Book: Hush
Author: Eishes Chayil
Published: September 14, 2010 from Walker Books
My edition/number of pages: ARC/340
Age group: Young adult
Source: Publisher
Series?: No.
Inside the closed community of Borough Park, where most Chassidim live, the rules of life are very clear, determined by an ancient script written thousands of years before down to the last detail—and abuse has never been a part of it. But when thirteen-year-old Gittel learns of the abuse her best friend has suffered at the hands of her own family member, the adults in her community try to persuade Gittel, and themselves, that nothing happened. Forced to remain silent, Gittel begins to question everything she was raised to believe.
Hush is unlike anything I have ever read. I hadn’t heard much about it before reading it so I didn’t really know what I was getting into. It was such an honest and real book.
Gittel has never known anything other than her life and her community. She has never had any reason to doubt that what she knows is right. All that changes when she learns about the abuse of her best friend Devory. Instead of being able to open up about what happened, Gittel is forced to remain silent and try to forget about what she knows. It seems to work for a while but as Gittel grows older she begins to realize that she doesn’t know as much about her faith as she always thought. As she digs deeper into the mysteries of right and wrong, Gittel faces the choice of sticking to the rules or sticking up for her dead best friend.
From the very beginning I knew that Hush was going to be a difficult book to read, not because of the writing but because of the subject matter. Any book that deals with abuse is hard but this one was so much worse. There was nothing left out of Hush. It’s a completely honest telling about the Chassidish lives. Obviously it’s not all bad but Eishes Chayil was not willing to leave anything out. It was an eye-opening book. It was a bit hard to get into in the beginning but it’s one that I am glad to have read.
Gittel was not your typical main character for so many reasons. The problems that she faced were real and something that she couldn’t escape. She had to go against her whole community to do what she believed was the right thing. She is one of the most courageous girls that I have ever read about. Unlike somebody battling a werewolf or a demon, hers is a story of something that actually happens every day. If you want to be inspired by a character from a book, this is definitely the girl you should choose. There were a couple other characters in the book that I really liked but none stood out as much as Gittel. Her father was a good man and Yankel grew on me but they didn’t have as much of an impact.
Overall, Hush is not your typical young adult book but one that I recommend because of that. It’s definitely one for older teens because of the harsh subject matter but if you think you can handle that, then you should read it. There should be more books like Hush out there.
First line: Devory?
Writing: 5
Characters: 4
Plot: 5
Ending: 5
Originality: 5
Overall: 24=A
Cover: 4=B-
Now for the giveaway:
-One reader will win a copy of Hush.
Requirements:
-You must fill out the form.
-You must have a US mailing address.
-This giveaway will end on September 29.
This book caught my attention. I think that this will be an awesome read. Thank you for the contest 🙂
This book sounds pretty good. Thanks for the review and giveaway!
Thanks for the giveaway and review. You’ve got me more intrigued by saying the author doesn’t leave anything out… not that I like reading about abuse. But sometimes it is fun to read something ‘hard’ to read 🙂
WOW this sounds powerful, I love that it’s so different – finding something different in YA is hard, and though this deals with a hard subject it sounds awesome and the cover is beautiful! Thank you for the awesome review.
And BTW Congratulations on your 1000 followers 🙂 That’s awesome!
Sounds like a good read! And very different from anything I’ve read. It would be good for teens and YAs to read because we’re trying so hard nowadays to get them to open up to adults and to let them know what’s happening in their world.
meredithfl at gmail dot com
Wow, this book sound really good! The summary alone made me want to read it right away and your review certainly didn’t hurt my desire, either! Like you said, it sounds like a nice change from werewolf/vampire stuff.
Can’t wait to read this one. Sound so interesting! Oh, and thanks for the giveaway!
I don’t think I actually knew what this book was about, but it’s definitely going on my wishlist
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alterlisa AT yahoo DOT com
http://lisaslovesbooksofcourse.blogspot.com
This sounds like an emotional read, I’d love to read it.
seriousreader at live dot com
Wow, I keep seeing Hush around, but I didn’t realize it was about a Jew. I really want to read this now…
This sounds like a pretty amazing book… maybe similar to THE CHOSEN ONE in many ways? I definitely want to read it.
It sounds super great and I really want to read it!
This one sounds really good. Thanks for the great review and giveaway! You might also enjoy a new one out by author Mitch Davies called, “A Wind In Montana,” about a young man and woman who are faced with making the right decisions that will affect their futures. I loved the message of taking the right path in life and really got to know the characters.
Sounds alot like Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. I think books like these are necessary to young readers. They need to know things like these can happen to anyone.
Thanks for the contest Katie, I always admire your blog!
Thanks for the contest. This book is a wish list item.
Don’t you just love it when you head into a book without knowing much about and you are so pleasantly surprised at how awesome it is? I’m glad to hear Hush doesn’t shy away from or try to smooth over some of the harsher realities of the story. Already wanted to read this one but definitely want to now after your great review! 😀
~Briana
I love books that open my eyes to serious subject matter. I hadn’t heard of this book until now, definitely putting it on my TBR pile. Great review 🙂