I don't think I've ever read a book this fast in my life. I read this in the span of a couple hours and let me tell you, I did not get bored once. This was such a fascinating world to me. I was intrigued by the "blot" and by the Telling these Bards possessed. What an interesting and refreshing world to delve in to! I am very pleased with this and how this ended. I'm looking forward to find out what happens next in Shae's world. I will most definitely pick up the next installment!

Mark me down as disappointed. I was thrilled when this book was announced. Dylan Farrow is such a fantastic activist and I was excited to see how her book would take her ideals into a fantasy world.

Unfortunately, this book reads a lot like she started with the idea for her metaphor on gaslighting and what it means to control the narrative and then built the fantasy world around it. And while magic is often a metaphor for real-world issues, in this case, the world felt hollow. It felt as if this world wasn't real and was just there to prop up the message. I don't need the magic system to be fully explained, but make it feel real and consistent.

Perhaps this lack of worldbuilding and dimensionality would have been excusable if the writing and the characters had been robust, but alas this wasn't the case. This book's characters feel flat and beyond the main character, don't have well-defined motivations or arcs. There is a half-baked romance, but there is no real chemistry or sense of why these characters would be interested in one another. I think why all these different elements feel so flat is that the writing tells and does not show. We are told how Shae feels, we are told how characters react, but because of that, the readers don't feel it. There are some lovely descriptions, but the narrative reads somewhat like "she did this, then he did that and then they did this."

Overall, I am quite sad because when you read the author's note, there was a good idea here and a clear intention. I wish that Farrow had given more attention to making the world and the character feel fully realized to support those great ideas. As it stands now, it feels like another cookie-cutter YA fantasy with cardboard characters and a standard "shocking" ending, which is really sad considering the uniqueness of the idea at the center. But I will give Dylan Farrow a chance in the future because I think with further seasoning, there could be something here.

Hush is a debut novel from Farrow and the first in a series. We know in our own lives words can have the power to heal or wound. What if reading and writing were forbidden and even speaking some words can bring tragedy to your door? Shae is living on her own now, she has lost her brother to the Blot (a disease from ink), and now her mother is mysteriously killed. Along the journey to find answers Shea discovers she has her own powerful magic. This of course is not just a fantasy novel but also filled with governmental and gender controls. The story over all is okay, maybe not great or fabulous but just okay because when a character is so clueless and naive for pretty much the whole story it's kind of annoying.

This book was like warp speed. I feel like it could have kept going and had so much more and I would have loved it even more.
It reminded me of Vampire Academy meets Spoken Mage. A weird cross but something I can really enjoy. I am excited to see where the second book leads and how they will evolve romance and truth more.

*eARC provided in exchange for an honest review*

Oh hey dark fantasy from Wednesday Books, you are just my thing.

Hush tells the story of a fantasy world where words have power. Writing and stories are illegal, and a groups of Bards (mostly men) go around helping crops grow and villages flourish, if they are paid enough. There is also a deadly plague, called the Blot, which is caused by storytellers and writers. Shae, our heroine, fears that she is affected by the Blot because her dreams become reality. After her mother is killed and everyone in her village ignores it, Shae decides to venture out to find the truth for herself.

Okay yeah, the plot is a little cliche and also a lot, but it somehow works!

Featuring: rivals/enemies to possible lovers, bad guys, girls going mad in fancy castles, secrets and lies, yay!

I gave this one 4 stars because, though it's not perfect, it was fun to read and I finished it in one sitting.

This was an entertaining read but it wasn’t mind blowing. People who enjoyed the Red Queen series or Children of Blood and Bone will find that this title is in the same genre - teenage girls who discover that they have magic. Share lives on a sheep farm with her mom and has a tragic past. Her town is suffering but there are magical Bards who visit and can help towns if they curry enough favor. I wish the characters were fleshed out a little more but maybe the author will expand her vision in the sequel.

Entertaining but a little flat.

Hush follows seventeen-year-old Shae as she goes on a quest to find out who murdered her mother. A pariah in her village after her brother dies from the “Blot”, a virus thought to be caused by writing in ink, she and her mother live on the outskirts of town raising sheep and struggling to survive. Shae has always been inquisitive, but when her mother is murdered late one night while she is out, she can no longer sit idly by. She embarks on a quest to the capital to ask the bards for help to find the person who killed her mother, but the answer may lead her to more questions.

Hush is told entirely in the first person from Shae’s perspective. I really liked Shae as a character. She’s headstrong and curious, though often stubborn. I also enjoyed the world-building and learning about the strange things that are happening in the kingdom of Montane. The story has a very classic feel with a bit of a twist.

The one thing I disliked is that this book felt very much like a setup for a second book. There was a lot of exposition and not a ton revealed by the end. While I found that somewhat disappointing, it also made me incredibly anxious to get my hands on the second book.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for the gifted copy of Hush. All opinions are my own.

I love love love the premise of the novel!!! That being said, I felt like... it was.... (I'm trying to find a good word for this...) boring. I was bored. As high as my expectations were, this book fell incredibly flat for me. It was average and alright but if you're into something like that, I would recommend it. I can think of a few people in my life that I do plan on sharing this with, even if it wasn't my cup of tea, so to speak. Unknown stars???/5

Unfortunately, this one was just 'meh!  It's an idea that has more than likely been done before, and it was probably executed much better.  The characters were just so one dimensional.  There was no growth, or engagement as the story progressed.  Personally, if I can't connect with the characters, the story generally doesn't work for me.  But if I can't connect with them, I need to understand the motivation, and I couldn't do that Hush: A Novel by Dylan Farrow.  They were like cardboard so it came off as I was reading about 'stick people' trying to right wrongs and uncover truths.  The only reason I stuck with this one is that I am trying to only DNF books in the most extreme cases.

We see a fair number of books with a set-up similar to this one. A girl on the fringe of society. A culture with a strong central government driven by magic. In these books magic is only done by those part of the system. Any magic done outside of that is labeled as evil and shut down. So in this case we have a girl whose life is slowly falling apart. She's rebelling in small ways and having difficult fitting in society's mold. So of course she is found to have powerful magic and pulled into the system which leads her to discover vast conspiracies. HEr adventures in the academy are perhaps overly complex. Too many wrinkles and false paths.

Unfortunately, this didn't really work for me and I DNF'd the book pretty early on. There was nothing wrong with it, it just didn't pull my interest. Maybe I'll give it a try another one, but I think it's just not for me.

I was really hopeful for Hush and thought I would like it. It's marketed as one thing, but as I read it I really got much different vibes. It's not that I didn't like the story, but it just wasn't what I anticipated it would be. The initial synopsis talked about it being a #metoo movement, but it doesn't address sexual assault or misconduct. Instead the focus of the story is more about gaslighting, and certainly does have several feminist themes.

Shae has lived in Montane her whole life, a place where written word is forbidden and a strange disease called The Blot can take a life. When she was younger, her brother was taken by The Blot, and now what she embroiders is oddly coming to life - is she telling the future? She's afraid she may be infected and wants to protect her town. But when tragedy strikes and leads back to the Bards (the "law" of Montane, mostly always men), Shae heads to High House (land of the Bards) to confront them. But when she gets there, she learns that there are secrets abound she couldn't even imagine.

Something really cool about the book is that it's written by activist, and daughter of Mia Farrow, Dylan Farrow. She even shares a personal note at the end of the novel, which is incredibly moving and powerful.

The novel itself, however, has a bit of a pacing problem - I felt it was so slow in the beginning, the chapters hopped around so quickly, and then the ending was so fast-paced and abrupt. It was definitely so condensed as a fantasy novel, too, which was so weird. It definitely calls for a follow-up novel (which Goodreads confirms will happen), but for Hush, I felt so dissatisfied by the ending. It truly didn't wrap up enough for the first book of the series, and honestly, the cliffhanger is rough and has a million jagged spikes at the bottom of the fall.

I was also so wildly annoyed by Shae's character. From page one, she's so clueless and naive. She never put two-and-two together until the very end and it basically had to be shoved in her face. This isn't to victim-blame or say that the situations she was in were her fault. There is certainly a ton of gaslighting involved, but a character that totally clueless is so unbelievable it made it hard to root for her.

"But that’s the thing about words. Once you’ve said them, there’s no going back." - Hush, Dylan Farrow

The plot was pretty interesting and I did enjoy the story. In fact, it reminded me a lot of a more feminist 1984. I just wish it was executed a bit better. The main character's lack of awareness just annoyed me and I don't think I would want to deal with it for a whole other novel.

I was skeptical going into this book. The premise was interesting, but was it unique enough to hold my attention. Hush is about a world where ink, a deadly plague caused by reading. I loved Shae and her determination to find out what happened to her mother, all while navigating the new world of the life of a bard. This story was action-packed and I highly recommend checking it out.

What a great read! I am usually not a fantasy reader, but I wanted to branch out and try something new, and am I glad I did! Being able to escape into this incredible world was perfect and much needed. Really strong imagery and character development! This is a read that I definitely look forward to adding to my classroom library and getting into my students' hands!

Hush was an interesting read. As a debut, I thought Farrow did a solid job in creating the world these characters inhabit. The story itself is what caught my attention and it was what kept me reading. I don't know that I loved any of the characters and that's why I think this one didn't necessarily hit the mark for me. Overall, this was a solid book one and I will most likely pick up book two to see where the story goes.

Basically, this is a dystopian YA in which writing is forbidden. It has such an interesting and unique premise.
I found myself rooting for our main character, even if she made some choices I didn’t necessarily agree with, but aside from her I couldn’t really tell the other characters apart.
I found our world intriguing but it definitely could’ve used some more building and set up.
With everything, i thought the book was solid and kept me reading to the end.

I was extremely excited to read this because the book has a magical element to it. But honestly, the magic system isn't as clean or interesting as it exists in other books. What it lacks in this, it does make up for in being compelling to read. But it does make it challenging that there might be too many ideas here that made the execution maybe not as successful. In the end I was left with more questions than answers about the system and the choices made in this book.

And you know I like to be to the point, not give too much away, or make you read a ton about my thoughts over and over. So all i can say is, this was a good attempt at a first YA Fantasy novel, which is really difficult to write for in the first place.

This was an interesting take on how a disease is spread and how those in control use their abilities. The plot was fantastic and it really had me reading nonstop from the beginning.

(actual rating 2.5/5)

This book was alright, I guess.

Hush tells the tale of Shae, a seventeen-year-old girl who's lost almost everything to the Blot, a horrible disease brought on by ink and contraband stories. She's only got her mother, her friend, and a neighborhood boy, and thinks that if she goes along with what everyone says and does around her, she'll be fine. And she was, until the night her mother was murdered. Everyone refuses to listen to what Shae has to say, and she'll stop at nothing to find the answers she so desperately needs.

While the premise of the story sounds incredibly appealing, the book itself fell flat for me in a few different ways.

For one, there's the whole matter about Shae herself. She's naive, but grows into herself over the course of the story, which wasn't all too bad. She does, however, radiate incredible amounts of special-snowflake-syndrome energy, what with her amazing and incredible powers, her need to find the truth, and willingness to overthrow a government system. Not too different from your average YA fantasy protagonist, I say.

Then, there's the matter of the romance-that-wasn't-meant-to-be. It just sort of sprung up out of nowhere, and reeked of insta-love. Matters were not made better when said romance-but-not fizzled out rather pathetically.

Also, I saw the plot-twists coming from a mile away, which was disheartening. The pacing of the book was rather odd, with the beginning being a bit slow, quickly speeding up into the actual plot. The middle parts of the book seemed a bit detached from the rest of the story in terms of what happened to move the plot forward, but things started picking up again at the end.

I really, really, really wished that I had enjoyed this book more. I like the concept, and what the author is trying to do, and while it was fairly well-written (although, it could have been written in third-person rather than from Shae's perspective and not much would have changed), this book just didn't cut it for me. I liked the dystopian light that was focused on the fantasy and mystery parts, and I'll certainly read the second book to find out what happens next.

Overall, it was a pretty fast read, and I would recommend it to others who want a quick fantasy with a healthy dose of YA dystopia.

I thought this book was a good read, especially if you are looking for a new fantasy obsession. I was hoping for the pacing to be a little fast, but I think that this book really set up the world well to prepare us for the next book. I am excited to see what happens next for our heroes. I also really appreciated the strength of the female lead, she was fierce and unwavering on her journey.