Chester is on the road, searching every town for clues about his father and why he disappeared.

But when he’s caught accidentally – and illegally – connecting with the Song as he plays his beloved fiddle, Chester is sentenced to death. Only a licensed Songshaper can bend music to their will. The axe is about to fall . . .

But there is someone else watching Chester. Someone who needs his special talents. Who can use him for their own ends. And who knows the secrets of The Hush, where there is no music, only deadly Echoes who will steal your soul.

Susannah is that someone. The young captain of the infamous Nightfall Gang, Susannah has plans for Chester. Finally, she will have her revenge.

This book has me feeling all sorts of confused weird things. Because I really really liked the writing, and the story in general, but I was also very confused. I shall cover all of these topics – no fear.

To start, I did really like the writing. The wordsmith was beautiful, and really captivated the story incredibly. The style fit the story line, and the characters were very real. Also, considering the magic was an auditory kind – Music – the magic seemed very real too. You would think it’d be possible to write about sounds controlling a world, but Melki-Wegner managed it. I was very impressed by that.

The characters were beautiful and realistic. I had a clear picture of every figure and personality right from the beginning, and I was still left with enough intrigue to want more. I was very impressed with how real the character dynamics were. You had a realistic awkwardness between a group of tweens, as well as the conflict that would come from it. Melki-Wegner depicted an accurate picture of this group of wayward teens, working to make the best of their crappy world.

ON THE OTHERHAND – confusion. I am one who very much likes to have a clear picture of what world a story takes place in – I could not for the life of me figure out where The Hush took place. At the start, it seemed to be very wild-Westish, with a hint of fantasy. Then we had a mix of some steampunk and dystopian in there too. I could not, for the life of me, figure out what the world was like. Plus, was their magic also a religion? Or else why was there blasphemy against it? There were so many pieces of the puzzle that I could not figure out, as far as world building. I think that these are maybe things that are going to be smoothed out in sequels (?) but it did make me have to flip back and cross reference the previous text a few times. It didn’t hinder my liking of the novel at all, but it did make me a bit confused.

Overall, I did really enjoy this novel. I think with a second reading that some of the world building may smooth out a bit. However, I believe it should have been clearer from the beginning.

I give The Hush 4 out of 5.