The Character

Nora is the main character in the book. In the beginning Nora describes her appearance as seen in the following quotation; “I’m a smoky-eyed brunette with volumes of curly hair that holds its own against even the best flatiron. And I’m all legs, like a bar stool.” (Hush, hush. 2009. Becca Fitzpatrick, p. 9). As seen in the quote, Nora has a sense of humor, especially when talking about herself. She doesn’t take things too seriously, which mostly is something positive. In that way Nora is kind of an easy going person but as the book goes it’s clear that it’s more to her than just legs and funny comments. She has a hard time figuring out her feelings about Patch, and her inner monologue is sometimes very funny. In the following quote you can read some of her first thoughts about the feelings that Patch brought up in her;

I’d liked a lot of what I’d seen. Long, lean muscles down his arms, broad but relaxed shoulders, and a smile that was part playful, part seductive. I was in an uneasy alliance with myself, trying to ignore what had started to feel irresistible. (Fitzpatrick, p.19-20)

Nora’s actions are spontaneous. She drives a 30 minute drive to a place called Bo’s Arcade to finish an assignment for biology class, even though Patch clearly pointed out that it wasn’t her type of scene. It is not the fantasy in the book that makes it unpredictable, it is Nora’s actions that do, because it is never easy to find out what she is up to next. The book would be nothing without Nora, not only because she is the main character but without her fun personality the book wouldn’t be worth reading.

Patch is Nora’s new lab partner. He is hard to describe, that is because Nora has a hard time figuring him out in the book. When Nora describes him at first it sounds like this; “He had an annoyingly confident walk, the kind that you find paired with faded T-shirts and a cowboy hat. Patch wore neither. He was a dark-Levi’s-dark-henley-dark-boots kind of guy.” (Fitzpatrick, p.16)

Up until this point in the book, Patch acts like he has got something hidden, something really bad. But somehow it also seems like he is a good guy, a guy to count on. Even though he flashes a dark smile some times, he also gives the impression of having a soft side; that is clear in the following quote when Nora told him that her father had been murdered; “There was a count of silence and the edge in Patch’s eyes seems to soften a touch.” (Fitzpatrick, p.15)