Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock

Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars because I really enjoyed the story despite the inconsistencies in the first 15 pages that would normally leave me setting the book aside. I am glad that I stuck it out because Hemlock was quite and interesting read. Vampires and werewolves have had their stories told over and over, and it seems as if there is no way to further intrigue an audience with these subjects. That being said, Kathleen has really made werewolves her own and managed to play the outplayed and come out on top.
This is the story of Mac whose unconventional upbringing has led her to cling to those she loves in as unemotional a way as she can. (That may be a bit confusing, but it's the only way I can describe those complex relationships in a single sentence.) When her best friend Amy is killed in a werewolf attack, Mac tries to keep her little band of friends together, but despite all of her efforts, they start to crumble in the wake of losing Amy. Mac starts to manifest haunting and disturbing images and conversations with Amy in her dreams. That, coupled with a burgeoning relationship with one of her remaining troubled friends, pushes Mac to want to find out the truth of what happened to Amy. Trackers, a trigger to painful memories from Mac's past, swarm into Mac's town and start taking over everything including the police and school. Mac knows that the Trackers aren't as altruistic as they try to appear, so if getting the trackers out of Hemlock is an added benefit then Mac is all to willing to take them down in the process.
Okay, so enough of that summary and onto those inconsistencies I spoke about. It's not that there were so many of them, but that they were the first thing you read about. First when Mac's sister comes into the restaurant where Mac is working:
"'Caesar salad, hold the croutons?' I guessed..."
Now granted they discuss whether or not her sister is or isn't on a diet anymore, but nevertheless Mac still brings her the salad, only to moments later read this:
"She raised her eyebrows suggestively and stuffed a forkful of croutons and lettuce into her mouth."
As if that wasn't confusing enough, another food mix-up seems to be in the works:
"Oblivious, Tess slid out of the booth and dropped a couple of bills on the table, even though she'd barely touched her food."
That seems much more straight forward than the contents of her salad right? Not!:
"I glanced down at the empty salad bowl and scooped up the crumpled bills."
Well which is it? Did she barely touch the salad or did she eat it all? The fact that this kind of error was in the first 15 pages of the novel is a detriment to the novel. Now, I chose to continue reading for whatever reason when I normally wouldn't have, but I'm so glad that I did. Either there were no more blatant inconsistencies or I was just too immersed in the story to notice them. I encourage all those interested in Y/A paranormal fiction to give this book a chance!



View all my reviews