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A review by jenbsbooks
The Hush by Sara Foster
2.0
The main thing I'll remember about this book was the PRESENT tense. It was grating! I'm not a fan of present tense, but I can forget about it (or even not notice) if it's well written. I was ALWAYS aware of the tense here. It just felt silted and odd and my mind kept wanting to make it sound "better" (I realize this can be personal preference) transposing it to past tense. Especially at the start of every chapter. Maybe it was the present tense/3rd person combo? Felt very unnatural to me.
While this was in 3rd person, there were definite shifts in perspective between Lainey (the daughter) and Emma (the mother). Listening to the audio (included in Audible Plus) there were two different narrators, and I appreciated this, as it helped keep the POVs straight for me.
The present tense, and the listing of the time before each portion, made me think this might have a "24" like feel, a countdown or something. But no ... I have no idea why the times were included. I didn't feel like it added much of anything (if the time was important to the segment, which is wasn't to all of them, it could have been included some other way) and was distracting because I kept wondering why it was being announced.
The basic premise of the story was pretty interesting and timely ... post-pandemic. Published Nov2021, so definitely playing off Covid (although the name Covid wasn't said). Vaccinations weren't blamed, but SOMETHING is causing babies to die (or refuse to live) at the moment of birth. Everything fine up until that point, but then the babies refuse to breathe. Dollbabies. The percentage of said births continues to go up. It had a "Handmaid's Tale" feel, as the women are the first to suffer restrictions. Abortion is outlawed, even pregnancy tests require supervision, pregnant girls are disappearing.
I was pushing through to finish - I'm not sure I was really absorbing the story as I wasn't enjoying it enough. I like the cover, and the Matryoshka dolls played a minor part in the story (was there a real reason for their inclusion? I can't remember, just that "they might be worth something" ... a note it one?) There was a focus on the daughter, mother, her mother, her mother ..
So, while overall I think this book WILL stick in my memory, and I liked the premise, I don't think it's one I'd recommend personally. It was free to me, included in the AudiblePlus catalog.
While this was in 3rd person, there were definite shifts in perspective between Lainey (the daughter) and Emma (the mother). Listening to the audio (included in Audible Plus) there were two different narrators, and I appreciated this, as it helped keep the POVs straight for me.
The present tense, and the listing of the time before each portion, made me think this might have a "24" like feel, a countdown or something. But no ... I have no idea why the times were included. I didn't feel like it added much of anything (if the time was important to the segment, which is wasn't to all of them, it could have been included some other way) and was distracting because I kept wondering why it was being announced.
The basic premise of the story was pretty interesting and timely ... post-pandemic. Published Nov2021, so definitely playing off Covid (although the name Covid wasn't said). Vaccinations weren't blamed, but SOMETHING is causing babies to die (or refuse to live) at the moment of birth. Everything fine up until that point, but then the babies refuse to breathe. Dollbabies. The percentage of said births continues to go up. It had a "Handmaid's Tale" feel, as the women are the first to suffer restrictions. Abortion is outlawed, even pregnancy tests require supervision, pregnant girls are disappearing.
I was pushing through to finish - I'm not sure I was really absorbing the story as I wasn't enjoying it enough. I like the cover, and the Matryoshka dolls played a minor part in the story (was there a real reason for their inclusion? I can't remember, just that "they might be worth something" ... a note it one?) There was a focus on the daughter, mother, her mother, her mother ..
So, while overall I think this book WILL stick in my memory, and I liked the premise, I don't think it's one I'd recommend personally. It was free to me, included in the AudiblePlus catalog.