Engaging and original- a story of courage and hope. I had no idea what I was walking into with this one, I grabbed it on a whim and man was it a lucky chance. This is a wonderful debut and I look forward to seeing what Farrow has to offer in the future! 4.5 stars!

A richly described dystopian fantasy that is timely and ethereal. It gives a uniquely powerful depiction of overcoming oppresion and having faith in oneself. A page-turning adventure filled with magic, mystery, and loss that I couldn’t put down

Blurb: Shae lives in a destitute village barely surviving with a mother who never speaks. Their family has been ravaged by the Blot.

When her mother is murdered, Shae sets out on her own to find her mother’s killer. What she finds is a secret world, the truth of her families past, and a hidden ability that will change the way Shae sees the world forever.

Deeply imaginative and captivating, I read this one in just two days. If you like books like “The Grace Year“ or “Serpent and Dove” you will love this action driven journey of alchemy, with a hint of romance.

This one ends on a cliffhanger and I can’t wait to get my hands on the final book in this duology. This is a perfect murder mystery/fantasy for October.

Dylan Farrow has delivered us a strong fantasy debut.

I love the concept of this book -- of 'the blot' being an illness of ink, of any writing being banned. It's spreading rapidly through the land where Shae, our heroine, lives and after losing family members, she decides to set out on her own to find a solution. That solution comes in the form of 'the Bards', a group of magic wielders that have the ability to alter reality.

It was interesting from the very beginning, but Farrow looses me a bit when it comes to world building. There's not much explanation for anything. I would've really loved to learn more about the Bards magic, where it comes from and the history behind it. The whole magic-system in the book could've used a bit more love, really.

The plot was attention grabbing, if a little clumsy. Again, the world-building would've helped the narrative. I know this was being marketed as a feminist fantasy, but I didn't really get the feminist aspect of it. I would've loved to see more female characters in this book that helped Shae and formed bonds.

Overall, I think Farrow has a lot of talent, and I can't wait to see what's next once that talent is honed.

#bookreview #netgalley #hush
✨POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD!✨
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I received an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

In a world where the written word can kill you and certain words can bring death, it's best to keep quiet and be careful. The disease known as The Blot spreads like ink on paper.
The only people who can help after and during the devastation caused when the plague first spread, are called Bards. They perform Tellings, and these manifest in whatever they were thinking or speaking of. Rain for crops etc. They are controlled by the Lord of Montane, the ruler of the region. For suitable tithes, the bards will bless the villages with tellings.
Of course, this is a corrupt system. The land of Montane is dying and things aren't improving despite the infrequency of The Blot infections.
Our MC is a girl who has experienced the justice of the bards when they came for her brother, who was stricken by the blot. When she manifests abilities she cannot explain, the fear that she is infected surfaces. The bards ignore her pleas when they visit the village.
Her mother is subsequently murdered and so it begins. In the quest for answers and justice, she finds herself at High House. Where things are strange to say the least.
I find the MC very naive and too trusting. A few kind words and she's reluctant to think badly of anyone. This could be the effect of the village practically shunning her and her mother. She is also very easily panicked, and it happens often. The book is fast paced with lots of action, and sometimes it takes a while to understand what is going on precisely.
The book ends with the perfect opening for a sequel, and I am still curious to see what happens.

Hush by Dylan Farrow is a fantasy, which emulates real life in that Shae's world, seems to be an endless series of rooms in a labyrinth. Much of the time she is not sure what is real and what is not. Even by the end, she is not sure. Shae's mother was killed. This much she knew. She saw the knife and the shambles her mother's killer had made of their home. What she couldn't figure out was why. Why Constable Dunne is not helping. Why is his office full of ink and paper, things that have been banned? Why is her best friend, Fiona, not more supportive? Why is this all happening? She decides to run . . . to the Bards, High House, King Cathal. They will help her. She knows it.

High House is even more confusing. She never seems to really know what is happening to her, who she can trust. Although not normally a fantasy reader, this was an intriguing book. Is it a commentary on today's society: willful ignorance and confusion? Is it simply a fantasy? It was an entertaining read, a page-turner, if you will, where the reader is as confused as the protagonist. Does it come together at the end or are there just different questions? I guess that's a decision for each reader. It was interesting and engaging and different. I recommend it.

I was invited to read a free ARC of Hush by Netgalley. All opinions and interpretations contained herein are solely my own. #netgalley #hush

I LOVED the idea behind this book - a deadly disease spread by ink and books? Intriguing! Unfortunately, I felt it didn't quite live up to its potential. The world building seemed incomplete, and I had so many questions. Overall I definitely enjoyed it, but the plot was definitely a slow build and it wasn't until near the end that I thought it really hit its stride.

I'm certainly going to look out for the sequel, but probably not rush to get it. This book is worth a read, but not a favourite!

I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

What starts out as a kind of dystopian novel about a decease then turns into a novel about reality altering magic, with a search for a magical book at the end of it all. My main issue with Hush is it tries to do a lot without fully explaining anything. Where did the ink decease start? When? How? Why is the land that Shea lives in doing so badly? Why is the higher government obsessed with taking away all mentioning, figures, etc., of a supposed "magical" place?

While I thought HUSH was fairly predictable, it still had original aspects. The "Telling" magic was interesting, if not well explained. Nobody that is supposed to be training Shea about Telling is actually explaining to her what it is, origin, what different kind of Tellings you can do. I mean the MC does Telling by way of embroidery (sometimes) which is kind of fascinating, but then it kind of gets forgotten and not discussed until she has an "Eureka!" moment by the very end. From what I could gather a "Telling" is kind of the person's way to bend reality to fit their purposes. Which is neat, but it has no rules, structure, or limitations, which felt like a way to use it to fit whatever the author needed it to do.

The characters are okay. Shea is a young girl who has spent her life thinking she was cursed by the Ink decease that killed her younger brother. In the beginning of the novel she tries to talk to the bards (those who are trained to do the Telling at will and who come to the towns collecting tithes in exchange for a Telling that might help said town...instead of just doing the Telling to help the town to begin with and help it prosper so they may collect actually good tithes... yeah this system makes no sense to me) about her "curse" but they of course ignore her or just plain tell her to stay away. Then things happen and Shea decides to go after the bards anyways because she needs answers. She is then thrown into a whole other world in which the leader is in search of a secret book that is supposed to solve all of Shea's problems... but if Shea is only interested in her mother's murder how does going after a book going to help her? Color me confused as to how easily this leader manipulated her.

The relationships in the novel were complex. Shea gets proposed to by this marshmallow of a guy and she turns him down cause she is not as into him as he is into her (which, neat!) and then Shea of course likes the "dark broody guy" who she makes hundreds of assumptions about before they even spend 20 full minutes together (like, he has been hurt, what lies before the stony exterior, etc.) Overall we don't spend a great deal of time dealing with romance and I am grateful for that cause it would have been a bit too much. One of the things that seemed like a waste was Shea not forming bonds with the other 6 female guards in the ENTIRE CASTLE. Like she doesn't seek them out, we don't even get to know all of them. Kind of sad about the lack of female friendships throughout the book.

Hush was bizarre, but it did move at a good pace. The ideas it had were interesting, but they also weren't fully explored. The ending left us on a promising note with a full cast of characters and interesting relationships to explore; some of the characters motivations are questionable, as in we got no real glimpse into their change of heart so it felt completely out of the blue, which is just not great character development all around. But if you ignore the glaring lack of character and world development then you may just get lost within the pages.

PS; I was provided a review copy in exchange for an honest review. Thanks go to the publisher!

Words are dangerous things. Written word, stories, and tales are banned to keep an illness "The Blot" (clever) at bay. Our MC Shae is pretty much the town pariah, since her brother died of the "Blot" and when tragedy finds Shae in an even worse predicament she decides to face things head on, by running away from everything she knows.

I will say that 'Hush' surprised me. The storyline and brutality of the world kept me engaged. I enjoyed the push and pull between charcters, and that Shae has a backbone. Unfortunately The writing is pretty simple. I did wish that the characters had a bit more dimension. That the magic forms and government were explained a little better.

This book has a lot here to work with and I will be reading the next.

. Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for this ARC

Like with many books I read, I went into this book relatively blind. I’ve never heard of the author, I’d seen the cover, and skimmed the synopsis. My interest was immediately piqued with the little I was able to glean from my quick lookover. I do this because I don’t want to have many expectations when going into a book; and let me tell you, that really paid off because this was yet another five-star read.

Hush is an exceptional debut and introduction to an interesting and vividly created world. I don’t always know what to expect from YA Fantasy, with the world or characters not being fleshed out as well as standard Fantasy. This book exceeded this notion though, with well-developed and sympathetic characters as well as a world depicted through beautiful but clear descriptions. I found that I could imagine the event of this book quite clearly, without the usual fuzziness I tend to experience with some fantasy novels.

There were times where I found myself annoyed with the protagonist but in a good way. I was able to understand her motivations and actions, even if I didn’t agree with them. This made me like her quite a bit, though because she felt like a real person. She’s not perfect, but not in the manufactured sense. Her reactions felt organic to the situations, and that was refreshing.

I am in love with the magic system (let’s just be honest, all of the world-building really). It fits well with the plot and themes the author presents and provides an amazing allegory for our society. After reading it, I found myself thinking about how the book relates to things going on in the world, and my mind was just blown. This is definitely a book I see myself reading again and again, and in doing so, I hope to pick up on the more minute details the author’s provided us.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book. It’s truly a gem that deserves to be read by many.

Hush by Dylan Farrow introduces a dangerous world where magic was used for suppressing and controlling people. Written languages were banned, and some words couldn't be spoken openly. This novel has a lot of interesting concepts that YA readers would find enthralling.

The story followed Shae who lost her younger brother when a deadly illness called the Indigo Death or The Blot spread in Montane. Ever since then, their family was isolated lest they might infect other villagers. Nothing much was learned about the mysterious plague, except for the High House's explanation that it was caused by ink. The Bards, a group of people who could alter reality at their will by their Tellings, confiscated items that had ink such as books. When Shae's mother was murdered, Shae would start her quest on finding the truth, even when all the people she cherished urged her to move on with ther life. Finding the truth was not easy, for she got herself into a more dangerous situation.

The thing I like is how this book emphasized the power of words. Magic or none, words are weapons. Plotwise, Hush was a typical YA fantasy which made it quite predictable. It was a promising start of a series, and the pacing was okay. It had a lot of interesting elements which could have been a solid foundation. The magic system and the world-building felt kind of short for me. Although they were original and intriguing, they were not elaborated, and not much was explained how things worked. I wanted to know more why everyone didn't have magic, and how the magical ones could specifically do it. On the other hand, I was not a fan of the romance since it was instalove. I didn't not feel much the chemistry between the two characters. Nevertheless, for some reason, I still found myself turning the pages until I finished it.

The characters were basic and stereotypical. Shae was a pretty likable character even when I sometimes got frustrated because of her impulsive actions and decisions. I liked her determination to find the truth. I'm sure the author could still add more layers of complexity to her character growth.

Overall, Hush was a decent YA fantasy debut novel. It has interesting concepts, and I am curious to what will happen next.

3.5 stars!

Unfortunately, I had to DNF this novel. I was very intruiged by the description and I had fully expected to love it, but it ended up falling flat for me. This was mostly due to the characters. I had trouble connecting with the main character and overall, I felt that the characters lacked emotional depth. I'm very sad to have to give such a critical review of this book, but this is my honest opinion.

The story begins with Shae, who dreams strange dreams. She embroiders and sometimes when she embroiders; she sees those strange things in real life. It is as if her embroidering something makes it appear in real life. This also sounds very interesting.

I started reading the story and was sorely disappointed with page one. It begins with an onomatopoeia.

“Snap. Snap.”

Childish opening. I teach my sixth graders to never ever start their stories this way because that’s how very young children do it. Perhaps that is just a pet peeve of mine and I’m being an overly sensitive reader because I’ve literally read thousands of stories by students that begin with an onomatopoeia and I’m over it. (My eleven-year-olds find creative ways to begin their stories once they get to know me.)

I read on.

“My eyes whip open, and I’m in my bed, its thin unpadded pallet stiff beneath my back. That same dream, as vivid when it happened, five years ago. A dark figure stands over me.”

1- Another #PetPeeveAlert. The story starts with waking up?! Cliché. She could have started the story in a million different places, and yet she picks this one. Sorry this is another pet peeve of mine. I’ve never read a story I liked that started this way.

2- I couldn’t tell if she was describing the dream or reality. I had to go back and reread a couple times to figure this out. Was the dark figure real or the dream? This was definitely a case of the author being too close to the story. It made perfect sense to her, but someone just barely entering the world wouldn’t know it.

What I wonder is how did the editor let this get through? 2 huge mistakes on the first page. Authors do sometimes get too close to the story, so they don’t realize the beginning is confusing or lame, but that is what we have editors for, right?

I checked the publisher. Macmillan. That is a big name. I like the books they put out. At this point I Googled the author and realized she is famous for things other than writing books, so her books would sell based on her already accrued fame whether or not it was a good story.

I kept reading. Maybe it would get better.

There is a boy she likes-she kisses, but isn’t really in love with. Then a handsome, mysterious young man shows up in her village, is nice to her, and she is enamoured. I really despise love triangles and falling in love based on looks and a flash of interaction. BUT that is merely a personal preference. Plenty of readers love this kind of thing.

I kept reading. Maybe it would get better. I hoped.

Something tragic happens. She is gaslighted. She runs for help. She is told that she has powers. She sees the mysterious boy. She forgets all about tragedy, at least temporarily.

I can’t. I just can’t keep reading. I am sorry to fail you, fair readers. I made it 50% into the book and I have to DNF this one.

I was, however, reminded of several very good lessons.

What have we learned from this book?
*Please don’t start with an onomatopoeia.
*Never, never, never start the book with waking up and boring description.
*Make sure the opening scene is clear and easy to follow what is going on. Dreams are a bad way to start for this reason. Remember, the reader is just entering your world even though you’ve been living in it for quite some time.
*In one of your revision passes, check your character’s motivations. Would the character travel a long distance to get answers and justice, only to forget about it when they are told they have power and a cute boy walks in?

This book was a surprise. The synopsis clearly sounded good to me, as I requested (and was approved!) an ARC from NetGalley months ago. For some reason, even though I’ve had this on my Kindle TBR for a while now, I couldn’t find the motivation to read. Even though the concept interested me, I didn’t really have high hopes for it. No real reason for that, that’s just how I felt in the back of my mind. I’m glad this book surpassed my expectations!

Hush is a world where a disease caused by the written world has plagued the cities and towns. Because of this, writing with ink (and therefore, reading) have been banned, along with a list of other activities. The world is governed by the Bards of High House, who are basically magicians using the spoken word as their magic.

Queue our main character, Shae. Her family has been affected by the plague, the Blot, and now she and her mother live on the outskirts of their village, basically the town pariahs. After her mother is murdered and the killing is covered up, Shae decides to join the order of the Bards as a way to search for her mother’s killer. This leads to her uncovering more than just the cover-up of her mother’s murder, and she finds herself in a battle for the wellbeing of reality as she knows it.

Because Shae and her mother were basically shunned by the majority of her village, she didn’t grow up with a lot friends and connections. Because of this, she is very quick to trust any new person who shows affection towards here. She is also a very emotional person, and both of these facts hinder her training once she joins the Bards. Shae is quick to learn though, and she quickly turns her situation around to her advantage. Reading from her point of view was interesting. I don’t want to say fun, because madness grips Shae at some points in the story, and she lets her stress and anxiety overtake her, and I felt this anxiety myself in my core.

One thing I really loved about Hush was it’s unique notion of magic. The entire concept of the book was an eccentric one, and it’s not like anything else I’ve read before. The idea that written word is harmful is so ironic because that concept comes to live from being written down in a fictional story. I love it, and the way we got to learn how that magic was wielded along with Shae was extraordinary.

Again, this book really took me surprise by how much I enjoyed it, and I will definitely be picking up the next installment in this series!

Every series must have a unique 1st story to set the tone for the books that come after. The author must build characters but leave room for them to grow and mature. There must be a community, a town, a country, a home....any setting that will ground the characters and give them a sense of place while providing a background for the events to come. HUSH has this and more. Dylan Farrow's writing has the visual quality that takes you out of your everyday life and brings you into the life of the characters. You walk along with them and feel their fear, joy, anger....the full gamut of emotions. The village of Aster located in the land of Montane, faces many difficulties, not the least of them, a plaque borne in ink and books. There is a class of people who can prevent the plaque but their services come at a steep price.

The central character is Shae. Her family has suffered loss from the plaque and now her mother has been murdered. The blows to her already fragile life will now send her on a quest for answers. As she moves through the edges of a life so foreign she must become someone stronger or face her own death. A land where magic is in the written or spoken word. I can see it, I can hear it, I believe.

Youthful Shae lives in a village which is part of the land of Montane. Generations ago, a magical blight called the Blot began to afflict anybody who wrote or read anything. While books have been banned as a result, Shae's brother and father fell victim to the Blot, and all she has left is her mother. Then the Bards arrive in town, enforcers of the magical order and part of the few who can resist the Blot. Shae finds her life irrevocably altered by the Bards' visit, and that leads her down a dark path to learn more about the Blot, the Bards, and why the written word became a sharp, unflinching weapon against the people of Montane.

I liked the premise going into this story, though I feel like the execution is a bit flat. There is a lot of talk about the use of magical powers, but not much of the how or why it works, or the limitations of it. I also dislike insta-love romance, and we not only got that here, but it didn't make sense for Shae's character given her trauma. I do think that Farrow's writing is not awful, and the idea that books could poison a person is just a terrifying premise, which is what got me reading in the first place, but a premise is only a promise, not the story itself. This is a satisfying if rough around the edges debut, and I do hope that Hush receives a sequel, because its final pages leave a lot unanswered. If you're willing to accept an obtuse magic system and insta-love, there is plenty to like here, and Farrow's prose is perfectly readable and engaging.

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Hush

Author: Dylan Farrow

Book Series: Hush Book 1

Rating: 2/5

Recommended For...: fantasy, ya fantasy, romance, magic

Publication Date: October 6, 2020

Genre: YA Fantasy

Recommended Age: can’t recommend, DNF-ed

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Pages: 384

Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Shae has led a seemingly quiet life, joking with her best friend Fiona, and chatting with Mads, the neighborhood boy who always knows how to make her smile. All while secretly keeping her fears at bay… Of the disease that took her brother’s life. Of how her dreams seem to bleed into reality around her. Of a group of justice seekers called the Bards who claim to use the magic of Telling to keep her community safe.

When her mother is murdered, she can no longer pretend.

Not knowing who to trust, Shae journeys to unlock the truth, instead finding a new enemy keen to destroy her, a brooding boy with dark secrets, and an untold power she never thought possible.

Review: DNFed at 35%. While the book is an interesting concept and it would be interesting for others I just couldn't get into the book.

Verdict: Not for me but maybe for you.

In Montane, magic is language-based for those capable of Telling, and Blot is a deadly disease spread by ink. This magic is only used by Bards, who have almost always been men. Shae feels she's cursed, as her brother died from Blot, and then her mother is found dead by a golden dagger only used by Bards. When Shae seeks justice, she's given the opportunity to train as a Bard herself. The training is hard, there are secrets in the castle, and Shae will have to sacrifice for the truth to be revealed.

The story here unfolds slowly but surely, with the devastating famine sweeping Montane. The village of Aster is small and people shun Shae and her mother after her brother's death. People are superstitious in the village and would prefer the safety of comfortable lies than to know the truth. Shae refuses that comfort and is shunned even more at every turn. Frequently she's accused of acting rashly, and it seems that some of her theories are the same as the novel progresses. I sometimes wondered how she made the connections that she did, and why she was so certain that some people were trustworthy when no one really gave her any reason to believe in them.

Shae is headstrong and young, so she doubts herself when others challenge what she believes in. The madness in Bards dogs her every step so that she truly thinks every terrible thing that happened is her fault. I feel bad for her because she's lost so much and then even doubts her sanity. That weakens the strength of her Telling, the magic that can change the very fabric of reality. Its efficacy depends on the confidence she has in what she Tells, as well as the specificity of the spell. As much as they say they're training her at High House, the Bards there really want nothing to do with her and even take bets on when she'll fail out.

The world here felt very real, and the frustration and prejudice against young women still ring true. I like that Shae continually works to find the truth when others around her want to keep it hidden. So much is revealed as asides or guesses, I can see why she insists on it so much. I admire that about her, and that is a trait we all can use more of.

I received a copy from Netgalley.

So that being said... I wasn't wow'ed. I might try it again via audiobook but it seems very run of mill for me. The magic system I liked but the rest of it was just okay for me. I'll definitely try it again and see if I was just in a reading funk or its the actual story itself. It's not the best book I've read this year and far from the worse it just needed something different. Something not seen before in YA.

This book did not really draw my attention. I had trouble caring about the story or the characters. Though the premise is very inventive, the story became similar to so many others I'd already read.

"What I cannot say to her- what I cannot even understand myself- is that sometimes, I fear the dark will swallow me whole."

"My pa always says no one arrives safely at their grave."

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Imagine if storytelling had the power to both create and destroy? In this world, a select group of people, Bards, have the ability to manifest the visions they create. In the little town of Aster, Shea's life has been rife with tragedy. First, a horrible plague took her brother's life and then her mother is murdered. She is not content with quietly moving on with her life, she begins to try to unravel the truth of who killed her mother and just what role the Bards may have played in what's happening in her town.

I needed slightly more world building than this story gave, however there was lots of action and pretty well rounded characters. I loved that Shea was plucky and undaunted by her friends telling her to keep quiet and blend in. She was quick to face every challenge thrown at her and never gave up hope in the face of adversity. I also appreciated that while this is the first in a series, the story wrapped up in a satisfying way while leaving the door open for the next chapter of the story. Too often these days authors seem to think leaving us with a big cliffhanger makes us more likely to buy the next book, nothing annoys me more. I'm very interested to see where Shea takes us next.

Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.