A Cup of Judgement

Crescendo triggers: consistent fat-phobic comments towards overweight teens, disordered eating habits, male-against-female violence Oh, Becca…what have you done?  “Crescendo” is the second book in Fitzpatrick’s “Hush, Hush,” series, and honestly, she completely butchered the first 90% of it. The fat-phobia was even more present, and I almost threw the book out of anger several times. I feel like at this point, the author just needs to come out and say that she hates fat people. A couple more fat-phobic quotes:  “Bee and I had long ago given up educating small-minded people that “fat” and “curvy are not the same thing .” Nothing wrong with being fat, Becca, stop with these negative connotations.  Vee says she wants to lose 20 pounds for the summer to look good for her boyfriend. Later in the book, she goes to get a donut and Nora says, “I thought you were trying to lose weight for swimsuit season. I thought you were big-boned and wanted to even things out with Rixon.” Gros...

Hush, Hush triggers: brief moments of male-against-female violence, comments on overweight teens, unhealthy diets. I first read “Hush, Hush” when I was 16 years old. I was super into the series, which contains 4 books (all of which I will eventually review):  “Hush, Hush” (2009) “Crescendo” (2010)  “Silence” (2011)  “Finale” (2012)  I did truly enjoy this book again…at least, after the first half. Let’s just say that it was a good thing I didn’t develop my eating disorder until 2013, or this book would have made me feel like utter crap. Here is a list of weight and diet quotes from the first half of this novel:  The main character, Nora, describing her best friend, Vee: “She’s green-eyed, minky blond, and a few pounds over curvy .”  Describing the only foods that Vee is eating so she can lose weight: “Vee was on the color-wheel fruit diet. Three red fruits a day, two blue, a handful of green.”  “Vee kicked me under the table. ‘She’ll have a vanilla-cr...