Hemlock: A Great Fall and Halloween Read for Teens (A Shifters Novel, 1)

Hemlock was such fun and engaging book. A world where werewolves exist and have no rights? They were sent to camps to protect the population. I loved the politics. In a lot of ways, it reminded me of a werewolf version of The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black, which was great: a little romance, an awesome heroine, and a scary and thrilling plot! I liked Mac a lot and I cared about the people in her life. Her best friend, Amy, died as a result of a werewolf attack. Everyone had secrets and the town was getting pretty crazy after the attack. Mac was curious, but she discovered maybe she didn’t know what was going on in her best friend’s life at all. There were secrets, betrayal, love, and drama with all of the characters. The town turned into kind of a police state with werewolf trackers and the politics of werewolf rights intrigued me. I loved the parallels with regular society. Hemlock was a town where nothing and nowhere was safe, but the narration and some of the characters made it fun to read as opposed to just action packed and scary. It was funny and sweet when it needed to be and Mac was pretty spunky, tough, and a little naïve. I liked her so much. Books like Hemlock are some of my favorites. I like when fantasy and paranormal plots use the element of danger and ignore the secrecy. There are so many plots where the mythical creatures are secret, enchanting, and the characters involved are enamored by them. I enjoy that, but I love the other side, where the existence of the creatures is known and they ARE dangerous. It leaves so many doors open for real life parallels, such as the werewolf rights politics of Hemlock. And what is a YA paranormal without a decent love story? Sure, it’s kind of a triangle, but it’s actually one of those good ones. And it’s kind of awesome that as soon as the triangle formed, the main character made fun of herself and compared her experience to a teen angst drama that would probably air on the CW, which made me laugh out loud. I love it when a book can do that and be fun while also being romantic or dramatic or scary. It’s so refreshing. I really enjoyed Hemlock. So much that I bought Thornhill without a second thought immediately after finishing. Not because it’s one of THOSE books where you’re left totally hanging and you realize how much you actually hate series, but because I really wanted to know what happens next because I love the characters and their adventure. So, of course, I definitely recommend the book.

I really wasn't sure about Hemlock. It had an interesting idea behind it, but I felt like the werewolf storyline could really go bad. It had the potential to end up kind of cheesy and unbelievable. Somewhere between the first few chapters and a third of the way through the novel, all my fears were gone and I was hooked. I stayed up way too late to finish this book, but it was completely worth it. Mackenzie lost her best friend Amy to a werewolf attack five months ago. The wolf was never found and without a sense of closure, Amy is haunting Mac's dreams. Jason, Amy's boyfriend at the time, has turned to drinking and bad life choices to forget. Kyle, the last member of their group, has tried to be there for his friends, but he's had to deal with Amy's death as well. When there's another werewolf attack in town, the past is brought back up and the three of them must face secrets that threaten not only their friendships, but the town as well. Mac is a perfectly flawed character that works to overcome her demons. She's not a strong fighter or the best thinker, and she lets the past cloud her judgment, but she fights as hard as she can for those she cares about. She isn't softhearted, but she is sympathetic to the werewolf plight, even though one killed her best friend. She knows one is not a reflection of them all and she believes they still deserve to have rights. She's worried about the people she loves leaving her because her mother left when she was a baby and her father took off a few years later. She keeps everyone at a slight distance so it supposedly won't hurt as much when they leave her. All of these little pieces come together to create one of the best characters I've read in a Young Adult novel. Jason and Kyle are the not-really-a-love-triangle counterparts. Mac cares for both of them, but it is obvious where her heart lies, at least in Hemlock. Jason's idea of honoring Amy's death is revenge. He loses himself in the bottom of an alcohol bottle and vows to destroy the creatures that destroyed Amy. Kyle feels responsible for Amy's death and beats himself up over that guilt every day. He doesn't self-destruct, though, and vows to never let something like that happen to someone he cares about again. Each boy takes drastically different paths when it comes to how they deal with Amy's death. Having these two complete opposites was interesting to read and made for some extremely tense moments. Hemlock completely surprised me. I really was not expecting to find myself so invested and involved with these characters. The ending has me needing the next book and I'm very happy I waited to read Hemlock because I don't have to wait for Thornhill. This is a fantastic read that blends the real world and the world Peacock has created perfectly. This is an amazing start to what I hope is an equally amazing series.

Great item! Prompt service! Will deal again!

Lupine Syndrome - also known as 'the werewolf virus' - has been on the rise across the country. Attacks in Hemlock have also been on the rise. Amy is not the first death in town... will she be the last? Recently werewolves have been outed, no longer are they something of fiction or nightmares. No, they really exist. A fact that Senator John Walsh is in support of. Right up until one kills his grand-daughter, that is. Amy was a beautiful young girl with her whole life ahead of her. She had her loving boyfriend Jason, her best friend Mackenzie - all until that day her life was cut unnecessarily short by the white werewolf. Mac's life was turned upside down that day. Little did she know things could get a whole lot worse. I know, you're thinking "what could be worse" Right?! But trust me, things got decidedly worse when the Trackers came to town. The Trackers are an extremist group, called into town to hunt for the werewolf. They are working alongside the police, hoping to bring Amy's killer to justice. I'm just not so sure their brand of justice is the same as mine. Mac knows that the Trackers have come to find Amy's killer. She just can't help but not trust them. There's something about them and their leader, Derby, that hits a nerve. So, wanting to put an end to her dreams where she is haunted by visions of Amy, Mac decides to investigate for herself. Little does she know that the circumstances surrounding Amy's murder would up-end her life even further. She uncovers secrets about the people she loves and holds dear. Secrets that throw her into a maelstrom of violence and bitter betrayal that will see her own life put in harms way. I loved this story for many reasons. Mac was just the kind of MC that I love. She's feisty, she's tough and when confronted with an amassing amount of evidence that all is not what it seems, she is like a dog with a bone and she will not let it go until she uncovers the truth. Throughout the whole story, I couldn't help but admire Mac's strength, loyalty and hard-headed attitude. She may have been a little naive in some instances, and she may have been kept in the dark by those closest to her. But that doesn't stop her from being one of the best female leads I have seen in YA. In fact her foibles endear me to her just as much as anything. Along with a great MC and a gritty storyline, there were also some other little bonuses in HEMLOCK. For instance, Kyle. *Swoons* I heart Kyle. Big time! He was the kind of guy you'd be happy to call your best friend. The kind of guy you'd want backing you in a fight. I absolutely fell head over heels in love with him from pretty much first sight. There's other characters to like, some to hate and some that trip you up when you least expect it. I knew who the killer was before it was revealed, but even then, there was another surprise in store that shocked me to the core. I finished HEMLOCK with a lump in my throat and tear tracks down my face, so I warn you now - have tissues at the ready. Being Kathleen Peacock's first novel, I didn't know what to expect from her as an author. What I found was she has a unique style all her own - making her sky-rocket straight onto my favourite authors list. The writing was fast-paced with an elegant fluidity to it that meant I was absolutely swept away and easily lost chunks of time whilst I was reading. I'd pick it up and upon putting it down I would wonder how on earth it had got to that time when it felt like I had only been reading for 5 minutes. Sometimes I find stumbling blocks within books that it takes me a while to get my head around. But HEMLOCK wasn't one of those books. There was nothing that needing explaining, no barrage of information that attacked you from on high. It was a provocative storyline that prompted questions about love, trust, lies and prejudice. All in all, it was a beautiful story that left me sated yet all at once thirsty for the next installment in the trilogy. For anyone who likes a good supernatural mystery - this book is a MUST read.

Pensando di leggere questo fantasy ma mi sbagliavo perché i gusti letterari cambiano.

I’ll be completely honest and state right now that I never imagined I would enjoy Hemlock as much as I did. The idea of werewolves was enough to get my attention, but I was worried it wouldn’t KEEP my attention. However, Peacock’s debut novel had me captivated right from the very first paragraph. High praise indeed considering I’ve spent the last two months doing that frustrating thing of reading the first chapter of several books in a row and then reshelving them all with a disappointed look on my face. So why did a book that I was so hesitant about completely and utterly grab my attention? It’s the characters, the setting, the plot and something I really didn’t expect – a love triangle that didn’t make me want to dig my own eyeballs out with a rusty teaspoon. Mackenzie ‘Mac’ Dobson is the main character and I loved her. Loyal almost to a fault, braver than she realises and having (mostly) overcome her traumatic childhood, she’s a heroine that I liked and admired but also felt sympathy for. She has moments of weakness, but she works hard to overcome them and fight for what she believes in, therefore making her very relatable. The love triangle worried me initially. There’s reliable, strong Kyle and loyal bad-boy Jason, both of whom I really liked, although I had to admit that I don’t have a soft spot for bad boys so I was completely on Kyle’s side (almost) the whole way through. The paranormal element is perfectly done – it’s blended into the world rather than being a random paranormal event that is just happening in a particular town or location, and Peacock’s ability to convince me that Lupine Syndrome is plausible really made plot work for me. There’s also a very strong mystery element, and although I actually figured it out pretty early on, I didn’t care – it was really the journey that the characters went through that I enjoyed the most. Incredibly readable, addictive and successfully conquering multiple genre’s, Hemlock is definitely a book you should read if you enjoy paranormal, mystery or young adult novels. It’s right up there for one of my favourite books of 2014.

Good