Review: Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock

Willowgrove

Kathleen Peacock

(Hemlock #3)

Publication Date: January 6, 2015

Hardcover, 368 pages, Katherine Tegen Books

Genres: YA, Paranormal

Barnes & Noble | Amazon | Goodreads

Willowgrove is Kathleen Peacock's riveting conclusion to the Hemlock trilogy, a dark, romantic, paranormal suspense series that pits friendship against survival, and trust against love.

Ever since Mac's best friend, Amy, was murdered, Hemlock has been a dangerous place. But now that Mac, her boyfriend, Kyle, and Amy's ex, Jason, have investigated a mass breakout from Thornhill, a werewolf "rehabilitation" camp, the danger has only grown. Fear of the infection spreading is now at an all-time high, and anyone with a scar is suspected of being a wolf.

What makes Mac even more afraid, though, are the dark experiments that the warden of Thornhill was performing on wolves in a secret asylum called Willowgrove. Uncovering the truth about what happened may be the only way for Mac to save everyone she loves and end her nightmares for good.

My Review

WARNING SPOILERS may lie ahead! This is the third book in a TRILOGY, so don’t read my review unless you want SPOILED.

Mac, Jason, and Kyle are trying to fix the world—or at least the United States—and its horrible treatment of werewolves in this installment of Peacock’s trilogy. There’s a lot going on in this last book, but the amount of action and prejudice isn’t as jaw-dropping, exciting, terrible, and/or anger-inducing, than the second book, Thornhill. Maybe this is because, instead of being in a rehabilitation camp setting (which is actually more like a concentration camp), the characters are all back at Hemlock.

Mac hasn’t really changed any since the first two books; she’s still the same somewhat naïve, yet caring and determined girl. Kyle, Mac’s boyfriend, also hasn’t changed any. He’s still protective of his friends and he still doesn’t talk much. However, Jason, the rich bad-boy with a complex has grown. He’s risking himself for the sake of others and he’s understanding the problems his decisions have caused. So for overall character development, I’d have to say that there just wasn’t a lot of it in this book. The plot took up a majority of the storyline.

While, like I mentioned, the plot didn’t shock me as much in this book, I did enjoy it. It’s always awesome to read about characters fighting for civil rights. And yes, this includes werewolves’ rights. Mac, Jason, Kyle, Trey, and Selena are having to run away from bad people, stand up for what’s right, and deal with all the craziness in a fairly short amount of time. I think the book was set in less than a week, so there was always something happening. However, what the book made up for in action, it lacked in romance. And I’m a huge lover of romance. Now, don’t get me wrong, action-packed books are awesome, I just like to read about hot guys more than I like people killing people. Ya feel me? And while Kyle did provide some nice alpha-maleness some of the time, it just wasn’t as often as someone with my romance standards requires.  

All in all, I love werewolves. Oops, not what I meant to say. Let me try that again… All in all, Peacock’s Hemlock trilogy is a great addition to the werewolf world, so if you’re missing some paranormal in your life, definitely think about checking this series out.

*Note: I purchased a copy of this book for myself.