Kathleen Peacock's Thornhill Blog Tour: Review and Q&A

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Thornhill (Hemlock #2) by Kathleen Peacock

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Publication year: September 10, 2013

Genre(s): Young Adult (Paranormal/werewolves)

Format: ARC 

Pages: 368

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.

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Everyone who knows me is no stranger to my unconditional love towards Hemlock by Kathleen Peacock. I loved that book so much and it is one of the few paranormal books that I actually enjoyed, let alone loved. When I received Thornhill for review I was over the moon. I tried to hold reading it off, closer to the release date, but I couldn't and picked it up immediately. While I had high expectations for it, I never doubted that I would also love Thornhill, and that was exactly what happened by the end of the book. The complex and thrilling world, as well as the characters and their relationship dynamics, and just how the plot progressed were just as perfect as how it was in Hemlock. 

The characters in this series is what makes up this whole book. Not that the plot isn't bloody fantastic, but the characters all feel so real to me. I am invested in all of the characters, including the secondary and even tertiary ones. Mac, Jason, and Kyle are one of my favorite friendships in YA books. I personally wish I could read how their relationship started and how they were before all hell broke loose. Mac is such an intense character and I love how she takes no crap from anyone and always scolds Jason and Kyle for trying to act as her body guards and making her feel like a damsel in distress. I also love how all three look out for each other and care for each other even with all the issues that do come in between them, no matter how big they are. I am hoping we get more scenes between Kyle and Jason in the next book because I love their banter together; add in Mac and it's perfect. 

Plot wise, Thronhill was on fire. Everything progressed so fast and you weren't left in the dark for too long. The setting of Thornhill is completely different from Hemlock so everything is new and we are introduced to a completely new mystery. Even with the serious and dangerous setting the characters are thrust into, the funny dialogue is not lost. I especially loved a scene towards the end of the book between Mac and ghost Amy (no spoiler here since Amy is dead before even the first chapter of Hemlock) where Amy complains on how Mac always puts her life at risk. 

"Seriously, I'm beginning to worry you have a death wish. When I wrote 'BFF' in your yearbook, I didn't mean it as a suicide pact" - Amy

This might sound weird but I really wish I met Amy before she died. She was the catalyst to everything that has happened in the past two books and I wished I knew her, and not just her ghost self that Mac keeps dreaming about. Hemlock also has one of my favorite romances in YA books. The love triangle was done brilliantly and I personally do not know who to root for. We've got Amy's ex-boyfriend, Jason, the broken and lonely rich boy as well as Kyle, who you can always lean on and will always be there for you. Their scenes with Mac are all swoon worthy and I feel I am betraying them both because I just can't seem to choose who I like more! 

Overall, Thornhill did not disappoint one bit. I loved every single page of it and can't wait to get my own hardcover of it. I feel sad that this series is coming to an end with the third book. I need more of my Hemlock dosage but I can always reread these books because they're definitely reread material! 

Other books by Kathleen Peacock:

Hemlock (Hemlock #1)

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.  

Follow Kathleen on her: Website || Goodreads || Twitter

Before you go ahead and read this interview, you should definitely check out my previous interview with Kathleen back in April. 

1. What made you write about werewolves even with the Twilight love and hate for all things vampires and werewolves.

I've actually loved vampires and werewolves since my early teens. I reread The Vampire Lestat so many times that my copy was held together with scotch tape and a rubber band, and I can recite almost all of An American Werewolf in London from memory. It seems inevitable, looking back, that my first stab at a book would revolve around one of those two supernatural creatures.

I actually hadn't read Twilight when I started working on Hemlock. Even if I had, I don't think it would have changed anything. I loved vampires and werewolves long before Twilight and I will love them long after.

2. I know this is a standard question but I'm really interested in how you created the friendship dynamic between Mac, Amy, Kyle, and Jason.

Mac, Jason, and Kyle actually came first. The idea for Hemlock came in the form of a scene between the three of them. Mac was in a hospital bed, and Jason and Kyle were fighting. Jason was a "hunter" and he had just learned that Kyle, his best friend, was a werewolf. His anger in that moment was as much about the betrayal he felt as it was about Mac being hurt. Kyle was his best friend and his best friend had kept something so monumental from him that it made Jason question everything. From the start, I knew I wanted the friendship between the two boys to be as strong as the feelings each of them had for Mac.

3. Do you has any specific celebrities you think fit the looks of each of the four friends?

I don't usually celebrity cast, but I've often thought Jason would look like Alex Pettyfer circa I Am Number Four or Jake Abel circa the first Percy Jackson movie. Recently, I've spotted a couple of actors who I thought would be great for Mac and Kyle. Tyler Johnston (The Killing, season two) might make a good Kyle and I think Charlotte Beaumont (Broadchurch) and Britt Robertson (Life Unexpected, Under the Dome) would both be great as Mac. I have yet to see an actress that makes me think "AMY!" but I do think Amy would look a bit like certain photos I've seen of Lost Girl's Ksenia Solo

4. Will you ever write previous scenes from the POV of Jason or Kyle? *crossing my fingers*

I'm not ruling it out! At one point, I considered writing Thornhill from Kyle's PoV and book three from Jason's , so the idea of writing bonus scenes from their points of view definitely appeals to me.

5. Was it hard to decide who Mac will end up with? I personally love them both and can't decide!

Characters tend to take on a life of their own as you are writing. No matter who I might have wanted Mac to end up with, she had very definite opinions on the matter.

6. Have you figured out what will you be writing next after the Hemlock trilogy is over? 

I've sent a few ideas to my agent and have started doing a bit of research, but I haven't settled on anything, yet.

7. What is your favorite book, movie, show, and song?

One? How can I possibly pick just one?! 

Book: Practical Magic

Movie: The Crow

Song: "Between the Bars" by Elliott Smith

8. In 140 characters, try to convince the readers to pick up Hemlock! 

It's a werewolf murder mystery with a dystopian bend. How can you pass that up? 

This Blog Tour is hosted by Harper Collins Canada