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Showing posts with label Kathleen Peacock. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kathleen Peacock. Show all posts

Friday, 27 December 2013

A Review for Deadly Thorns (Hemlock#2) by Kathleen Peacock

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Posted by Donna
Release Date:  November 7th 2013
Finished Date: November 26th, 2013
Publishers: Simon & Schuster UK
Genre: YA, Paranormal, Dystopian
Source: For Review
Format: Paperback
Pages: 352
Mac can’t lose another friend. Even if he doesn’t want to be found.

The ripple effect caused by Mac’s best friend Amy’s murder has driven Mac’s new love, Kyle, to leave Hemlock and disappear from her life forever. But Mac knows that Kyle plans to enroll in a rehabilitation camp, where he can live with other werewolves. She refuses to accept his decision, especially since the camps are rumored to be tortuous. So she sets out in search of Kyle with a barely sober Jason—and Amy’s all-seeing ghost—in tow.

Clues lead Mac to find Kyle in a werewolf den in Colorado—but their reunion is cut short by a Tracker raid. Now Mac and Kyle are trapped inside the electric fences of Thornhill, a camp for young werewolves. As she devises an escape plan, Mac uncovers dangerous secrets buried within the walls of Thornhill—and realizes that the risk to the people she loves is greater than ever before.

The Review: 3.5 Flowers!

I really loved Kathleen Peacock's debut novel Deadly Hemlock last year, so I've been eager to find out what happens next in the sequel; Deadly Thorns and I'm glad I've finally had the chance to read it.

In Deadly Thorns we see Amy and Jason trying to find Kyle, but once they do, they find themselves in more trouble than they ever believed they could get in. The place Kyle is staying at, is raided and everyone but Jason is taken to a rehabilitation camp. It's there that Amy realises there are more secrets than ever and she needs to find out what's going on, as well as trying to get her and her friends out. But can Amy do that before drawing suspicion onto herself?

I was excited to read Deadly Thorns and started to as soon as I received it, however, one thing I noticed was how much of the details from Deadly Hemlock I had forgotten. It took me a least 100 pages into this book, that I could finally remember most of the details - which kind of sucked! Once I finally got into the story, I enjoyed it but I didn't think it was on par with Deadly Hemlock. If I'm honest, I didn't quiet like the whole 'rehabilitation camp', if anything, I was a little surprised the author went down this route when I thought there was so many more avenues that she could have took. I found the plot to be a little slow and I guess in my head, Deadly Thorns wasn't was I was expecting, but despite the few minor issues I had, I did still enjoy it.

What I liked was being back with the characters. I'd missed Amy, Jason and Kyle (yes, more so Kyle, lol) and I couldn't wait to see what was next in their journey's. I think character wise, they all grow a lot in this sequel, I mean they don't really have much choice but to do so with the situation's they're put in. Kyle has a lot to overcome, he has to hide who is but still try and have some sort of normal relationship with Amy and his family, Jason has to try and overcome his recent drinking binges and fight his feelings for Amy, and Amy, well after solving the murder of her friend, she's now taken on the task of trying to help the wolves. It's a lot for a teenage girl to do. I really like them as a trio. They work well together and I'm still left thinking about their story now.

Overall, I did enjoy Deadly Thorns, I did wish for more but I'll still look out for the final book.

Tuesday, 26 June 2012

A Review for Deadly Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock

Deadly HemlockPosted by Donna
Expected Release Date: July 5th, 2012
Finished Date: May 23rd, 2012
Publishers: Simon & Schuster UK
Source: For Review
Format: Paperback
Pages: 416
Buy : Amazon UK / Amazon US / The Book Depo

Mackenzie and Amy were best friends. Until Amy was brutally murdered.
Since then, Mac’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 lurking 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 at risk. Kathleen Peacock’s thrilling novel is the first in the Hemlock trilogy, a spellbinding urban fantasy series filled with provocative questions about prejudice, trust, lies, and love.

The Review: 4.5Deadly Hemlock is one of them books that I went into with no expectations,  so I was thrilled that this book utterly surprised me. It threw me so many amazing surprises that overall, it was a fantastic read. 

In Deadly Hemlock werewolves are no longer in hiding after being discovered by the government. The werewolf gene called the ‘Lupine Syndrome’ is being spread to other people by bites or scratches.
Mackenzie lives in a town called Hemlock and she is trying to deal with the death of her best friend, Amy who was brutally murdered by a werewolf. However, Amy isn’t the first person to be killed, and a man hunt is starting to take place, to wipe all the werewolves out. Mackenzie however, believes there is more to Amy’s death than what she’s been told, and takes it upon herself to find out the truth. But what she isn’t prepared for are the secrets and lies that come out, and thing turn dangerous very quickly for her. Can Mackenzie solve Amy’s murder without getting herself killed? And can she protect the people she loves?

Finally – another werewolf story that is on par with Andrea Cremer’s Nightshade series. I love werewolf stories, but the one’s I’ve read recently all tend to have the same story line, so I’m so pleased that Deadly Hemlock is completely and utterly unique. In my opinion this story has quite a dystopian feel to it – especially with the werewolves being so out in the open, so I was shocked to find out it’s being classes as an urban fantasy, however dystopian or urban fantasy, it was fantastic nonetheless.

The characters were a joy to read about too. Mackenzie, Jason and Kyle have all lost their way since losing Amy – some more than others, but with Mackenzie’s strong personality trying to keep them all together, it was nice to see how tight their friendship was. Mackenzie really was a stand out character for me, I adored both her relationships with both boys and I think the author did a great job with the love triangle too.  I’m usually one that isn’t keen on love triangles, but the author didn’t make it the key point in the book; it was more a back-story and it was great. She really left me battling with who I wanted Mackenzie to end up with and overall, I’d be happy with either one of them.

Kathleen Peacock really has created a thrilling, suspenseful and captivating read with Deadly Hemlock. It's filled with secrets, lie’s, hope and love, and I loved every minute of it. Highly recommend to paranormal fans that are looking for a new and exciting series. 

A huge thank you to Simon & Schuster UK for giving me the opportunity to review this book.
 
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