I absolutely adored this book and couldn’t put it down. The author writes the characters and storyline beautifully and I can’t wait to find out more when the next book comes out.

In the land of Montane, written material is banned, as exposure to ink causes the lethal "Indigo Death" or "Blot". Only the Bards of High House can view or handle ink, and even among the Bards, contact with ink/written material is strictly limited. The Bards keep order in Montane, having the ability to perform a Telling, which can punish or reward an individual or village. They also visit the villages of Montane to collect tribute for High House and if the tribute is deemed worthy, the Bards will perform a Telling that will benefit the village. On the outskirts of the village of Aster, one of the most wretched villages in Montane, lives Shae and her mother, who have been forced to live outside the village because Shae's brother Kieran died of the "Blot" and therefore the family is considered cursed. Shae believes she is cursed as well, as she has strange dreams and she has noticed that things she embroiders appear in the real world. When the Bards come to Aster to collect the tribute, Shae attempts to ask the Bards to cure her, but things do not go as planned. Her mother is murdered that night and life becomes even more difficult for Shae, causing her to eventually decide to head to High House and Lord Cathal for help, as she believes a Bard killed her mother and that village of Aster was threatened. Her reception at High House is not at all what she expected and her already turbulent life is turned upside down, as she finds herself with previously unknown abilities, but also facing new mysteries and threats and unsure what to believe and what to trust.

This book is particularly timely and relevant considering the increasing instances of certain elements of society believing they are the arbiters of "truth" and attempting to suppress and oppress those who challenge their narrative. The author does not make any specific references or comparisons to current events (and if anything, her commentary would be aimed towards Woody Allen and his defenders (as the author is the adopted daughter of Mia Farrow)). However, Shae doubts and resists the narrative that underlies the rule of the land of Montane, especially as she comes across more examples of inconsistencies between the dictates of High House and the behavior of the Bards, as well as combating assumptions about the abilities and mental stability of female Bards (who are few in number because they supposedly have more difficulty controlling their abilities and therefore are more likely to succumb to madness). Shae is an interesting and well-developed character that readers should enjoy. The author has also created other interesting and diverse characters, as well as a compelling plot with plenty of surprises. The book ends on a cliffhanger, setting up the sequel nicely. "Hush" is well worth reading.

I received a copy of the e-book via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

Wow, timely and chilling this book was an experience. Looking forward to what Dylan Farrow writes next.

In the world of Montane language is carefully controlled as words are quite powerful. Stories of fantastical Gondol, and its iconography are forbidden. Those who tell the stories or hide the icons are often afflicted with The Blot-- a blood sickness that not only kills, but spreads social stain. This is what happened to Shae's brother, and changed her life forever.

When we meet Shae, she is an outcast, with only two friends: the shopkeeper's daughter Fiona, and the sawmiller's son Mads. Fiona loves the strange things Shae embroiders, but Shae is quite alarmed to find that some of those things come to life. When the Bards of High House, people trained in the magic of the spoken word, visit her village to collect their tithe, Shae seeks help, fearing she too is cursed with The Blot. She is rebuffed by the Bards however, and when she returns home again, finds that things have gone horribly wrong.
Shae desperately tries to share her truth with her few friends, but they don't, or can't believe her. This leads Shae to a dangerous quest to High House itself, to seek the aid of the Bards.

What follows is a dizzying account of gaslighting, manipulation and one young woman's persistance to stick to her truth, whether she is beleived or not. The story is interesting, but ultimately feels like set up for a second book. The content may be triggering for those with trauma around abusive relationships to men.

Thank you NetGalley for a digital review copy.

From description: 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, and, as everyone knows, the Bards have almost always been men.



Seventeen-year-old Shae has lived her entire life in awe of the Bards—and afraid of the Blot, a deadly disease spread by ink, which took the life of her younger brother five years ago. Ever since, Shae fears she’s cursed. But when tragedy strikes again, and her mother is found murdered with a golden dagger—a weapon used only by the Bards—Shae is forced to act.

Language as a curse and a weapon sounded fascinating! Unfortunately, the book doesn't live up to the concept. It feels as if the author rushed through to get to a certain point, but by rushing, failed to establish ample world-building, character development, and motivation.

Blog review scheduled for 7.15.20


I won't be looking for the next book.


NetGalley/St. Martin's Press

Fantasy/YA. Oct. 6, 2020. Print length: 364 pages.

I received a copy from Wednesday Books through a giveaway in exchange for an honest review.

The "Blot" is running rampant through Montane. Many people have died from the disease. Shae's family is cursed by the disease and her brother, Kieran, dies from it. Then, Shae's mother dies and it sends her on a whirlwind adventure to figure out what really happened after the Constable of Aster lied to her. Little does she know, she is a Bard who possesses great power. Shae's life becomes muddled as she tries to figure out the truth of what happened to her mother and survive the Bard training.

Hush was an interesting novel. I enjoyed reading it and honestly, flew through the novel. It is a quick read and keeps you entertained throughout the whole novel. I liked the characterization of Shae and Ravod (fingers crossed he is the love interest!). Dylan Farrow did a great job writing both of the characters. I think what kept me interested is that there were so many angles that the truth of Shae's mother's murder could have taken and Dylan Farrow kept me guessing the whole time which way she was going to go with it. There was a central theme throughout the novel that really resonated with me. It was the idea of how far could Shae go to get the truth and could she handle learning the truth. Dylan Farrow did a wonderful job laying out this central theme and keeping it constant through all the trials and tribulations Shae went through.

I'm really excited for the second novel and will be eagerly awaiting to read it!

This was a solid debut overall. I liked the cover and the premise, but I'm not sure it really lived up to its potential. I was left with a few questions, and there were places where more explanations could've been helpful ... which left a few gaps for me in the world building. Part were a bit confusing, as a result. The characters were okay and mostly well-drawn, but I didn't really connect to them, as expected.

Just finished reading Hush by Farrow and here are the 2 things gnawing at me: first is the title and second is the way the term Bard is used in the story. Both of these words just don’t fit with the story. After finishing the book I still didn’t see where Hush makes for a good title. And the term Bard by definition is a storyteller or poet not a magic wheeling individual. But let me move on ... the story starts out slow with the main character Shea coming into her gift. Although, Shea’s life is far from easy you would think this would make her grow up faster and be more mature and incitefull. Instead she is naive and narrow minded with a single focus. I don’t understand why she doesn’t understand that she has developed a gift and this alone makes for a slow read for a third of the book. I think the storyline has potential but the writing is lacking organization in regards to helping the reader visualize the world the author is creating. Special thanks to Netgalley for giving me this opportunity to review this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thanks to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review! “Hush” by Dylan Farrow is filled with powerful ideas and intriguing concepts that should conceivably lend themselves to a blockbuster debut novel. While it is a quick read that will have you turning pages in a frenzy, Unfortunately, it never manages to rise above standard YA fantasy fare. It’s weighed down by cookie cutter characters that never really connect and brilliant concepts that are never fully realized and just end up confused and muddled.I’ve felt like I’ve read these characters a million times and been down this road before. I enjoyed the strong social messaging and the cleverness of the initial conceit, but it just never feels fully formed. 3.5 stars for this one. There’s a lot of potential here and hopefully it will blossom in the sequel.

"The more I tell you, the more you believe, the more it becomes true. And deep down that is what you wanted, is it not" The power of the written and spoken word and the search for truth drives the narrative of this first novel written by Dylan Farrow. Shae, is ostracized by her village after her brother falls victim to the "blot', a disease originating from ink, After her mother is mysteriously killed she travels to the High House to search for answers. Shae's discovery of her hidden powers while attempting to determine what is reality, leads her to discover important truths about her self and those she loves.
Dylan Farrow has created a captivating world that Teen Readers will enjoy visiting. This first book in the series leaves the reader enthusiastically waiting for the sequel.

"Hush" is a fantasy world that brings to life the power of the word and standing up for your beliefs. Overall, I felt the main character was a bit too naive. This got a little distracting. While Shae does a good job driving the plot forward, overall, she took too long connecting some obvious dots.

As our main character goes through trials at the castle, having to prove her skills in magic, there's hardly any sense of how Shae or the other Bards use their powers. So its hard to feel pulled into the world as the rules of it aren't clear.

I really liked exploring the castle and trying to find the Book of Days. I thought that was very well done and very emotionally centered. Shae goes through a lot of growth. I also liked the sense of multiple moments overlapping. Farrow also does a good job pulling together what Shae has learned to guide her steps.

The writing is nice, the world interesting but not well defined, and the characters interesting enough if moderately shallow. I'm not sure if I'd read more, but to the author's credit, I didn't want to put the story down during the last third of the book.

Shae is a young girl trying to survive in a village with vastly dwindling resources while being ostracized for having a family member who died of the plague known as The Blot. If that wasn’t enough to deal with reading and writing are strictly forbidden in this world as the plague was caused by ink. As an added taboo speaking certain words is said to bring about tragedy. This is not just a simple story of growing up but a story of the hard decisions you have to make when you decide to stand by your beliefs in a society that wants you not just quiet but gone. The magic system isn’t really fleshed out in this first book but I wouldn’t really expect it to be because you’re following a girl who’s never known anything but her desolate village. It’s difficult to world build when you only see small glimpses of the world through the eyes of someone who doesn’t have the ability to verbalize what she’s seeing/experiencing let alone to explain a complex system the reader is told it takes years and years to get some form of concept of.

The first book I’ve read in recent years that I was truly frustrated when I had to stop reading to do everyday tasks. Reminiscent of George Orwell’s 1984 with the theme of can you trust your government to do right by its people but with the inclusion of magic. There’s something about reading about a plague while living through a global pandemic that makes it all a little more real despite the fantasy element to the story. Hush is a reminder that it’s not just the government you should question when forming your own beliefs but those closest to you. Corruption isn’t solely the people in charge but every person who agrees it’s easier to look the other way and keep their head down than to openly question the system. Overall I see Hush as more of a societal conversation starter than a fantasy novel but I wouldn’t consider that a bad thing. I’m very curious to see where the story goes in the second book.

I have been intrigued by the Farrow family since I read Mia Farrows autobiography years ago. I was really excited when I saw that Dylan had written a young adult fantasy novel and was really impressed overall with her debut. I thought she did an especially good job with the creative world building and really enjoyed the feminist aspects of Hush as well.

In Montane, the power of language belongs only to the Bards which have historically always been men. Our main protagonist, Shae, has lived in fear of contracting the deadly disease that killed her younger brother. Her mother can’t speak and she grew up in a village suffering from famine. On top of that, Shae is dealing with crippling anxiety she sees as a curse. When the Bards come to her village to collect their tithe, she sneaks off to see them thinking they can break her “curse”. She comes home only to discover that her mother was killed by a weapon that is only processed by the Bards which in turn motivates Shae to set out on a mission to discover the truth.

Throughout the course of the book, Shae finds herself training as a Bard in a dangerous castle. I thought it was clever the way we shared Shae’s perspective but knew we couldn’t always rely on it as she was being manipulated at times and her reality was sometimes distorted. There were several twists and turns throughout this novel and I found it difficult to put down. All of the characters are hiding things and I often questioned their true motives throughout the book. I did feel that the Blot could have been better explained. Although there were times I was left wanting more from the story and felt it didn’t live up to its full potential, I thought it was a solid book and am excited to read more from Dylan. There were several interesting parallels the world we are currently living in. The cliffhanger at the end left me yearning for a second book.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Hush focuses on Shae, who lives in the town of Aster with her Ma. Ever since her brother died from the Blot, a disease that is contracted from interacting with ink or the written language, Shae and her Ma have been ostracized by the townsfolk. Shae’s situation only worsens when she discovers that her Ma has been killed in their home. She strongly suspects that her Ma was murdered by one of the Bards, highly respected individuals who perform Tellings through the use of magic and the power of words. There is one place that Shae knows she will be able to find the answers that she seeks: High House, the home to Lord Cathal, the ruler of Montane, and his Bards.

Farrow’s debut novel is an enjoyable, thought-provoking read. Shae is a strong female lead, whose convictions drive the novel’s main storyline. It is through Shae’s journey that Farrow ponders the morality of truth. In the novel, Farrow asks whether learning the truth is worth it - even if said truth is found to be more painful than the original lie. Combined with immersive world-building and an intricate magic system, Hush is a promising start to a new YA Fantasy series. My only wish is that the major reveals were not crammed within the last 50 pages of the novel.

The description of the book intrigued me, it started out exciting however as the book went on the writing seemed to jump around and eventually I lost interest. As much as I wanted to love it something just didn't click with me.

Thank You NetGalley and Publisher for this brilliant ARC

This read was a little from what I'm usually into. But man I'm so glad I read this book!
This had a little bit of fantasy mix in it. Which I normally wouldn't be my type of genre.
It was a good book packed with a mystery/fantasy feeling.
I loved the message this book had in it. The whole feeling of the book just had all the feels!.
Dylan is a fabulous writer and I look forward to reading more!

You know those days when you wake up and think let me start the day by reading? Yeah well an hour later, I had finished Hush and was still swiping thinking there was more to read.

Totally enveloping and well worth the read. Any book that builds it world around the power of the written word, is typically a yes for me.

My only complaint was the lack of clarity on what a "telling" is.. the nature of the Bards' magic was just a little murky honestly. And I would have liked a little more character development, as the pacing was so fast with the sprint to the end, but I can not wait to see what is next! This was a solid debut for sure.

I'd say its more of a 3.8 leaning towards a 4

I was drawn into this book instantly. Great characters, engaging plot, and wonderful world building.
A truly lovely debut, that I will highly recommend to friends and colleagues.

Interesting concept but it needed more. I loved the feminist undertones, which is needed in Fantasy! It just didn't have the umpf other YA SFFs do.

I enjoyed this book and all its twists and turns. This is a really unique fantasy novel and I haven't really read one like it that I can recall. The world and locations are described with just the right amount of detail given. The characters are quite relatable and the plot seems well thought out every step of the way. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an amazing YA fantasy!