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Hush Money (Talent Chronicles, #1)
by Susan Bischoff (Goodreads Author)
by Susan Bischoff (Goodreads Author)
Hush Money starts out with an interesting premise for a world setting, and then promptly kills my interest with constant character stereotyping and inconsistent character behavior.
Joss is a girl with a secret, a Talent. As the story opens the government has taken someone else from their school. The government should do this kind of pick up every week at Fairview, because Joss' school is Talent Freakin Central. Everybody Joss knows has a Talent, which is funny, because in spite of all the Talent on hand, there's almost no talent in the story-telling.
My problems started right after Joss sits and watches another girl being raped. (Another girl comes to the rescue before it's too late.) Her defense for doing nothing? "Well she didn't do anything about it either." Uh...what? And it doesn't get better from there.
Not one character didn't come off as a walking stereotype, and every conversation made me want to know these people less, not more. Marco and his crew are pathetic. Dylan is a doormat, and Joss is a coward. And these are the mains. Once you move down to the second string characters, the stereotyping gets even worse. The bit characters don't stand a chance in a world like this. Their whole development revolves around descriptions like "the quiet one," or "the brash girl." They get no physical descriptions either, but the descriptions that are given for the mains are all pretty much what you'd expect. (All hot chicks and hot guys, cause no ugly characters ever attend public school in YA land, unless they're rolling with the heavies.)
I expect weak character development from the supporting cast in YA books, but the mains are the worst offenders here. By the conclusion of Chapter 8, I had grown so frustrated by weak dialogue, a weak plot, and weaker character development, I decided to put down the book 70 pages in. I can't make myself care if Marco's petty crime plans are foiled, nor do I care if Dylan and Joss will go to Kat's party as a couple. I don't care if the government swoops in and kidnaps the whole group to kill them for medical science. And when I can't be made to care after 70 pages, you're doing something wrong.
I give this book 1 star, and don't care to find out more about the Talent series. This is a bad start to what could have been a promising world.
Joss is a girl with a secret, a Talent. As the story opens the government has taken someone else from their school. The government should do this kind of pick up every week at Fairview, because Joss' school is Talent Freakin Central. Everybody Joss knows has a Talent, which is funny, because in spite of all the Talent on hand, there's almost no talent in the story-telling.
My problems started right after Joss sits and watches another girl being raped. (Another girl comes to the rescue before it's too late.) Her defense for doing nothing? "Well she didn't do anything about it either." Uh...what? And it doesn't get better from there.
Not one character didn't come off as a walking stereotype, and every conversation made me want to know these people less, not more. Marco and his crew are pathetic. Dylan is a doormat, and Joss is a coward. And these are the mains. Once you move down to the second string characters, the stereotyping gets even worse. The bit characters don't stand a chance in a world like this. Their whole development revolves around descriptions like "the quiet one," or "the brash girl." They get no physical descriptions either, but the descriptions that are given for the mains are all pretty much what you'd expect. (All hot chicks and hot guys, cause no ugly characters ever attend public school in YA land, unless they're rolling with the heavies.)
I expect weak character development from the supporting cast in YA books, but the mains are the worst offenders here. By the conclusion of Chapter 8, I had grown so frustrated by weak dialogue, a weak plot, and weaker character development, I decided to put down the book 70 pages in. I can't make myself care if Marco's petty crime plans are foiled, nor do I care if Dylan and Joss will go to Kat's party as a couple. I don't care if the government swoops in and kidnaps the whole group to kill them for medical science. And when I can't be made to care after 70 pages, you're doing something wrong.
I give this book 1 star, and don't care to find out more about the Talent series. This is a bad start to what could have been a promising world.
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Susan wrote: "Zoe, thank you very much for trying Hush Money. I'm sorry the book wasn't for you. What I would like other readers to know is that there was never any intention to portray rape in this book. Sexual..."To my mind, sexual harrassment is being sexually crude to someone or making a single grope. The character trying to fit himself between the victim's legs and starting to peel off her clothing is rape, even if it was stopped.
Even if we disagree on the definitions of harrassment and rape, Joss's response to Kat isn't parpahrased, and it rubbed me the wrong way for being so callous and shallow. Having been a former victim of both circumstances, I was turned off of your protagonist with just one line.
I am sorry it didn't work out too, and I wish you the best of luck with your series.
I have to stand by the scene, what it means in the book, and how it haunts Joss and helps to serve as catalyst for some of her growth as a character in the story. I'm deeply sorry for what happened to you, and am moved by your response to the book. Given that response, I would certainly not suggest that you finish it. I think you and Joss will always be at odds. But if you'd like to discuss your feelings about my portrayal of the subject matter further, I invite you to contact me privately. Either way, I appreciate you sharing your reactions.Zoe E. wrote: "Susan wrote: "Zoe, thank you very much for trying Hush Money. I'm sorry the book wasn't for you. What I would like other readers to know is that there was never any intention to portray rape in thi..."
I think it does a disservice to readers in general to portray every protagonist as perfect from the start. Readers need to see character growth. We're all tired of "perfect" people. This scene is what leads to the growth for Joss.
It was apparent from the first internal musings that she had no intention of letting the girl be raped. A sweater pulled off a shoulder isn't rape. It was apparent that Joss was trying to figure out how best to intervene. (Without endangering hersel. Remember, she's afraid of Marco)
I did enjoy the book and look forward to more in the series.
I'm not going to say more than that because you're certainly entitled to your own opinions, and we clearly haven't clicked here. Again, though, I want to thank you for giving the book a try.