THORNHILL BLOG TOUR: Q&A + Review!

I am thrilled to be hosting the next stop of the Thornhill by Kathleen Peacock Blog Tour!!!

THORNHILL (Hemlock #2) by Kathleen Peacock
Release Date: September 10th 2013

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. (goodreads) 

Boy oh boy! What a read. I absolutely loved the first book in the series, Hemlock, so I jumped at the chance to be able to review it and be a part of the blog tour.

I love werewolf stories. I've read a ton and I've watched a ton and I have to say, the story of Hemlock is very original. Thornhill builds on that and makes Kathleen's werewolf lore a force to be reckoned with. It would be so easy to go awry when dealing with werewolf stories but the story of Mac and the other characters we first met in Hemlock rolls right along wonderfully.

Mac is one of my favourite female heroines. She has this strong can-do attitude that is just so endearing. She will literally do anything to protect the people that she loves and that is something that I very much admire. She put her life in danger many times throughout Thornhill to help those that she loves. Hell, she got stuck in the rehabilitation camp willingly even though she knew it was dangerous because she wanted to help. Mac is a badass. 

I loved Jason and Kyle as much in Thornhill as I did in Hemlock. Both boys are fantastic in their own ways and bring out different sides in Mac. As a love-triangle, I'm not sure how I feel about who I ship with who but I love them both as their own person which is rare for me in dealing with love triangles! I always very much like one of the boys than the other but when it comes to Kyle and Jason, Kathleen writes them so well that I can't help but love both of them.

There were also new characters introduced like Amy. I won't dive too much into her because I don't want to give too much away but I loved her. She was such a fierce, feisty character that I found myself excited whenever she showed up.

Thornhill definitely kept me on my toes and I know it will do the same to everyone who reads it, new fans and old fans alike. I breezed through it in a day because I had to know what Mac and co were going to get into next. Kathleen weaves the romance and the action together seamlessly as well as bringing new werewolf lore to the table. Do yourself a favour and pick up Thornhill immediately!

★★★★★ 

I LOVED IT

PURCHASE 

(amazon) (amazon canada) (the book depository) (chapters/indigo)

AUTHOR Q&A

1. How did you come up with the idea for the Hemlock series? Where were you when it happened?

I had the idea while walking to work one morning. I was crossing a long bridge and listening to music and "It's been Awhile" by Staind started playing. As I listened to the song, a scene with Mac, Jason, and Kyle unfolded in my head.

2. What other werewolf novels/television shows/movies do you enjoy?

My favorite werewolf movie is Ginger Snaps, but I also have a huge soft spot for An American Werewolf in London. When it comes to werewolves on television, the first season of Being Human (UK) is brilliant, and I've always had a mad crush on Oz from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I haven't actually read too many werewolf books because I made a conscious effort not to read them while working on the Hemlock trilogy. I did break down and read the first few Mercedes Thompson books by Patricia Briggs and quite liked them. I actually have a whole list of werewolf books to read after the third Hemlock book goes to copyedits.

3. Do you believe in the supernatural? 

That there might be more to our world that meets the eye? Sort of. I don't believe in werewolves or vampires, but I do believe in hauntings, ghosts, and psychic abilities. My parents let me watch Firestarter when I was six and I spent an entire week trying to light things on fire with my brain. 

4. Would you rather be infected with LS or be a reg? 

A reg. Being a werewolf would be terribly inconvenient and you'd spend a fortune on clothes. 

5. What have you been reading lately? 

I FINALLY got around to reading Cinder by Marissa Meyer and I absolutely adored it. I've also been reading a few non-fiction books for research.

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. Connect with Kathleen: Website - Twitter - Goodreads - Facebook

Be sure to follow @HCCFrenzy on Twitter and hashtag #ThornhillBT, they have a giveaway going on all week- 

YOU COULD WIN A HEMLOCK/THORNHILL Prize pack, guys!

 Good luck to you all! 

Be sure to stop by the awesome blog hosts for the OFFICIAL THORNHILL BLOG TOUR 

Sept. 9th: Juhina from Maji Bookshelf 

Sept. 10th: Hayley from Booking It With Hayley G 

Sept. 11th: Giselle from Xpresso Reads 

Sept.12th: Rebecca from OMFG books 

Sept. 13th: Lindsay from Me on Books

A very big thanks to HarperCollins Canada for allowing me to participate in this blog tour!

REVIEW: Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock

Pub. Date: May 8th 2012
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Pages: 416
Readership: Young adult
Genres: fantasy, supernatural, werewolves
Rating: ★★★★

Mackenzie and Amy were best friends.   

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 boy-friend, 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.

Werewolves are in. At least, they're on their way to being so. With shows like Teen Wolf and characters like Jacob Black in Twilight (hmph...) and Tyler Lockwood in The Vampire Diaries (yay!) they are on the up and up. I loooove werewolves. Love, love, love them. I love all the lore different authors and show runners come up with. I love how human aforementioned authors can make them, how real and how damaged. There are so many things to do with werewolves that depart from the cliched scenario of American Werewolf in London. All of that in mind, I was really excited to start Hemlock.

Hemlock came out of the gate original; the werewolves are out of the werewolf closet. Lycanthropy is a disease. The US government announced it twelve years ago. The public knows, and the public are afraid. The government set up 'rehabilitation camp' which is code for werewolf prison. The camps are deplorable, the conditions sickening. People infected are afraid. They do their best to hide and sometimes it works but they live afraid. And sometimes, they are caught. There is a group called The Trackers. They are basically horrible, ignorant versions of hunters like Sam and Dean from Supernatural or the Argents from Teen Wolf. The Trackers are everywhere. They aren't a government agency so they aren't held back by their rules. They work with law enforcement but they believe they are above it. They are savages.

Then comes in our protagonist, Mac. Her best friend, Amy, was murdered by a werewolf. A white werewolf, which are very rare among people infected with Lupine syndrome. Mac feels lost. Since Amy's death, her other two best friends have drifted. Jason has become reckless and a little bit of an alcoholic. Kyle has become distant. Add to that the fact that Amy's killer was never caught and it's no wonder Mac feels the way that she does. She has to get the nightmares to stop. She has to stich her life back together; all of their lives. She thinks the only way to do this is to investigate the murder herself.

From there the story snowballs. There are so many (awesome) plot twists that sometimes you could blink and miss them. Sometimes my jaw dropped, sometimes it was pretty obvious what was coming. But that didn't make it any less awesome.

Now there are the characters themselves. Like I said, Mac feels very lost and alone too. I found her very likeable. I was rooting for her. I was rooting for her love life (which I won't spoil but wow!) I was rooting for her to find Amy's murderer and just about everything else that she does. I. Love. Mac. I loved everyone else, too. Kyle is just... there are no words. I don't want to spoil anything but I will say he's been through so much. He's lost too but he has such a good head on his shoulders. All he wants to do is protect Mac and everyone else that he cares about. Jason is broken. Ever since Amy's death and everything else that he's had to deal with he's broken, damaged. But he's trying. Maybe in all the wrong ways, but he's trying. The secondary characters like Trey and Serena were amazing too. By the end of the book I wanted to have a big group fuzzy werewolf hug with all of them.

Peacock established a great base for her werewolf lore and took it from there. There was action, there was heartache, and there were moments that made you smile. Hemlock had everything I wanted in a werewolf story and then some. I wish book two could come out sooner because it ended on such an oh my god but! note. It was so, so great. Any fan of Teen Wolf, The Vampire Diaries or other werewolf movies, tv shows and novels will enjoy Hemlock.

And another reason to love it? The author is Canadian!

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