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Hemlock Grove

by Brian McGreevy (Goodreads Author)

3.34 of 5 stars 3.34 · rating details · 624 ratings · 177 reviews

An exhilarating reinvention of the gothic novel, inspired by the iconic characters of our greatest myths and nightmares.

The body of a young girl is found mangled and murdered in the woods of Hemlock Grove, Pennsylvania, in the shadow of the abandoned Godfrey Steel mill. A manhunt ensues—though the authorities aren’t sure if it’s a man they should be looking for.

Some suspe...more

Paperback, 319 pages

Published March 27th 2012 by FSG Originals (first published March 1st 2012)

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Community Reviews

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Mar 31, 2013 PopInsomniacs rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: supernatural, werewolves, young-adult

Apparently I was excited enough about Eli Roth's adaptation of Hemlock Grove, soon to air in its entirety on Netflix, to devour Brian McGreevy’s novel in the space of less than two days. Yeah, that’s right, I sped my way through an entire book instead of babysitting it like I always do (even the ones I legitimately love, which, by the way, is not how I feel about McGreevy’s creation).

The basic premise is that when the bodies of young women are found brutally mauled in the fictional town of Hemlo...more

7 likes · like · see review

May 01, 2013 Michael Clark rated it 2 of 5 stars

I'm glad other reviewers have pointed out the problems with basic rules of punctuation and point of view in this novel. They are so often frustrating and distracting that it robs the novel of whatever interest it might have.

Two things recommend it: a great werewolf transformation scene, and lots of kinky sex scenes that seem designed to push it out of the Twilight demographic.

Other than that, it's confusing, it has characters that do stuff for no reason that's ever clear, it reeks from the odor...more

7 likes · like · see review

May 16, 2013 Toni (U.A.C.) rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: own-amazon, current-urban-fantasy-pnr, m-f, read-in-2013, wtf, uggh-enough-already

Hemlock Grove (Urban Fantasy, YA)

One weekend when I was at home watching TV, I noticed a new Netflix Original TV Series called Hemlock Grove. There are a total of 13 episodes. I watched them all. The series starts off really slow but eventually picks up the pace and there are a few moments of "Oh, wow! What did I just see?" Like the scene of Peter shifting. It was unique and memorable. But the negative side was that there were a ton of unanswered questions and dangling plot points.

Then someone s...more

3 likes · like · see review

Nov 20, 2012 paula rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-fiction, young-adult

DO NOT read reviews of this book. Except maybe this one because I am not going to say ANYTHING.

There's a standard question people ask in interviews: "What book would you most like to read again for the first time?" My answer always has been Love & Rockets because I was so totally unprepared for a comic book to turn out to be an actual novel, and because I fell in love with the characters, and falling in love is always a wonderful experience.

Now I think I'd have to say Hemlock Grove, because...more

10 likes · like · see review

Apr 27, 2013 Katy rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Fans of "Frankenstein"

Recommended to Katy by: Amazon.com Vine

Shelves: vine-book, galley-for-review

My review can also be seen here:
http://www.amazon.com/review/R14JPY9S...
Please note: Read in Feb. 2012, just copying the review here.
Trigger Warning: Scene with a cat that will be distressing to sensitive readers.

Disclosure: I received an ARC of this book from the Amazon.com Vine program in exchange for an honest review.

My Synopsis: Hemlock Grove is filled with interesting characters and facilities. There is the newly-arrived Peter Rumancek, a half-breed gypsy and werewolf. There is Roman Godfre...more My review can also be seen here:
http://www.amazon.com/review/R14JPY9S...
Please note: Read in Feb. 2012, just copying the review here.
Trigger Warning: Scene with a cat that will be distressing to sensitive readers.

Disclosure: I received an ARC of this book from the Amazon.com Vine program in exchange for an honest review.

My Synopsis: Hemlock Grove is filled with interesting characters and facilities. There is the newly-arrived Peter Rumancek, a half-breed gypsy and werewolf. There is Roman Godfrey, scion of the powerful Godfrey family, who formerly owned the metalworks and whom now own the mental health facility. There is his sister, Shelley, a giant who wears boxes full of soil on her feet. There is Dr. Pryce, who runs the biomedical facility - who is either a sociopath or autistic, and who is super-humanly strong. And there is someone - or something - that is horribly killing young girls.

My Review: I liked this book just fine, until way toward the end, where - OK, I'll admit it, I'm going to give you a spoiler, but if you, like I, love cats, you might thank me for it. There is an incident with a cat. And it's not a happy thing. You have been warned.

Nevertheless, overall, I liked this book, although the writing does tend toward stream-of-consciousness and it is sometimes difficult to understand what is being said. Some of that might have been corrected for the final version, however - since some of the problem was the uncorrected nature of the ARC I was reading. However, the writing is also witty and the cast of quirky characters is wonderful - I would have liked to have seen them a bit better developed in some cases, as they often seemed to be defined by their appearance more than anything, but as the book went on, some of them were developed pretty well. This is listed as being a gothic book, and that is quite true. I laughed a lot, but at the end, there isn't a lot to laugh about. Not a sad ending, per se, but not a happy one, either. Not a book I would recommend for sensitive readers. However, people who like werewolves should love this book. People who enjoyed Frankenstein will love this book. A lot of people will love this book. Don't be afraid - go ahead and give it a read. Just be aware that there are moments that are somewhat difficult to bear.(less)

5 likes · like · see review

May 05, 2013 Jocelyn marked it as i-tried-to-read-might-finish

Shelves: monsters

I can't tell if the author thinks that this is actually how teenagers speak or if it's some literary tool that I'm not catching on too. But "go suck an egg" is not a thing.

3 likes · like · see review

May 08, 2013 Wendy Starr rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: hated-it

I started reading this yesterday because I enjoyed the show on Netflix. WOW. This writer should be grateful that someone more talented at subtlety, character creation and storytelling saw the value in his work. I can't believe they made such a captivating television show out of this piece of garbage.

I was shocked how badly it is written and what poor language is used in the book sometimes. For example when Peter sees the prayer group in school he thinks to himself "Oh. Gay." WTF? Why? That did...more

2 likes · like · see review

May 06, 2013 Kat rated it 3 of 5 stars

After finding out that Netflix had released an entire season of a show based on this book, I quickly became intrigued and sought it out. It's.... ok. I liked it, but I think that this could possibly have been so much more. I don't know if it is because there was more that the author wanted to do or because he lacked good editing, but it is a mess in a lot of ways.

The reader is introduced to a decently sized cast of main characters. It's pretty easy to keep track of who's who and what is going on...more

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Mar 28, 2013 Zerbe rated it 3 of 5 stars

Brian McGreevy is from just outside of Pittsburgh, a city I've called my home on and off for the last 8 or 9 years, and I'd be lying if I said that wasn't part of the reason I picked up his debut novel, Hemlock Grove. That, and the promise of some serious horror and probably werewolves, judging by the cover artwork. And I got exactly what I needed out of it--though not all that I wanted. The novel, like McGreevy's life growing up, is also set right outside of Pittsburgh, in a similarly economica...more Brian McGreevy is from just outside of Pittsburgh, a city I've called my home on and off for the last 8 or 9 years, and I'd be lying if I said that wasn't part of the reason I picked up his debut novel, Hemlock Grove. That, and the promise of some serious horror and probably werewolves, judging by the cover artwork. And I got exactly what I needed out of it--though not all that I wanted. The novel, like McGreevy's life growing up, is also set right outside of Pittsburgh, in a similarly economically depressed swath of Western Pennsylvania that has had the good fortune to right itself with the embracing of biotechnology. Still stand the steel mills and the remnants of the old Godfrey family that ran them, their mansion high on a hill and rumors about them ever-present in the minds of the townspeople. Their strange son, their monstrous daughter, the White Tower, a medical facility that they've pumped their money and lifeblood into as the newest facet of their legacy--at their best, they are a strange clan; at their worst, something to be feared.

But they are only one focus of a somewhat sprawling narrative. The other major protagonist is a new kid at school, a Roma boy named Peter Rumancek who becomes young Roman Godfrey's unlikely friend when savage murders begin taking place all over the region and Peter ends up as a prime suspect, born on the waves of rumors around town that he might be a werewolf. Overlapping love triangles, quadrangles and other-types-of-angles naturally ensue, and you may find yourself thinking that it sounds a bit too much like Twilight to tickle your fancy--but about that you'd be wrong. Really, it's way more like Dark Shadows.

That's where my problem with the book lies: it's trying to be a lot of different things all at once. It does do each of them fair enough justice, but I can't help but think that it would be even more effective if it excised a few of its disparate parts. It's the same problem I have with Twilight and with Dark Shadows. Are vampires not enough? Do we need werewolves and mummies and sorcerers, et al? Fantastical creatures and story points are already push suspension of disbelief, and tossing them all into the bowl together really stretches that suspension thin for me. There's just a bit too much wink-wink-nod-nod, see-what-I-did-there and fancy-dancy wordplay (did I mention that the monstrous Godfrey sister's name is "Shelly"?) for me to really give the book four full stars, but if I could give it another half, I certainly would. It wouldn't hurt if it was run through an editor's ringer once more as well; there were too many times where I had to go back and re-read sentences to make sure I was making sense of them in their strange lack of necessary punctuation.

As the story picks up steam heading for its ending, we suddenly see all the pieces of a pretty well-maintained mystery fall into place, but then are immediately presented with twice as many questions. I thought McGreevy was just getting all Noah "Third Acts Be Damned" Baumbach on me, but I learned after a quick internet search that Hemlock Grove is actually just the first of a trilogy, the second of which should be finished soon. That really made me look again and consider the mileage that McGreevy is going to get out of the characters he has introduced brilliantly in this first section. I'm excited to see where two more will go from here, because there is plenty left to tell. And I look forward to the Netflix-exclusive television series as well, coming soon to streaming devices near you!(less)

1 like · like · see review

Mar 05, 2013 Ms. Pansulla rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010s, american-authors, fantasy, horror, adapted-for-film-tv

I absolutely love Gothic novels. I made it all the way through The Mysteries of Udolpho for a book club once, widely considered a genre-defining, if bloated and widely-parodied, example from 1794 (736 pages! And that's with the super-thin paper they use on nice, cloth-bound classic editions!). I tore through Frankenstein and Dracula when I was in high school, and I don't mind a dose of horror mixed in for thrills. McGreevy's updated take casts the atmospheric, "medieval" ruin as an abandoned war...more

2 likes · like · see review

Sep 04, 2012 Joshua Burns rated it 2 of 5 stars

As seen on Rabidreads.ca:

I was looking forward to reading this book. Its cover was subtle. Unfortunately as you can see I did not like it which makes me wonder why I am doing a review for it. It must be because I think it's hip to be reviewing it. The book is being picked up as a TV series for Netflix to be directed by Eli Roth. Its author is supposedly speaking for all the disenfranchised werewolves and vampires of the world who want their thirst for blood back.

As if the book were some blocky G...more As seen on Rabidreads.ca:

I was looking forward to reading this book. Its cover was subtle. Unfortunately as you can see I did not like it which makes me wonder why I am doing a review for it. It must be because I think it's hip to be reviewing it. The book is being picked up as a TV series for Netflix to be directed by Eli Roth. Its author is supposedly speaking for all the disenfranchised werewolves and vampires of the world who want their thirst for blood back.

As if the book were some blocky Golem who only had said goal imprinted in its wax, the book only manages to impress the reader with its dreadfully muddy appearance. Within the first two pages we have the protagonist bumping into a schizophrenic hobo while the cops discover a brilliantly mauled corpse. The catch is it is not our werewolf protagonist doing the killing.

The author uses some ancient names to spice up both his protagonist and his vampire partner but they remain essentially what they are, two teenagers playing Hardy Boys. The concept sounds promising even the writing can at times. Disappointment, however, quickly sets in as you realize that the author isn't going to give us anything but surface. I do not think I could tell you what I had figured by the end. None of the characters are developed for more than a few pages before we skip perspectives. And this book suffers from skippage like a disease. Sure...it allows for some quick reading and I'm sure it will make a much better TV series than a book but I really wished I hadn't been led on so much by the numerous unresolved implications.

Chapter to chapter consistency is pretty bad. Sometimes we are reading e-mails. Sometimes we are reading interviews. But there remains no pattern just the continual mumbling of Ouroboros as if it were both a dreaded prophecy and a bioengineering program. Sad fact is I don't think it's either. In many ways, I, at least, like the notion of a highly literary type tackling the werewolf and vampire program but this guy took himself too seriously and couldn't puncture the surface. Lord knows he tried.
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Jun 07, 2012 Jay rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

First, I know that a novel really has me when I can't keep from picking it up, even when I should be doing other things. Sometimes I like to read other things so I have a chance to think about a book before moving on in it. This book got picked up again mostly when my other books were in that phase.

Second, the punctuation bothered me. Every other day or so I'd find a sentence that I had to read and reread to figure out the right emphasis. Punctuation is a guide to the reader just like the yield...more

1 like · like · see review

May 21, 2012 Andrew rated it 4 of 5 stars

A very odd book to read, which is not a complaint. The story unspools like a Dark Shadows arc played out by a gallery of modern adolescent malcontents, maybe the cast of Skins. Solid, muscular writing, if a little too eager to impress in places. Unusually, and happily, there is no normal, bland reader-identification figure in the cast; every one of these characters is eccentric at best, distressing/disgusting at worst, and finding out who these people were kept me reading as intently as the desi...more

3 likes · like · see review

Mar 28, 2012 Stephanie D. rated it 3 of 5 stars

Touted as a reinvention of the gothic novel, with werewolves and an intriguing cast of characters, Hemlock Grove by Brain McGreevy promised to be a fascinating, unusual read. I really wanted to like this book; however, something’s wrong if I struggled for almost two months to read it.

Hemlock Grove is unusual. It has fascinating elements. It may be a reinvention of the gothic novel but I’m not sure this form succeeds. It often seemed as if the author threw in bizarre occurrences and conversations...more Touted as a reinvention of the gothic novel, with werewolves and an intriguing cast of characters, Hemlock Grove by Brain McGreevy promised to be a fascinating, unusual read. I really wanted to like this book; however, something’s wrong if I struggled for almost two months to read it.

Hemlock Grove is unusual. It has fascinating elements. It may be a reinvention of the gothic novel but I’m not sure this form succeeds. It often seemed as if the author threw in bizarre occurrences and conversations just for the sake of being bizarre.

Ultimately, Hemlock Grove might have writing that’s too clever for its own good – in-your-face and cocky. Every other sentence seemed to boast a flashy and arresting observation that jumped up and down, wildly waving its arms at the reader, screaming, “Look at me! Look how brilliant I am!”

For example, what to make of this one: "If Roman Godfrey was a riddle, Shelley was the epic fornication of mystery and enigma---in all of Peter's own unlikely travels he had not encountered an unlikelier specimen."

The prose was so arresting that it kept me from becoming engrossed with the story. It turned me off. Although, I did persist in finishing to the end. I only got into the book well into the second half; maybe because by that time I was used to Greevy’s writing.

The plot was never predictable and the characters were surprising and layered. If you’re looking for a very different take on a werewolf and vampire story, Hemlock Grove certainly fits that description. However, it is not an easy, effortless read. You might just have to be in the right mood to enjoy it.

"Peter had been in the hills that night and smelled something, a vague but forbidding malevolence...it wasn't the first time he had felt some occult disturbance in this town. There was something else, a presence of some kind, dwelling underfoot, no manner of thing under the sun. Peter could not get a grasp of its horns but he knew it was down there, older than the hills it lived under. There had been a couple of times when, in a liminal state on the hammock, a vision would come to him of a snake, a Bible black serpent slowly and sensually consuming itself by the tail."

Apparently, this book has just been picked up for a TV series, along the lines of Twin Peaks - which describes its style and mood perfectly. Might work...
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2 likes · like · see review

Feb 06, 2012 Victoria rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: awful, werewolves, serial-killer

I really tried to finish this book. It is pretty rare that I don't finish a book, no matter how terrible it is, because I can usually find at least one redeeming character or plot point to capture my curiousity. Unfortunately, this book did not even manage to provide me with that much. I made it to the 185th page - more than halfway through, and I just couldn't force myself to read another page. And this was actually the third try I made to get into the book past the first 20 pages.... When I fi...more

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Apr 30, 2013 Keshena Booker rated it 5 of 5 stars

Anyone who's ever payed half attention to an American election cycle knows that the phrase "Small town America" is employed to evoke a certain set of American values. When a writer creates a small town like Hemlock Grove, the authorial intent and underlying message is a gauntlet thrown on the first page-those values are antiquated and corrupted, the ghosts of them haunting geneations living in their shadow. In Hemlock Grove, these shadows take the shape of the old steel mill, the Godfrey mansio...more

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May 15, 2013 Sharon Stevenson rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror

'Hemlock Grove' is the dark tale of a series of gruesome murders in a small town.

I'll admit I got this book after watching the TV show and wondering if maybe the book would delve deeper into the characters and clear up more of the mysterious elements. I was a bit disappointed that it didn't. I was left thinking this story has translated very well onto TV and in my opinion the show is better than the book.

There are a whole host of cool unusual characters/creatures in this novel, but very few get...more

1 like · like · see review

May 08, 2013 Heather rated it 3 of 5 stars

The author really loved his thesaurus, I'm all for using a wide vocabulary in your writing, but this felt forced. And I frequently found myself rereading sentences to make sure I understood them correctly because the author had a rather Master Yoda way of phrasing them. Add to that the frequent mentions of details about primary characters that hint at a much larger story that are never explored, and a jumping around in the story where characters go from point A to point C and you are left thinki...more

1 like · like · see review

Apr 24, 2013 Stina Zombean rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, urban-fantasy, urban-paranormal, vamp-were, crime-fiction

I just watched the entire this entire series in one day, so thank you Netflix for posting it all in one. I have loads of questions (both for things I may have missed, and things not quite addressed to completion in the show).

I'm going to need both the book (as I have learned to watch the movie/show before I read the book) and a season 2 now, please and thank you.

******Finished

Watching the series first turned out to be the wiser of the two options. Not only did I have plenty of character referen...more

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May 20, 2013 Katherine rated it 4 of 5 stars

Having watched the TV show before reading this book--which is not my usual process--I knew what most of the plot was before I started. Despite this, I was still really invested in how the book panned out, and couldn't put it down for long periods of time. I would definitely recommend the book to fans of the show and people who are simply interested in the show, because both are very interesting creations that present slightly different takes on the same material. (And I can't help but wonder how...more

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Jun 21, 2012 Tommy rated it 5 of 5 stars

"Words are thermal energies. These energies were introduced into her system to become kinetic in her thighs and her fingertips and behind her eyelids. States of matter changed. Her heart became a liquid that pooled under her feet and she was a water bug racing on molecules."
-from Hemlock Grove by Brian McGreevy
How could I not love a book written with that kind of balls-to-the-wall arty self-indulgence? Hemlock Grove is a supernatural psychological mystery thriller that kept my brain working fra...more

3 likes · like · see review

May 09, 2013 Shona rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: beautiful-cover, werewolves-and-vampires, wasted-potential

I watched the show before I read the book. I should have avoided both.

Strike 1: The overuse of the words retard and f***** in both speech and narration. Thanks to the crazy POV flopping about I couldn't tell if this was coming from the character's mouth or if the author felt that both words were peachy keen to be used with little thought.

Strike 2: He said. She said. Peter said. Roman said. Said. Said said said. This was so obvious that I took note of it 10 pages into the book. I honestly can't r...more

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Apr 24, 2013 Beverley Jones rated it 3 of 5 stars

It's safe to say, this is one of the strangest and most frustrating books I've read. It's often annoyingly self conscious, wilfully confusing (it takes ages to work out the relationships of the Godfrey family, for starters) and burdened with a narrative voice that's uneven and sometimes jarringly intrusive. That's before you mention the random punctuation and grammar and truly odd behaviour of some of the characters that is never really explained. But somehow, even though I spent half the novel...more

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Apr 06, 2012 Robbie Bashore rated it 5 of 5 stars

I finished the book yesterday, and I have been waffling between giving it 4 and 5 stars, ultimately deciding on 5 (even though I almost never give a 5), for the following reasons: when I finished it, the first thing I wanted to do was read it again, so I could catch more of the symbolism and clues to the mystery; also upon finishing the book, I felt compelled to re-read all of the interviews with the author, to get his take on the novel; I dog-eared many pages to mark unfamiliar words; and I car...more I finished the book yesterday, and I have been waffling between giving it 4 and 5 stars, ultimately deciding on 5 (even though I almost never give a 5), for the following reasons: when I finished it, the first thing I wanted to do was read it again, so I could catch more of the symbolism and clues to the mystery; also upon finishing the book, I felt compelled to re-read all of the interviews with the author, to get his take on the novel; I dog-eared many pages to mark unfamiliar words; and I cared enough about the story to actually look up those unfamiliar words.

The main thing that was tugging me toward a 4 was that this is not my favorite genre--I tend to prefer realism.

Speaking of genre, I suspect that some of the people who gave this book a low rating just didn't know what they were in for. This is not necessarily a "beach read." While it is a page-turner, the content is so thought-provoking that the pace of page-turning is a little slower. The vampire (upir), werewolf, and other characters are painted much more a la Bram Stoker and Mary Shelley than Stephenie Meyer, but with modern, accessible language.

There is a lot of absurdity and dark humor in Hemlock Grove. There is also humanity and compassion, as illustrated in my favorite quote from the book:
"I am ugly, Uncle. There is no other way to put it. But that does not mean I am without pride, without joy, without the same entitlement to feel deserving of love from those not obligated by blood to give it. I may be ugly, but I can hardly imagine a reason to act like it."

Soon, filming will being on a Netflix TV series based on Hemlock Grove. It is sure to be faithful to the book, as McGreevy is both writing the screenplay and acting as executive producer. Yes, I will watch it. But watching film is a very different process from reading. Read the book--you'll want to experience all that this young, talented writer has to offer.

[Below is what I wrote after the first 20 pages of the novel.]

My first impression: What does this author have against commas? Right away, I needed to re-read several sentences, in order to make sense of them. I worried that the burden of mentally inserting commas would detract from my enjoyment of the novel. I quickly grew accustomed to McGreevy's style, however, and it didn't take long for me to follow the character development and plot with ease and interest.

McGreevy has done his homework; he sprinkles a few Romani words and sophisticated vampire terms here and there, leading me to do my homework, thus enriching my word-power. I sometimes give an extra star in the rating for that!

The first mystery in the plot--a gruesome murder--is revealed in the synopsis found on the back of the book, and in several reviews accessible on the internet. Already, in the first 20 pages, I'm curious about a second mystery: Who is the narrator? First-person pronouns appear from time to time, leading me to strongly suspect that the narrator will eventually be revealed as a character that's integral to the story. Hmmm.
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Apr 25, 2013 Lauren (Sugar & Snark) marked it as to-read

I've marked this as To-Read but now that I am half way through the Netflix Series (based on the book) I am having second thoughts.

It's been 7 episodes and there has yet to be any sign of a coherent story line. The plot just sort of fumbles along. Randomly (and sparsely) dropping information about different characters around. And some of these character seem to have no purpose in the story at all. And just when you think something awesome is going to happen the "video" seems to skip and you are l...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 05, 2013 Carly rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010s, american-authors, fantasy-is-a-good-genre, mysteries, horror, ya-appeal

I absolutely love Gothic novels. McGreevy's updated take casts the atmospheric, "medieval" ruin as an abandoned warehouse from the heyday of American steel, and his plotting is more reminiscent of German entries (bloodshed! terror!) than later, suspense-driven English ones; the result was a really, really fun/spooky ride that left me super-excited for the Netflix series currently in pre-production. My friends and I agree it has the potential to be deliciously Twin Peaks-y and bizarre. Because I...more

1 like · like · see review

May 02, 2013 Miss Ami E. Bowen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: cannot-wait-to-read, book-to-tv-show, 100-books-in-2013, favorites, favourite-books, most-engaging-stories

Warning: Upon beginning this book, you may find yourself forgetting much of life's to-do lists so make sure you have all of your affairs in order for the time you may need to finish.

Hemlock Grove is one of those stories that, after finishing it, sits in the pit of your stomach like too much wine; sloshing around inside there while you want to get a better drop on yourself and your feelings. It's one of those stories that make you really, really appreciate that you aren't illiterate and are of m...more

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Jan 17, 2013 Carl Ingebretsen rated it 4 of 5 stars

I am not going to say much about this book, because the more you know the more you'll see what's coming and how it all fits together. What I'll say is this; Hemlock Grove is an excellent mystery, a reimagination and modern interpretation of gothic horror mixed with coming-of-age-stories and populated by characters you either learn to love or are intrigued by, all in various ways. Different and strangely written, it demands your attention to remember plot-points and characters, along with a lot o...more

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Jan 29, 2013 Lau rated it 2 of 5 stars

If this book was a person, it'd be the retarded boy prancing around like an idiot in strawberry panties on page 285. Read this book and look forward to:
- Horrible writing
(No, seriously, who edited this crap? Anybody?)

- The pain of watching a writer trying too hard
(view spoiler)

- Abrupt conclusions
(Almost nothing of note happens for most of the book and all the action takes place in the last 40 pages.)

- Deus...more

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May 02, 2013 Babsji5 rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror

I read and watched the series at the same time, so this is a combo review. Most of the complaints were that it was turgid, and slow, and kids didn't talk that way now days. First, who the hell says turgid anymore? Secondly, it wasn't written for ADD/ADHD people. Thirdly, most of the kids did talk like they do nowdays, except for the ones who weren't supposed to. Chrissy, was a wannabe writer, Shelly was home-schooled til freshman year, she does a lot a reading, and Roman is very much tied to his...more

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Books by Brian McGreevy

Hemlock Grove Reflections On The Motive Power Of Fire

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Quotes from Hemlock Grove

“I have an ugliness it's impossible to love.” — 4 people liked it

“God doesn't want you to be happy, He wants you to be strong.” — 3 people liked it

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Hemlock Grove

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