Becca Fitzpatrick in Manila

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Last Saturday, I had the chance to interview New York Times bestselling author Becca Fitzpatrick, who had book signing events at National Book Store Glorietta 1 and Ayala Center Cebu over the weekend.

Becca Fitzpatrick is famous for her “Hush, Hush” saga, comprised of the novels “Hush, Hush,” “Crescendo,” “Silence” and “Finale.” The young adult paranormal romance saga is centered around Nora Grey, who is drawn to the mysterious Patch, a fallen angel whose fate is intertwined with hers. IĀ  read “Hush, Hush” in time for the interview, and the genreĀ  — plus the fallen angels theme — isn’t my cup of tea. As YA paranormal characters go, Nora wasn’t really a standout for me and beyond the mysterious, brooding image, Patch doesn’t strike me as a particularly likeable character. I did appreciate the mythology — part of the puzzle has been revealed in the first book, and while the poses more questions than the answers it gives, I felt that it had let out enough rope on the anchor for the next books. I was actually apprehensive about reading the book because I’ve heard and read a lot of criticism on the series, and while I can’t judge the whole series on the basis of one book, I thought that it wasn’t half bad, and for a debut novel, the prose was clean and a lot more readable compared to its contemporaries in the popular genre.

What I was more excited about, actually, was Becca Fitzpatrick’s upcoming standalone novel, “Black Ice,” set for release in October. It’s a YA thriller about Britt Pfeiffer, who is geared up to backpack across the Teton mountains of Wyoming with her best friend, but ends up abducted by two fugitives who force her into guiding them off the mountain in exchange for their life. One of the fugitives, Mason, confuses Britt with his kindness, but as Britt uncovers evidence of serial murders across their trail, Britt isn’t sure who she can trust. As luck would have it, Becca had brought over a delightful surprise for those of us who had attended the bloggers’ forum prior to her signing: ARCs of “Black Ice,” which prompted squees (!) all around.

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