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Sunday, May 20, 2012

Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock

Peacock, Kathleen - Hemlock, Tynga's Reviews, tynga, stephlrx

Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock

Book Stats:

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Hardcover: 404 pages
Publisher: Harper Collins
Release date: May 8, 2012

Series: Hemlock #1

Source: Personal Shelf

Reviewed by: Stéphanie

Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository

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.

I loved, loved this cover when I first saw it. The colours are amazing and the title design is so captivating. And when I realized it was a book about werewolves, I knew I had to read it. I’ve been anticipating this book for a while now and as soon as I received it, I started reading it. And let me tell you, I was not disappointed with Kathleen Peacock’s debut novel.

The werewolf mythology is not new to the publishing world, but I admire the way Kathleen recreated the way we perceive werewolves. In her world, the Lupine Syndrome (LS) is what creates werewolves, after either being scratched or bitten by another werewolf. Nothing new there, but the mass panic and hysteria that ensues after everyone learns of the existence of LS is very original. It’s quite realistic the way the public in the book was quick to judge and more or less removed all human rights to those infected. Shipping them off to seclusion camps that apparently have horrible living conditions reminds me of the concentration camps of the second world war. Those with LS are always living with fear of being discovered, just like the Jews must have felt while they tried to live out their lives in hiding. Prejudice and animosity are very strong themes in this book and I applaud Kathleen for making it so realistic.

Mackenzie, or Mac, is the main character of HEMLOCK, and at the beginning of the novel, she was like any other teenager: scared about the werewolf murder spree that happened months ago and heartbroken about losing her best friend Amy to the killer. Even though Amy was murdered by a werewolf, she was not quick to judge and still believed not all werewolves were killers. She began to believed in equal rights, especially when she learnt that so many people surrounding her had been living with LS in secret. A strong female lead, Mac is not afraid to do what she believes is right, and fights for those she loves.

Branson Derby gave me the chills right from the start. His youth meetings and presence reminded me of cult leaders with their need to be followed and acknowledged. He controlled his followers by making them believe werewolves truly had no rights and that all of the infected were dangerous killers. He ruled his advocates through apprehension and brute strength and the fact that he was able to acquire the help of politicians and the local police made him a figure all werewolves feared. His goal to eradicate all werewolves made him a genocidal antagonist, and as a reader, it was very easy to both hate and fear him.

Kathleen Peacock created a wonderful alternate reality where everyone is aware of the werewolves and where Lupine Syndrome is feared as if it was a deadly disease. Not only is this book about prejudice and werewolves, it’s also about friendship, love, integrity and righteousness. Likable characters and delightful writing made this book a pleasant read. I trully believe this debut will be one of the YA novel to covet this spring/summer season. Young adults (especially members of Team Jacob) will love this book and will strongly anticipate the sequel. The ending promises another book full of intrigue and even more werewolves.

Meet the Hemlock Characters

The World of Hemlock

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23 People left their mark' :

  1. I totally agree with you, the cover is absolutely stunning! Álthough I have seen Hemlock posted on several blogs as a TBR book this is the first time I have actually read what it's about. In fact it sounds great, so I have added it to my own TBR! Thx for your review. :)

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  2. LOVE that cover as well. I read a bunch of really awesome reviews for this book and downloaded it on to my e-reader last week. I think I need to move it up on my "read me" list. Awesome review!

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    1. I buy a lot of books for my ereader by I had to splurge and buy the Hardcover for this one!

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  3. I loved loved loved this book. :) fab review.

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  4. I'm reading this right now and I really like it. I'm a big fan of werewolf books, so this was a definite buy for me when I read the synopsis. Great review :-)

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    1. I hope you like the rest of the book too! I love werewolf books. Probably one of my favourite sub-genres.

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  5. I was super excited to pick this one up and find that it not only lived up to my hopes, but exceeded them. Werewolves don't get enough attention in YA fiction, as prevalent as they are in PNR.

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    1. I agree. There should be more werewolves in ya!

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  6. Although I'm not a big werewolf fan, I'm starting to get really excited about this one after seeing more than a few positive reviews of it. Maybe this will change my mind!

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  7. Great review Steph!!! I've been dyinnng to read this!! I will definitely be buying a copy as soon as the paperback is available!

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    1. Thanks Lucy! I hope you enjoy it, once you get around to reading it.

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  8. Ahh I so want to read this!! I am so glad you enjoyed it and was as good as you expected. Thanks for the great review.

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  9. The colours in the artwork are gorgeous! I haven't read a lot of YA books about werewolves but this one sounds good.

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  10. Great review! I want to read this book so incredibly back and can't wait to get it! The cover is what drew me to it and after all the great things I keep seeing about it, it is a definite must read for me :) beautiful blo,g new follower :)

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  11. Great review! Of course the main difference with WWII is, that the Jews were innocent, and used as scapegoats, while the werewolves really are dangerous. After all, you state that hiding the bloodlust is difficult and a scratch or bite will infect a person. Which of course does not make it allright to lock them up or kill them all. Are there good and harmless werewolves? Or are they indeed all a danger to humanity? Still, it is not something I would like to read myself.

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    1. I guess I should have mentioned that most werewolves are good. You get the odd one that is bad so maybe my analogy wasn't the best. But it truly felt like they were being hunted like in a genocide.

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  12. I love the cover too! I'm just not a huge fan of werewolf books.

    I did love Raised by Wolves and Frostbite by David Wellington but most just bore me, I hate the whole pack mentality. This one, however, sounds interesting and different, so I think I'll have to check it out!

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    1. In this book, there isn't really any packs or fights for being alpha and whatnot. So you might enjoy this one!

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  13. I've been wanting to read this for a while and now I want to read it even more! Similarities to the Holocaust and cults? This sounds really complex and fantastic! Thanks for the great review!

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