Thornhill by Kathleen Peacock

THORNHILL was one of my most anticipated releases of Fall 2013. Kathleen Peacock's HEMLOCK was one of my favorite YA debuts last year, and I couldn't wait to see what else she would come up with. I greedily dove into THORNHILL as soon as I received it and while it didn't wow me as much as its predecessor, it was still a decent sequel, and it definitively kept me interested in the story. HEMLOCK was more of a murder mystery/thriller with paranormal elements, but this sequel was more of an in depth look on how being a werewolf can turn your life upside down.

The story picks up exactly where it left off, with Mac running away from her hometown, chasing after Kyle, the boy she loves. As a newly turned werewolf, Kyle feels that the small town life isn't the right fit for him, especially since everyone would eventually find out about his lupine disease, one way or another. He thinks running away to Denver would be safer for everyone, especially Mac who he doesn't want to involve in his werewolf life. Jason, another boy that has a not-so-secret crush on Mac follows her to Denver, to make sure that she stays safe and doesn't get into too much trouble. The trio find themselves yet again in an odd love triangle and in a mystery that could affect everyone's lives.

What's I find really interesting about this series is how people truly believe that being a werewolf is a disease. The shift being something werewolves need to be cured from. The general human population believe that it's unacceptable to have werewolves living among them, going to school with their children, to the point where the government has created prison camps where all werewolves are shipped to, without having done anything--simply because they have been singled out as a werewolf. Thornhill is one of these camps. However, it does seem to be different from the others so far. First, it only houses werewolves under 18 years of age and second, some mysterious experiments seem to be happening within the wall of the prison. Like I said, the general human population really believes werewolves can be cured from the Lupine Syndrome, even if it takes imprisoning minors for simply being themselves.

When Kyle is captured and sent to this camp, Mac feels obligated to follow him into Thornhill in order to find a way to escape together. I'm not exactly sure why she absolutely wants to stay in the camp when she can reveal to her jailors that she's human and could be sent on her merry way, but I imagine it's her allegiance to Kyle--and her conscience--that makes her stay. The help they get in this jail is really unexpected, and I won't reveal too much because I'm not the spoiler type, but you can definitively look forward to meeting someone unexpected.

While Mac is the main character and a great narrator, I think my favorite character in this book is Jason. His one-liners and his sarcastic comments offer unexpected comic relief during somber scenes. His faithfulness to his best friend Kyle and Mac allows him to redeem himself, after being so adamant in Hemlock to help rid all werewolves from society.

While this series is really becoming a great werewolf story, what makes it so great is Kathleen Peacock's ability to throw in real life lesson into the mix. The prejudice against werewolves is something we can all relate too. Obviously not the werewolf part, but prejudice in general. Whether we've been a subject of prejudice or we've been guilty of judging other people based on appearances, we've all been there at one point or another in our lives. I think children and teens are even more subject to it so it's really appropriate to find it as a theme in this YA series.

I love the feel of this series, the darkness and secrecy surrounding the characters and the setting. It's mysterious enough to keep you interested, yet it reveals enough throughout the books for you to be comfortable with the story. It's definitely a series I'll keep reading and Kathleen Peacock remains on my auto-buy list after gaining the spot with HEMLOCK.

Posted by Tynga at 03:41

 Harper Collins, Hemlock, Katherine Tegen Books, Kathleen Peacock, Paranormal, Purchased, Review, Shapeshifter, werewolves, young adult  2 People left their mark

Tynga is a 32 years old mom of two, from Montreal, working as a lab technician in an hospital specialized in heart disease. In her free time, she enjoys reading all things Paranormal and photography.

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