Book Review: Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock

By: Kathleen Peacock

Published by: Harper Teen / Katherine Tegen Books

Released on: May 8th, 2012

Source: ARC from publisher 

4.5 stars: I Really Enjoyed It

Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound

Hemlock series: Book #1

Mackenzie and Amy were best friends. Until Amy was brutally murdered.

Since then, Mac's life has been turned upside down. She is being haunted by Amy in her dreams, and an extremist group called the Trackers has come to Mac's hometown of Hemlock to hunt down Amy's killer:

A white werewolf.

Lupine syndrome—also known as the werewolf virus—is on the rise across the country. Many of the infected try to hide their symptoms, but bloodlust is not easy to control.

Wanting desperately to put an end to her nightmares, Mac decides to investigate Amy's murder herself. She discovers secrets lurking in the shadows of Hemlock, secrets about Amy's boyfriend, Jason, her good pal Kyle, and especially her late best friend. Mac is thrown into a maelstrom of violence and betrayal that puts her life at risk.

Kathleen Peacock's thrilling novel is the first in the Hemlock trilogy, a spellbinding urban fantasy series filled with provocative questions about prejudice, trust, lies, and love. -quoted from Harper Teen

Werewolves, plot twits, and a murder mystery? Yes please! Kathleen Peacock's debut will definitely satisfy the desires of YA fans looking for a great paranormal book to pick up and read. She did a fabulous job at engaging me with her book. Not only did I love that her werewolves were apart of society, I enjoyed the characters, the setting, and the lore. This book definitely breaks the mold of werewolf books that tend to blend together with their similarities. Kathleen created a fascinating plot line that made me want to keep reading. I wanted answers to the murder mystery, and I wanted to get to know her characters more. Believe me, there's some fabulous characters YA fans will definitely fall in love with.

I liked the way Hemlock flows and how the story is written. I enjoyed being thrown right into the middle of what's going on, and along with the characters, trying to figure things out as they do as the story progresses. I loved that. There's not a slow build up, but instead plenty of romance, action and plenty of mystery all intertwined together that kept the story in constant motion. Kathleen's twists are AWESOME! I didn't see some of those coming at all. That was so refreshing not being able to figure out what was going to happen next or who was behind the killings. I liked being able to figure things out at the same time Mac did. 

Character wise, I enjoy a story with solid, well written characters and Hemlock has just that. Whether they're the good guys or bad guys, I found myself interested with each character and their role in the book. Mac (short for Mackenzie), was a character who grew on me as the story went along. She's someone that I got a little frustrated at times, and other times she's someone I really sympathized with. Overall she's someone I grew to admire. Her greatest strength is her incredible devotion to her cause, and to her friends and I loved that about her. I loved the romance in this book. It's one that doesn't take away from the book, but instead keeps the pace of the story going. This is how a love triangle should be, though it's not one of those where the girl can't choose between the two guys. This love triangle is one that's incredibly realistic and relatable. 

The romantic leads themselves are fabulous! Kyle, Mac's best friend is someone you want to be around. There's more to him than meets the eye and I seriously loved the moments he and Mac have alone. Those moments are so bittersweet. I seriously adored him! Jason, the other love interest is a lot more complicated. He definitely takes the whole broken bad boy thing to a different level. Despite being mad at some (okay a lot) of his actions, it's hard staying mad at him once you get to know him. He seriously killed me with some of the things he does in this book, but then he turns around and does something unexpected and makes it so hard for me not to adore him as well. I really loved the history that Mac, Kyle and Jason all have together- being that they have been friends for a long time and are still dealing with their friend Amy's death from a werewolf. It's getting to the bottom of her mysterious death that fuels the mystery and the twists in this story.

Speaking of werewolves, I seriously loved the werewolf lore in this book and the twists that accompany it! I'm really hoping that book two goes into more details about the secret wolf society, because I want to know more. I liked that Kathleen gave me just enough to capture my interest with her werewolves and leaves me wanting more. If you're looking for bad guys, than wait till you read about the Trackers. They provided plenty of action in this story. Their sole purpose in this book is to hunt the killer werewolf that's lurking around Hemlock and in the process take out all other werewolves they find. I got their cause, but it's so twisted and totally wrong. Their mission to stop the werewolves turns into a hunt that puts Mac and her friends the direct path of danger as well as opposites of the war on werewolves. 

If you're looking for a great paranormal read, I highly recommend picking this one up! There's plenty of action, romance, twists, and mystery that will wanting more when you're done with this book.