Nocturnal Librarian

This book is simply appalling. 

I won't lie, my expectations going in about this book were pretty low. But even so, "Hush, Hush" managed to disappoint me.

This book is barely a tolerable read. This book is just plain silly, and silly not in a cute-and-funny way, but more in it's-pretty-dumb-and-dangerous-to-fall-for-this-crap way. Many things are just so contrived about the story, I got a headache rolling my eyes while reading it. For instance: a bomb threat to steal an empty personal file that nobody investigates later? a biology class which is centered on discussing one uncomfortable and almost harassed student's sexual attractiveness? why would a mother whose husband was murdered leave her 16-year old daughter alone in a remote house for weeks at a time? why would parents of another teenage girl let her go out NEXT DAY after she had surgery following a violent attack on her? dressing up like a hooker to get some dirt on a guy you are investigating? why would an angel fall for loving a human and then get his wings back while loving another human? 

And finally, why exactly Patch and Nora are in love? They know nothing about each other. Even more, Nora spends most of the book calling Patch creepy, being scared of him, being roughly pinned by him to various walls in dark places or being at his knife's point, and yet she is full of desire for him? It just makes no sense. As for Patch, I don't know one thing about him or why he loves Nora. My list can go on and on...

But surely enough, teenage girls will eat this story up. You have everything for success here: a fabulous cover and font, and pages and pages of flirtatious banter filled with sexual innuendos (very often bordering on sexual harassment) fit for 30-year olds and not 10-graders.

I am rarely for any kind of censorship of books, but reading nonsense like "Hush, Hush" makes me wonder: what are these writers thinking? In my opinion, YA writers should be held to a higher standard than your usual writers of adults fiction. Why would they want to promote such outright disturbing relationships as normal to impressionable and silly teenage girls? In this book, the relationship between Patch and Nora is not simply shallow, but dangerous. I wish some of the authors exercised better judgment writing their books, otherwise they are setting up many-many girls for a lot of disappointment, because whatever is presented in this book as romantic is disturbing at best in real life. 

Well, to sum this tirade up, "Hush, Hush" is pretty much a book that gives YA literature a bad name. I'd rather dedicate my time to something better written and less contrived and misguided.

I've seen this book recommended as a companion novel to Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak and really, the main character of this book, Keir, could have easily been IT. 

The novel starts with Keir's friend, Gigi, screaming at him, accusing him of rape.

I am so sorry.
"What are you sorry for, Keir?" Gigi screams again, grabbing me by where my lapels would be if I had a jacket on, or a shirt, or anything. She can't get a purchase because I have no clothes, and very little fat, because I have been good about my health lately. She grabs, can't grab, scratches instead at my chest, then slaps me hard across the face, first right side then left, smack, smack.
"Say what you did, Keir."
"Why is Carl coming? Why do you have to call Carl, Gigi?"
"Say what you did, Keir. Admit what you did to me."
"I didn't do anything, Gigi."
"Yes you did! I said no!"
I say this very firmly. "You did not."

You see, according to Keir, the way it looks is not the way it is. How can he, an upstanding guy, a great son and brother, rape anybody? It's just impossible, because he is a good guy. Gigi must have gotten it all wrong, misunderstood him and he will do his best to convince her she made a mistake.

What follows is your (a)typical "unreliable narrator" story. When Keir starts describing some events of his senior year leading up to the fateful evening, we see that maybe he has a bit of a skewed image of himself, maybe even a lot skewed? Maybe his dad is not such a great role model? Maybe his sisters are not that supportive? 

This book, it seems, gets some heat in the reviews for focusing on an unlikable main character who doesn't realize what is wrong with him. I never have a problem with this sort of thing. Such stories (The Spectacular Now and You) I enjoy, it's always interesting to get into a twisted person's head IMO. What I wish though is that the novel were a little longer. I think there is much more to explore in Keir's life and his relationships with his family and friends. Otherwise, it is a strong, thought-provoking, but not necessarily feel-good novel for young adults.

I wonder if all Margaret Atwood's books are like this one? Having read "Oryx and Crake" and "The Handmaid's Tale," I am curious now how many other ways of horrifying tales she has up her sleeve. 

"Oryx and Crake" is a dystopian (or as Atwood calls it herself, a speculative fiction) novel set in a future where genetic engineering rules the world. The story is told from the POV of Snowman, a seemingly last Homo sapiens sapiens on Earth. He is surrounded by the new breed of humans - passive, docile Children of Crake who are physically flawless, void of envy and jealousy, do not understand violence or sexual drive, unable to be artistic or comprehend technology. As the story progresses, through Snowman's recollections, we gradually learn the sequence of events leading to the fall of humanity as he knew it and Snowman's own contribution to it. 

The structure of the book is very similar to that of "The Handmaid's Tale." So if you liked the writing style of that book, with constant shift of tenses, past and present mingled together, you'll enjoy "Oryx and Crake" too. Once again, Atwood takes a current trend (this time it's bio/genetic engineering) and extrapolates it to an insane extent, creating a horrifying world of social disparity, violence, genetic hybrids, raging man-made viruses... The author's imagination is limitless, her command of English language is mind-blowing. This book is so much more than a science fiction novel that it so often labeled. It is a deeply philosophical book that raises numerous questions: is it wise to artificially alter something created and perfected by Nature over millions of years? does a man have a right to engineer a "perfect human" and decide who lives and who dies? or is there such a thing as a "perfect human"?

Just like "The Handmaid's Tale," the ending is uncertain. The fate of Snowman and humanity is questionable. Will the humanity survive? Will Crakers overtake? Are Crakers really what Crake intended them to be - the perfect beings? There are no answers, and I am happy there aren't. This book is not intended to tell us what is right and what is wrong, rather it makes us think about what might be...