wearing; or when Vee keeps getting pulled into a relationship with boys who are trying to kill Nora, or that Vee gets upset with Nora when Nora doesn't tell her everything, but when Vee starts dating new guys, Nora seems to be the last to know). But, with that said - the book moved along quickly and kept me guessing who was behind the attempts on Nora's life until deep into the story (which is definitely a good thing). I felt like the character development was much better in this book as well. I felt like I could connect with the characters better, too. Nora and Patch start out fine, but before long, he pulls away and tells her (in a very elusive way) that they can't be 'together' because the archangels are watching him and he would go straight to hell. Nora's broken heart and her belief that Patch only saw her as a triumph leads her straight to another bad boy - Scott. And even though everyone tells her to stay away from him, she does otherwise and learns that he too is Nephilim, but more than that - he has a dark secret linked to her father's death. Before long, Patch is brought under suspicion as well. Nora is confused, heart broken and can't begin to comprehend all that is happening around her - including new revelations about her mom and dad (and Marcie). And can anyone say Cliffhanger?

[mlsimmons-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I will post my review later. I need to digest this book a little more before I write it.

[pamzaragoza · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Well. This is the second book of the Hush Hush saga. And at first, I really found it dragging since Patch and Nora are having trouble in their relationship and it just got me a bit frustrated (since I've missed Patch and Nora fluffs, you know). As the story goes on though, there goes the page-tearing action that just got me going through the book! There goes Nora's mom and Hank Millar's affair which will soon be revealed by Marcie which makes matters worse for Nora. Nora's life sucked on this one. She thought she lost Patch to Marcie. She felt so alone. Her mom is having an affair with her enemy's father. What could make matters worse? Knowing that you're dad isn't your real dad after all. Sucks! Oh well. The ending is such a cliffhanger!! But a big thumbs up on this one!

[siquebella · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It was a really good book better for teenagers. It was mysterious and dark with some romance mixed in. I liked it a lot!