Review: Hushed by Kelley York

Hushed by Kelley York

Release Date: November 11th, 2013
Publisher: Entangled: Embrace
Format: eBook
Pages: 244
Source: Netgalley
Author: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
Buy it: Amazon | The Book Depository
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Eighteen-year-old Archer couldn't protect his best friend, Vivian, from what happened when they were kids, so he's never stopped trying to protect her from everything else. It doesn't matter that Vivian only uses him when hopping from one toxic relationship to another - Archer is always there, waiting to be noticed.

 

Then along comes Evan, the only person who's ever cared about Archer without a single string attached. The harder he falls for Evan, the more Archer sees Vivian for the manipulative hot-mess she really is.

 

But Viv has her hooks in deep, and when she finds out about the murders Archer's committed and his relationship with Evan, she threatens to turn him in if she doesn't get what she wants... And what she wants is Evan's death, and for Archer to forfeit his last chance at redemption.

 

This book was so good! I definitely need to buy this as a physical book so I can put it on my shelf! I have been pretty stingy with my 5 star ratings and have only reserved them for potential favorites. I haven’t rated a novel 5 stars in a while so I was pretty excited when I finished this and instantly knew the rating it was going to get.

 

Ok enough of that… onto the review. Hushed is a new-adult glbt romance/mystery/thriller. I have actually seen quite a few people compare the main character to Dexter although I have never watched it so I can’t actually make a comment on that. I read about 95% of this book in one day because I just couldn’t put it down. This book does mix genres because there is romance as a pretty main point of the story but I would keep it for a more mature audience. That’s more for the deaths than the romance.

 

Our main character is Archer. He has moved off to college with his best (and pretty much only) friend, Vivian. Vivian has pretty much controlled all of Archer’s life because he feels guilty about something that happened to her when she was younger. He feels the need to protect her and make her happy. He is also hopping that she will soon be his. His version of making her happy is to kill the people around them that have done her wrong. So he creates a hit list and has started marking off names. The very start of the book is a death and it immediately draws you in.

 

"I feel that suicide notes lose their zing when they drag on too long"

"What happened to 'Goodbye, cruel world'?

 

Vivian takes full advantage of Archer. She pretty much has him wrapped around her finger and she knows it. She pretty much ignores Archer while she is with her current boyfriend but he beats her she comes running to Archer only to go back to him. I was not a fan of Vivian at all. She was definitely a bitch and the author did a good job of showing it and Archer knew it but kept up with her anyway. At least until he gets second thoughts.

 

Archer is introduced to Evan pretty early on in the book. Evan is what we assume as, gay, and we are never really told anything about Archer’s orientation but it is clear that he is at least bi because he is attracted to both Evan and Vivian. I really liked Evan. His character was fantastic. He was pretty patient with Archer when he needed to be and it was clear that he really cared for him even though Evan seemed to be torn between the two of them. Vivian gets extremely jealous when she realizes that Archer has another friend. From there all hell breaks loose. This is when the story gets extremely good.

 

I really can’t say enough good things about this book. I really, really enjoyed it and I am super interested in reading more from Ms. York. I definitely recommend that you pick this book up!

 

 

My Rating:

Favorite of 2013!

 

*I received this book for review from NetGalley & the publisher in exchange for an honest review.