Kathleen Peacock

High school senior Mackenzie attempts to solve the mystery of her best friend's murder in a town affected by the werewolf virus.

Hemlock

Monicap

Oh dear, I said I was going to review this book, but then I forgot and now I don't remember what I had been going to say.
well, it was amazing. totally worth the read. it's on my to-buy list.

Fast-paced, young adult supernatural mystery with good elements of innocent romance and friendship. It was a perfect mystery novel for someone just getting into it, because it was suspenseful and well-crafted, but not confusing like some other mystery novels. Overall, amazing mix of world building, character building, and plot building!

Taiha Morton

Courtney Gendreau

Loved this book here is my review
http://rainydayreadingreviews.blogspo...

Florentina Beqiri

I loved this book! It took me just two days to read it. I liked, somehow, all the characters. Sometimes I wanted to crawl into the book and punch Jason in his beuatiful, little face. Mac Book was sometimes annoying, too. Maaaybee it was way to predictable, but I did enjoy it anyhow. Can't wait for the second book and I really hope, there will be more of Kyle in it *-*

Leah Patton

I like books with... 
1. A dangerous plague threat.
2. A love triangle.
3. Werewolves
4. A murder mystery
And this book has all four! I really liked how she took werewolves and made it a full blown CDC official disease. That was really so cool. I also enjoyed the conflict between the tracker and the werewolf rights people. It was interesting to see how, when a whole community is scared, a murderous, prejudice organization like re Trackers can receive that much recognition. Also, the murder mystery was very suspenseful and unexpected. I usually get bored because the murderer was so obvious but this was very well written.
Where I did find a small failing was in the awkwardness of the live triangle. Jason and Kyle both loved Mac but I just felt there should have been more development. More sexual tension! And more lovey-dovey words from both boys to Mac. But that might just be me, because I love me some good love triangles!
And one more thing would be that I sometimes found Mac's character to be annoying because she just all of a sudden was completely in love with kyle and didn't even give Jason much thought. I felt she should have been more conflicted because, before she knew about Jasons feelings she didn't like him like that at all. Also her character was brace to a fault, which annoyed me at times but that was her character. It was a great read though, so don't let those two things stand in your way of reading.

Andrea Ayala

I randomly picked this book from my TBR pile, read the blurb, some reviews and decided to give it a go. This book was good, I didn't love it but it was really good. The book just keeps you guessing, who's the white wolf? what really happened to Amy? and when you think you know it a twist of events tells you you were wrong and you have to start from scratch the guessing game. I want the next one, want to know what happens with Kyle and Jason and Mac hmm.

Siobhán

*Re-Read Oct 2014*

Original Review from 2012: I apologise in advance for any rambling and if it doesn't make sense. Lol. Had some reviewers block because I loved it so much!!

Now, I won't do my own description like I usually do because the one above pretty much tackles everything without giving away much. I don't think I could do it without spoilers.

Hemlock was one of those books that I wanted because of the cover. Yes, shameful! But come on how amazing is this cover. It's perfect! So when I read the blurb I knew straight away it was one I actually needed. And let me tell you, where some books fail to live up to the cover, Hemlock isn't one of those. It exceded my expections and had me to gripped all the way through.

Hemlock (as far as I know) is a fictional town in USA. It's set in a our world but werewolves are real and everyone knows it. After Mac's best friend Amy is murdered by a werewolves her whole town in up in arms and call in a group of Trackers who are there to find and capture the werewolves. Mac and her friends are still trying to come to terms with the death of Amy and they slowly begin to grow apart. Mac who is being haunted by Amy in her dreams decided to go on a murder mystery hunt to find the wolf. I really liked Mac. She has had a bad childhood and lives with her cousin. When she moved to Hemlock she became friends with Amy, Kyle and Jason. Her world is completely torn apart as she uncovered the truth behind Amy's death. She is a fighter and I like that. I think a very good role model. She is strong and very independent and cares so much about everyone else. Her relationship between the two boys is tested. But she still manages to bounce back and keep going. Kyle and Jason are the total opposite from each other but they seem to bring out things in Mac and just make you love the characters.

The story itself is not what I was expecting. I knew it was a werewolf story but I didn't realise that there would be a big mystery murder hunt as well, which I loved. It was thrilling, exciting and very dangerous. However, I pretty much figured out who the wolf was about half way through the book. That being said it didn't stop me being engrossed in the story and waiting for Mac to figure it out. I keep wanting to shout at her who is was Lol. Like you do at scary movies lol.

Kathleen Peacock has delivered an outstanding YA novel that is packed with mystery and thrills that will captivated any reader. There is twists and turns with some romance thrown into the mix just to stir things up. I am really excited for book 2. I need to find out what happens next.

Fans of Maggie Stiefvater and the hit television show True Blood will flock to this first book in the supernatural mystery series set in a town where werewolves live in plain sight. Mackenzie Dobson's life has been turned upside down since she vowed to hunt her best friend Amy's killer: a white werewolf. Lupine syndrome—also known as the werewolf virus—is on the rise across the country, and bloodlust is not easy to control. But it soon becomes clear that dangerous secrets are lurking in the shadows of Hemlock, Mac's hometown—and she is thrown into a maelstrom of violence and betrayal that puts her in grave danger. Kathleen Peacock's thrilling debut novel provides readers with a mystery that Kimberly Derting, author of The Body Finder, calls "clever and frightening," while Sophie Jordan, New York Times bestselling author of Firelight, raves: "Forget every werewolf book you've ever read. This one breaks the mold."

Jess Ostrander

3.5 stars!
Hemlock is the story of Rook Dagger, the first human necromancer in 500 years. Rook spent the first 15 years of her life living in a small cottage by the lake, being homeschooled by her mother. But now the time has come for Rook to enroll in Hemlock Academy, a centuries old school teaching the art of necromancy. The students will one day be assigned to one of the seven magical kingdoms where they will serve king and country for as long as needed. Rook's abilities make her unique- and she could be a force of nature- if she wasn't hung up on a boy. G Gianni is a beautiful distraction, and Rook can't get him out of her head. She loves to hate him; he hates to love her. And together they could destroy the world.

So overall, I found this to be a pretty enjoyable read! I liked how the author gave us a character list and lots of fun extras up front, like a playlist! I found the world to be intriguing, but I do think it lacked a little in world building. There was so much potential with all the different kingdoms and creatures introduced. It's a pretty good first book, and it's setting us up well for future stories. I'd love to see more of Rook and the other student's daily lives, and explore their classes more. Getting to see what they're learning in necromancer school would be really interesting. There's also the lore of the school and world that is really cool to see interwoven into Rook's story. I really want to know more. 
While I liked the characters, I also felt like there was a lack of development. I'd love to see more of Rook's character development not revolve around G. That's where the majority of this book is spent- G and Rook's relationship development. G can be really irritating too, in typical jerky YA bad boy fashion. But one thing I do appreciate is that Rook really feels like a 15 year old. She had me totally cringing in secondhand embarrassment many times, and I enjoyed the realistic way she's written. Too often YA heroines feel way older than they're supposed to be, so I'm glad Rook was as painfully awkward as teenagers really are. I also liked that there was some female friendship development, and I really liked Nadia. 
I definitely guessed the twist at the end. No spoilers, but if you're used to this genre it won't be hard to see coming. 
Overall, I'm interested to see where this story goes next. The ending felt a bit abrupt, but there's a lot of room to continue the story and make a really cool series out of it. It's an easy read and there's a lot to keep you invested in the story!

madie anne 

hey y’all, future madie here! i’m coming from december 2020, nearly two years after i read this book. i must say, this book has stuck with me for the entirety of these two years, it was THAT good. i highly recommend.

Hemlock

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