Finale (Hush Hush) by Becca Fitzpatrick

Finale (Hush Hush) by Becca Fitzpatrick
Buy Finale (Hush Hush) by Becca Fitzpatrick at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Paranormal
Reviewer: Jill Murphy
Summary: Satisfying conclusion to this popular paranormal series. You'll have to suspend belief in plot integrity as well as credit the existence of supernatural beings among us, but when the romance is this hot, you won't mind at all.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 464	Date: October 2012
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 0857072919
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We left Patch and Nora were finally happily together and in love but with a big problem: Nora's vow to her dead father, Hank. Nora must lead the Nephilim in the upcoming war against the fallen angels who possess their bodies each year. If she doesn't, both she and her mother will die. She won't be accepted as leader by the Nephilim if her own boyfriend is a fallen angel, so once again their relationship has to go underground. Nora agrees to a fake relationship with Dante, the second-in-command Nephilim. The scam is easy enough to pull off - they need to spend a lot of time together anyway, as Dante trains Nora's newly Nephilim body for war.

Behind the scenes, Patch's old flame is still on the scene. An archangel accuses Patch of blackmail. Hank's legacy to the Nephilim turns out to be more than his teenaged daughter - he has brought Devilcraft back and worked it into weapons. And someone, somewhere is a traitor. But who? Will Nora be accepted by the Nephilim? Even if she is, will she be able to avert all-out war? And even if she manages all that, how will her relationship with Patch survive it all?

I'm sad to say that I'm a little bit disappointed in this last instalment of an enjoyable series. Ok, there was little in the way of cross appeal and it's been strictly for fans of the paranormal genre. But in those terms, it's been great. Patch is suitably gorgeous and smouldering. Nora is self-deprecating but also gorgous and prone to bouts of silly jealousy. The tension between them has really sparked. And there have been great supporting characters, in particular Nora's best friend Vee. I really did want to see what the happy-ever-after would look like - it's not the type of series that doesn't have a happy-ever-after, you know?

But Finale is much more about the conflict between the fallen angels and the Nephilim than it is about Patch and Nora. Perhaps Dante was supposed to provide the conflict and misunderstandings that propelled the central characters' love affair along to its climax, but it didn't really work out like that. So, the best part of the series was relegated to the background. Also sent to obscurity were supporting characters we have come to care about and again, in particular Vee. Although the final battle is great - I don't want to give anything away, but watch out for that Nora, she goes completely kick-ass! - the aftermath is less so. The climax of the romance takes place mostly off-stage, between the battle and an epilogue. Meh. Loose ends are tied off by completely ignoring anything that's gone before. Meh again. Even the title is um.. pedestrian.

Despite the carping, I still think fans should read Finale - for closure at least. But I do think quite a few are going to wish it had been better. Sorry.

I think you'd also enjoy Fury (Fury Trilogy) by Elizabeth Miles. It has high tragedy feel, which gives it an original slant in this paranormal genre. Wake by Lisa McMann also combines mystery thriller with the paranormal; dreams not angels this time.

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You can read more book reviews or buy Finale (Hush Hush) by Becca Fitzpatrick at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
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