Friday, December 21, 2012

Book Review: Hemlock (Hemlock Series, #1) by Kathleen Peacock




Hemlock (Hemlock Series, #1)

Author: Kathleen Peacock


Purchase on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Synopsis: Mackenzie and Amy were best friends. Until Amy was brutally murdered.
Since then, Mae’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 lucking 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 as risk.

Brought to you by TeamNerd Reviewer Annabell Cadiz

Review: If you’re looking for something different and refreshing and new in the Young Adult genre under the sub-genre of Paranormal Romance then I suggest continuing your search because Hemlock is not it. Now, that isn’t to say Hemlock is all bad, it’s just not anything new that hasn’t already been written more times than I care to count in the YA genre.

What You Need to Know:

Main Heroine (use the term “heroine” VERY lightly): Mac, normal Plain Jane girl who barely existent personality and no common sense.

Plot: Mac is on a mission to discover the truth behind the murder of her best friend and find the wolf that killed her. Werewolves were created because of the Lupine Syndrome that spread and if a person is scratched or bitten, they are turned and if found, they are taken to an internment camp never to seen again. Along the way, Mac discovers secrets were being kept from her both by Jason and Kyle (being surprise there) and gets involved in a battle between werewolves and the humans.

Male Leads: Jason, the boyfriend of Amy, Mac’s best friend who had been killed and Kyle, Mac’s best friend. Jason is the bad boy with a flippant attitude and dark secrets where Kyle is the boy next door with a White Knight complex bordering on stalker-like tendencies. I still liked his character though. He was cute and sweet but a little boring as well.

Romance: Love triangle (Shocker =P). Jason and Kyle have both secretly been in love with Mac even though she is selfish, angst ridden, seems to care little about her appearance and can help but make incredibly stupid decisions.

Why the Hell You Should Read This Book: There are only three reasons as to why you should read this book, even though it’s driven by predictability to the point of nausea, is because:

Jason’s character: Yeah, he’s the wealthy, great looking guy who is portrayed as the popular bad boy. But I liked the way the author managed to show Jason’s hopelessness, guilt, and brokenness. He’s lost and an emotional mess and it was nice to see a guy portrayed with such vulnerability instead of just the girl.

The message: The plot addresses the destruction ignorance, prejudice and peer pressure can cause to an individual and to a society as a whole. The author did a pretty good job at showcasing how Jason’s vulnerability is used against him and how easily the masses can be conned into believing in something out of fear.

Murder mystery: The mystery behind what happened when Amy was killed and the plot twist with who was actually responsible and how was well set up. I had a few suspicions that kept going back and forth between three different characters so the discovery wasn’t completely unexpected but I still managed to enjoy it.

Would I Recommend Reading It: Yeah, for entertainment purposes. If you need something that is a little dark and with an easy pace and have some time to kill then I’d pick up a copy of Hemlock at your local library (I’m not sure I would want to pay for the book).
I think I may end up reading the second installment in the Hemlock Series since I want to know how Jason and Kyle end up, especially since Kyle went on the hunt of a werewolf tribe. I’d like to see where the author takes the series since Hemlock ends Mac’s story about finding Amy’s killer but also has a cliffhanger Epilogue to proceed with the series.


About the Author: Kathleen spent her teen years crushing on authors and writing short stories about vampires. She put her writing dreams on hold while attending art school, but tripped over them when office life left her feeling restless. 

Kathleen is Canadian and likely to perish in the first wave of the zombie apocalypse. 

Where to Find the Author

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

TeamNerd Features!