Review: Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick

So since getting my grubby little hands on this book at the Becca Fitzpatrick signing on Halloween I haven't put it down.  I finished it in about a week and to say that I was excited to read this doesn't even begin to cover this!  I loved Hush Hush; the 1st book in this series that I HIGHLY recommend to everyone because it's just divine reading at it's best; but I couldn't believe i'd be saying this:

Crescendo is better

There I said it and I actually meant it.  Often the second book in any series is rarely as good as the 1st because there is so much to live up to and when it's part of a series it's generally the novel that set's up things for the final book or events that will unfold in the next novels to come.  This does start the ball rolling for the next in the Fallen Angels series but it gives us a story, a path to get to that revealing point in the ongoing tale of Patch, Nora and the battle of good and ..less -good (evil is such a harsh word to use at this point because I'm always of the thought that bad guys may be bad but have logical train of thought, evil, evil logic, haha).

I must admit that I've sort of been in love with Patch since the last book; well I say sort of in love with, I actually mean totally in awe of and love ever square inch of the page he was on.  It's probably best for me to  be honest now because it may explain my slight adoration of him.

I don't want to go into too much here because it would spoil the story but the main story picks up on old mysteries and unanswered questions about Nora's father and how he died, Patch's role in the world of Angels since Hush, Hush and new characters and relationship developments as we get deeper into Patch's world of Fallen Angels, Guardian Angels and Arch Angels as well as Nora's world of high school friends and enemies and how they collide in suprising ways.

This is not a book for the faint hearted either with the term 'emotional rollercoaster' only just covering what I went through while reading each chapter.  I had my fellow blogger friend Leanne (a newbie blogger like myself blogging over HERE) sending me text messages in the wee hours at her frustration at Nora and Patch at times.  All I can say is I shared her sentiments.  So many times I wanted to scream at one or both of them and knock their heads together.  They both struggle with their seperate problems and if only they could talk to each other at times it would have saved a great deal of trouble for them both and saved me a lot of embarassment at being found ranting ....at a book.

This is a delicious book that I devoured and completely enjoyed even through the ups and downs and many crisis as they cropped up continually.  This is just a wonderful series to read because the characters are so believable and the actions and reactions of the characters feel so natural at every turn and twist even if they were frustrating at times; but worth the pain.  No Pain, No Gain!  I can't wait for the third book because the cliffhanger ending in Crescendo has me on the edge of my seat and I don't know how long I can hang on for!

Rating: 8.5/10
Published by Simon and Schuster Childrens Books and can be bought here and all good book stores
Becca FitzPatrick's author web page is located here for more information on the Hush, Hush saga

Books oh how I love thee!

So I think that perhaps this book blog should be slightly more informal as I can't write all fancy like and keep that up 24/7.

Though I do promise not to be foul mouthed; i'll save that more my personal blog!  What I shall do is post about the books I'm currently reading or have read recently until I can write up a real review.  It takes so much time and work gets CRAZY busy at Christmas.

So I recently treated myself to some new books after pay day and because my official book buying ban before Christmas has begun my buying will be very slow til after the holidays.  My family gets very annoyed when i give them my list and  then have to keep asking for it back in order to remove things i've already bought.  So this year I made a list of things I want to read but know I can wait for.  This is why the last Vampire Academy 'Last Sacrifice' is NOT of the Christmas list.

So I bought Beautiful Darkiness by Kami Garci and Margaret Stohl, which is the sequel to Beautiful Creatures.  The first book was just so gripping and the love and bond between the two characters was so powerful that it was out of my hands when it came to deciding if i should buy the book.  I JUST HAD TO!

Next I bought Blue Bloods by Melissa De la Cruz. Honestly; I bought this because I promised another blogger a while back I'd read it if he promised to read Vampire Academy.  He has yet to hold up his end of the bargin.  So Andrew, it's time to pay up! lol.  Blue Bloods looks like a nice read and kinda a Gossip Girls with vampires if my read of the blurb is accurate but I could be way off.

Lastly I bought a copy of Mrs Fry's Diary .  For any follower of her eloquent twitter feed, you'll know this is the book of the often over shadowed and devoteed wife of on Stephen Fry and a year in the life of one Edna Fry.  Started reading this and i've made it into April so far and it's quite amusing to say the least!

As for reading I've finally found my way back to The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.  I few years ago now I did some work experience at Random House Children's Books.  It was an amazing experience and they were all so wonderful and I could recommend them more as a work place.  When I was due to leave they told me to basically help myself to some books.  They had shelves upon shelves of books, several copies of each for sending out in mailings and for reference and they said I could take any I wanted.  I only took a book if there was one left as a spare but I literally filled my bag til it won't zip up.  The Book Thief was one of the books I got and just never read but I've finally gotten into it and so glad i'm reading such a highly praised book after having it gather dust on my shelf!

I'll be writing a blog review on Crescendo soon because I've finished and WOW WEEE what a great book!

Happy Reading!

Book Event: Meeting Becca Fitzpatrick

So after a very exhausting weekend that seemed to start the weekend before with 2 gigs and a family Halloween party, the day arrived on the 31st October when I got to meet the lovely Becca Fitzpatrick.  For those not in the know, she is the brilliant author of 'Hush, Hush' and the sequel 'Crescendo' which is why the lovely Becca was at Waterstones, Bluewater for a signing of the latest book.

I've been ever so excited for this sequel because since finishing reading the first book and a few month's ago i read a sneak peak of the 1st chapter online and I was then desperate for the book.  I actually had to fan myself a bit and calm down cause Patch can overwhelm you if you're not prepared for his dreamboat bad boy self!

So as I had stayed over at my nan's house the night before because of the family Halloween party I drove my cousin Rebecca and myself from there to Bluewater.  She lives in Mitchem area, kinda near Wimbledon and so the trip was a fair distance for 9.30am on a Sunday.  It took about 1hr 30mins I'd guess but with Rebecca at the healm of my iPod, the music mix was awesome and we had a laugh the whole way there.

After arriving and running for the bathroom we met our fangirl team mate Leanne and her mum Sue and headed to Waterstones where a line had already started forming.  How exciting!  It slowly grew and while waiting I ran inside to buy mine and Becky's copy of Crescendo (hurray for BOGOF offers) and then hunted down Andrew aka PewterWolf13.  We had been twitter/FB/LiveJournal buddies for some time now meeting over our shared love of Twilight and through the wonderful Krystal aka Krysalbe.  I knew what he looked like and knew he was very excited to have some awesome Huffupuff themed Converse on so I scoutted out on the look for yellow and black.

We had fantastic chat and bonded more over books and our giddiness at meeting Becca.  As the line started to move we parted ways and I returned to my spot further down promising I'd tell Becca to ask to see his shoes. He thought I was joking. mwahahaha

Leanne and I donned our wings;

Yes, actual wings.  Leanne's were black feathers and mine were fairy wings spray painted black.  We like dress up and themed outfits to go along with our book loves.  Becky and I had a rocker bad boy look going on and Leanne had a PATCHwork dress on.  We are geeks and aim to prove it daily.

As the line moved forward we soon could see Becca and the lovely James who was our Patch look-a-like for the event and also appeared at ET4 the weekend before with Becca.  Leanne had attended that Con and had met them both there but was still just as excited to meet them both again as Becky and I were at meeting them for the first time.

I went first and Becca Fitzpatrick is just so warming and pleasant that I felt like I was meeting an old friend!  She was all cheery and chatty and was very excited when I gave her a gift I had made at work.  I brought her some Halloween candy and a chocolate disc with 'N <3 P' on it, which Becca knew instantly that it stood for Nora hearts Patch and she asked all about how it was made and I described it all and where I worked and stuff and she seemed really interested as was James who as it turned out knew the area where I worked a bit because he had family/friends from there.  Becca signed both my books and then when Leanne stepped up to get her things signed she remembered her and Leanne explained who we were on twitter and she knew us too and asked where Andrew was!

We explained he was in line and she'd see him soon and she asked 'but I won't know what he looks like to say hi'.  We explained how she'd DEFFO know him and to ask to see his shoes cause he was very excited to be wearing them and that the socks matched! lol.

We all got photos with Becca and books signed and just had a wonderful encounter with a wonderful author.  After snooping around in the YA section we went to go get some food and stopped to say hi to Andrew and his friend Dan in line again and told him what Becca had said and that we'd told her to ask about the shoes.  Andrew was slightly fearful at the idea of being 'expected'.

All in all, a great day filled with books and awesome encounters.