*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

“Hush is a powerful feminist fantasy full of surprising insights, that casts a ray of light into the shadows of a society based on silencing and lies.” (from the description on GR)

Ummm … no, it’s not.

I read this caption at the end of the synopsis and thought wow. Very cool. I’d like to read that. It sounded so promising, so creative, so intriguing …

But alas, no dice …

I think the creative intrigue was spent on the blurb because this was a boring read. I’m so confused as to how this a “feminist fantasy.” It isn’t. Not at all. Among other things, <spoiler> the heroine is literally saved by a male character in the end. </spoiler>

I really loved how this opened, though. The first couple of pages, showing the reader the scourge that ravages the world of Montane, drew me in. Then bang ... we hit a wall of storytelling in the present tense, an account with so little tension, zero dynamic characters, and voice with no charisma, that I was out. I slogged through the rest because I wanted to write a fair review. By the end, I wasn’t any more invested. The MC is whiny, selfish, directionless, and too moony-eyed over boys to be any sort of female/feminist role model. At some point, I realized it was closer to middle-grade fiction. There is no depth, no gravity. When I hit the 25% mark, all I could think was how tidy and cardboard everything seems. It’s probably a solid read for MG ages. But as YA fiction, it just doesn’t come close to pushing the limits.

But also the plot seems to recycle ideas from well-known novels like “Hunger Games” and “Twilight,” which doesn’t help it in any way. I will say the writing here attempts to be poetic, and sometimes succeeds, but overall it’s pointless to the plot. None of the flourish drives the plot forward. It kind of languishes too long in heavy descriptions that don’t seem necessary. I couldn't invest in any of it. But that’s me. Others may enjoy it. I just didn't find anything to sink my teeth into.

All in all, I found the MC’s interiority unappealing, and so it kind of dipped into wallowing for me, which is never fun to read unless it’s a facet of the character. Here, it’s not. None of the characters are complex, actually. It’s all pretty standard melodrama. Stereotypical villains, love interest, love triangle, reliable friend, etc.

Not my cup of tea. ;-)

"The more I tell you, the more you believe, the more it becomes true. The madness and the idea that women were somehow more susceptible to it, was just another lie to control me."

I have been incredibly hyped to read this book since it was first announced and I'm happy to report that it did not disappoint! I love that Farrow took YA fantasy and used it to look at the power of the written word, whose stories get told and believed, etc. The pacing was good and I was immediately immersed in the world and appreciated that the magic and world-building wasn't overly complicated. I am already looking forward to the sequel and seeing where the story goes from here!

A very interesting concept but overall very lacking in terms of writing and story building. It was an enjoyable read but unfortunately in my opinion not a strong novel from a very courageous person

I liked a lot of things about this book. I think Shae is a compelling character, and I enjoyed following her journey. The world building is interesting and I am a fan of the allegory being built with ink and the written word being "dangerous." Shae's gullibility in the face of obvious evil was a bit hard for me to buy at times. Overall I liked it and look forward to the second book.

Thank you Netgalley for letting me read this novel early! This book takes you on a ride with a girl named Shae. She is different from the rest by "asking too many questions" and having mystical powers that she believes is the deadly illness, the Blot. Ultimately I loved this book and I loved Shae's refusal to be anything but herself. I need to know more about the mysterious hot guard and why her mother just stopped talking. It was predictable that Cathal was evil and on one hand it is understandable why Shae would be so naive but on the other hand it was annoying at times. Ultimately I will buy the book and look forward to the sequel!!

Hush takes place in a world where Bards use words to weave magic, and they all but control the population. Years ago, a great plague known as the Indigo Death swept the land, yet only the Bards were able to stop it, citing the unregulated use of the written word as the cause of the plague. As a result, anyone found messing around with literacy or forbidden objects is subjected to terrible punishments. After Shae’s mother is murdered by a Bard’s dagger, she goes in search of answers, discovering along the way that she too can wield words.

This story has a similar concept to Melanie Cecilier’s Spoken Mage series, but uses a softer magic system where the power of words as a tool to influence people is emphasized. Thematically, this book tackles the nefarious power of propaganda and fearmongering, along with the easy way women in particular are silenced when they speak up against injustice. Knowing that Dylan Farrow is the author certainly gives a little perspective to this tale, especially with regards to the central villain of the story.

I had a hard time liking the protagonist because she was so straightforward in her actions that I constantly wanted to shake her and tell her to use her head, approach a problem from another angle. She is always going around asking dangerous questions directly, without stopping to consider that there might be a better way that doesn’t get her into trouble. Her use of magic is interesting though.

I did enjoy her budding romance with her LI, although I’m not looking forward to the love triangle that is getting set up. There were also certain character beats that happened offscreen for the side characters, such that when they reappear in the narrative with a 180 personality, I’m more than a little caught off guard.

The plot itself is very standard, and none of the twists are particularly groundbreaking. Honestly, the biggest twist was probably in regards to the narrative choices with the primary LI, as Farrow went against the standard genre conventions for YA fantasy.

Still, this was a fast read, easily digested. I did enjoy this one and I am interested in the sequel.

What an excellent debut novel! I was thoroughly impressed by the unique idea of the Blot and the magic that words yielded. As someone who loves writing, these ideas grabbed my attention and drew me into the story. Shae’s character is someone that most of us who have had to be brave and take risks can relate to. She has such human qualities with her self-doubt and low self-confidence but she’s filled with immense power that she is unaware of.

This book will take you on a thrilling adventure with lots of surprises. It’s an addictive page-turner that will keep you guessing until the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the opportunity to read this ARC. I can’t wait to see what this author has in store next.

First, I want to say thank you for the complimentary copy of this ebook ARC from the publisher, author and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Oh my goodness! Y'all are not ready for the awesomeness that is Hush by Dylan Farrow! I opened this book and I could not put it down! I wanted to keep reading even though I had to work and do other things that kept getting in the way of a good reading time.

"In the land of Montane, language is literal magic to the select few who possess the gift of Telling. This power is reserved for the Bards."

A land where language is literal magic and the written word is forbidden due to a strange disease called the Blot. A young girl whose life has been riddled with negative events, goes off on an adventure to find the truth, and discovers so much more than what she bargained for!

This world is riddled with uncertainty and it is a woven masterpiece of many levels of hidden secrets. To uncover the truth, is to uncover the world.

I highly recommend this book for those that love fantasy and a magic system that is quite as mysterious as it sounds!

Wow! What an amazing debut novel! It reminded me some of "The Red Queen" and "Children of Blood and Bone". I adored it. Honestly, it struck fairly close to home during this pandemic at first, but I am so glad I read it!

Murder, magic and books, what more could a reader ask for? I was drawn to this book because an author I follow on social media suggested it. Reading the summary caught me immediately and I found myself instantly wanting to know more.

I don't want to say Hush is *over*hyped, but there definitely seems to be a lot of praise in blurbs going around that I just didn't...get.

Most everything about the book is just okay. The writing is engaging, but not particularly standout. The characters are fairly flat, but not off-putting. The plot is not interesting or original, but I didn't hate it. The system of magic is poorly explained, but it's fine, since it only shows up in the last half, so it wasn't a kiss of death. The hints of romance are heavy handed, but again, aren't there until the halfway point, so...yeah.

Nothing was great, but nothing was egregiously bad. I suppose my biggest issue with the book is that it's being billed as a "feminist" YA book, but there's very little feminist about it. No strong messages of female empowerment or equality in a society rife with disenfranchisement, no strong female relationships to bring balance to a patriarchal society...even the "silencing and lies" part is not all that strong. I suppose if it were being marketed as a YA fantasy--none of the activism bells and whistles--I may have taken more kindly to this. But when I'm being told that this is "a powerful feminist fantasy...that casts a ray of light into the shadows of a society based on silencing and lies" I expect a lot more than what Farrow ultimately offers readers.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

This was such a promising premise, a world where magic is possessed by the ruling class (the Bards) and people live in constant fear of a terrible disease. The main character, Shae, lives with her mother in a small village until tragedy strikes and she embarks on a journey to High House, the seat of power where the Bards live. Shae is found to have potential and begins training to be a Bard.

As I said, this was a very promising read. However, I was slightly disappointed. The characters felt two-dimensional, and Shae was not a convincing heroine. She pursues her own investigation into a murder and everything seemed to happen by chance or by her bumbling about.

My dissatisfaction may have also stemmed from the writing style. This was written in present tense (?). It didn't work for me. A couple of random excerpts to illustrate:

"I wait until High House is silent before venturing into the caverns. As I traverse the winding, labyrinthine corridors, the conversation with Kennan turns in my head.
Does she know of the Book of Days?
Has she tried to find it?
The natural next thought follows..."

"A feeling consumes me, like the heat of a distant flame--I'm getting closer. I can feel the truth flickering against my skin, but I cannot see it yet."

Overall, I found it a bit simplistic. However, I could see readers on the younger side of YA enjoying this, as it is still an interesting story..

The full blog review will be posted 7/27/2020.

Let's talk about the good first. The world was not so far from one we would recognize that a ton of world building was needed, and the magic involved was new but understandable. The concepts were intriguing and something I hadn't seen before. Additionally, using the fear of a disease to force order was an interesting tactic (especially given the current timing).

Here's the thing, this book is marketed as a "powerful feminist fantasy full of surprising insights". Unless the definition of feminism has recently changed to "all but one of the girls are incredibly mean to the main character for no reason other than competition", then, I have no idea why this book is being marketed this way. The most feminist thing that happens in this book is when the servant says "We're women- we have to trust each other, right?" That's it.

Honestly, if this book had not been marketed as such, I would have left it with telling you it was mediocre at best, and the character growth was not something that made sense within the story. But the way this book was marketed led me to believe it would be a different tale- when instead I got a relatively same old, same old fantasy YA.

This book was received as an ARC from St. Martin's Press - Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I needed this book right now. I absolutely love books that transport you back into an alternate universe where all is unknown and all you have is your upbringing. For Shae, what she thought she knew was not at all the truth. Her mother gets killed by the golden dagger by the group she admires the most (so she thought) as it turns out, they are a much different group than she expected AND to top that all off, believing that she is cursed ever since her little brother dies of blot disease and all that is left is for Shae to train undercover as a Bard and uncover the truth. This book was so brilliantly written that I could not help but be drawn in.

We will consider adding this title to our YA collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

I fell in love with this book as a first installment within the series that hopefully follows quickly. There was the normal amount of complex characters, yet the twists within the plot allow for a different type of growth that the reader comes to expect. While the ending events seemed a little rushed, it set up the next book perfectly.

Hush is an amazing debut novel by Dylan Farrow that continuously left me wanting more, and to know what happened next. It was engaging and such a unique story, that I am DYING to know what happens next. Spoiler alert, this book ends on a cliffhanger. I wasn't aware until I reached said cliffhanger that it was part of a series, so be warned!

One of things that I've seen others comment on is the lack of character development. Personally, I kind of liked that the characters weren't fully fleshed out to begin with. It added an air of mystery to them and also went along with the concept that all of the characters, no matter their role size, kept to themselves and didn't share things about them to begin with.

Overall, this was a stunning debut that I can't wait to get my hands on as it was definitely a favorite read of mine this year, and the cover is gorgeous! This is definitely one that I recommend!

Disclosure: I received a complimentary eARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes. I'd like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me this opportunity!

Dylan Farrow is definitely a new author to watch, this debut was stunning. Highly original and full of relevant themes while being so engaging, I could not stop turning the pages to see what happened next. I will definitely be recommending this one to anyone that asks.

This fantasy novel checks all the boxes.Mysterious cabal of magicians of dubious virtue, Check. Quasi historical European villages. Check. Secret power emanating from the powerless. Check, check, and check. All that said, I enjoyed Dylan Farrow's debut novel and my students will as well. It has a strong female heroine, some interesting twists, and is well set-up for a sequel. The modern world occasionally slips in, and some plot points were predictable for those who read in this genre. For some, that will make this book feel like comfort reading, which these days, isn't such a bad thing.

Did the book have an interesting premise? Sure did!

Did it have characters that were developed and intriguing? Absolutely!

Did Hush have a world building/blot angle that kept you turning the page? Yes!

But there was just something that didn’t have me loving this book... maybe it was the pacing (it was rather slow), or maybe it was the mystery-type of plot (I get it - I love mystery novels but this book maybe one too many gaps? It made it a little disjointed)?

This was a solid debut and I’d definitely be picking up the sequel (major shipper of the HOPEFUL love interest here!!!!).

The premise was different, unique and that was what me me pick this book. However, I couldn't understand the plot. There were too many gaps, too many mysteries, and hence too many questions at the end.
The pace of the book was too slow for me. I had to force myself to continue with the book.
Romance was definetely not needed at all. The book could have been better with no love interest at all.
2 stars from me.