PopSugar 2020 Reading Challenge Prompt: N/A

Other PS 2020 reading prompts this would satisfy: A book that's published in 2020, A bildungsroman, A book with a map, A book with the same title as a movie or TV show but is unrelated to it

TW: abuse, child abuse, violence, death, blood, gaslighting, sexism/misogyny, classism



I was really hopeful for Hush and thought I would like it. It's marketed as one thing, but as I read it I really got much different vibes. It's not that I didn't like the story, but it just wasn't what I anticipated it would be. The initial synopsis talked about it being a #metoo movement, but it doesn't address sexual assault or misconduct. Instead the focus of the story is more about gaslighting, and certainly does have several feminist themes.


Shae has lived in Montane her whole life, a place where written word is forbidden and a strange disease called The Blot can take a life. When she was younger, her brother was taken by The Blot, and now what she embroiders is oddly coming to life - is she telling the future? She's afraid she may be infected and wants to protect her town. But when tragedy strikes and leads back to the Bards (the "law" of Montane, mostly always men), Shae heads to High House (land of the Bards) to confront them. But when she gets there, she learns that there are secrets abound she couldn't even imagine.


Something really cool about the book is that it's written by activist, and daughter of Mia Farrow, Dylan Farrow. She even shares a personal note at the end of the novel, which is incredibly moving and powerful.