By now, you know that I can’t stand Bella. She’s the main reason for my dislike of Twilight (among other things). However, I have finished re-reading those books for my research paper and have moved on to better things. Well….not necessarily better. I’m currently reading Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick and the main character is driving me insane! Before I get ahead of myself, I should explain what the book is about. So Crescendo is the sequel to the book Hush, Hush. Now, I read Hush, Hush about a year ago, so my memory of what exactly happened in the book is a little fuzzy (which I think might contribute to my dislike of the sequel). The basic plot of the story is nerdy-girl Nora Grey falls in love with bad-boy Patch, who happens to be a fallen angel. Kind of a predictable story, but it’s one of those novels you fly through because it’s so action packed. Needless to say, I enjoyed Hush, Hush when I read it, but so far I cannot say the same about Crescendo. Nora started to annoy me right from the get go.
So Crescendo picks up where Hush, Hush left off, so I can’t really give much of a summary without spoiling the ending of Hush, Hush. I can, however, explain to you why Nora is irritating me so much in this novel. Her neediness. I think that’s what it boils down to. Because of some law, Nora and Patch aren’t technically supposed to be together (forbidden romance always makes for a better story. Prime example: Romeo and Juliet). They both know this, yet they decide to be together anyway. So…at the beginning of the novel, everything’s fine and happy until Patch sees something. What something, we don’t know. Anyway, he has to leave Nora and won’t tell her where he’s going or what he saw. Cue whining. Oh, I forgot to mention that Patch left right after Nora told him those dangerous littler three words “I love you.” Of course, now Nora thinks that Patch doesn’t love her, blah, blah, blah. This leads to fighting and Nora thinking that Patch is cheating on her with her arch enemy. I think what annoys me most about this whole situation is how quickly Nora jumps to conclusions. Her boyfriend (ex-boyfriend?) is a supernatural creature that has other responsibilities, responsibilities that he might not be able to share with her. So get over it already Nora! He still loves you! Get off your high horse and realize that already. Hopefully that happens soon. I don’t know how much more of Nora’s whining I can take in the second half of this novel.
I totally agree with you. I loved the Twilight books because of the story and the dynamics of the characters, but Bella (and now Nora) are needy, whiny and don't seem to have very much self-esteem. They put all of their energy into relationships and none into themselves. I wish female "heroines" could be more self-reliant and self-loving AND have a love story. Good blog!