Review: Hemlock - Kathleen Peacock

Title: Hemlock
Author: Kathleen Peacock
Series: Hemlock (1)
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Release Date: 08 May 2012
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

My sister told me that Hemlock is a deadly poisonous plant, but if you take small dosages of it, you'll become immune to its poison. Doesn't that sound cool? I thought it did. I assumed that this was going t be some dystopian/post-apocalyptic novel and the Hemlock plant would act as a plot device or something. It didn't. This is what I get for not reading the synopsis of the book.
What Hemlock is really about:

Hemlock was a murder mystery set in the town of Hemlock. In this world, the government has revealed the existence of lupine syndrome (being a werewolf) and it is treated as a deadly disease. Those who are infected by it must report themselves for their own safety and those around them. They are to be sent to a camp 'fit for their needs as a werewolf'.

Mackenzie enters her senior year without her best friend, Amy, by her side. Amy has been cruelly murdered by a blood lust white werewolf, and he's till out there. Mac is now haunted by dreams and nightmares of her best friend. Mac decides to investigate Amy's murder herself, in the hope of finding closure and to put an end to her nightmares. She uncovers secrets- about Amy, about Amy's boyfriend, about her friends, about Hemlock- that would leave Mac unable to return to the norm.

It sounds interesting, but I think an appearance of a certain poisonous plant would have made the book far more enjoyable.

Mac, the main character, was annoying at time. Actually, most of the characters annoyed me.   Mac was supposed to be the extraordinary girl, the only one capable of solving this murder mystery that has everyone stumped. But, no. She's such an airhead. I haven't got a clue how she solved Amy's murder. She was a damsel in distress, in constant need of saving because she can not resist putting herself in reckless situations and tripping over things. I can only hope that Mac develops and grows some freaking balls in the next installments. (Not that I'd be reading them)

Of course, there's a love triangle, and it's tooth-achingly forced. Mac has two guys pining for her love, the cute boy next door, Kyle and the bad boy with the self-destructive streak, Jason. Really? Again? Mac is best friends with both guys and she can't make the decision because she's afraid of hurting either of them, even though she's already in love with freaking Kyle. It was like an episode of a day time soap opera or something. It was excruciating. That's not even all of it. There were all these other little details that were really stupid and unnecessary (I got a mild headache from all the eye rolling). The author just put it in for the sake of bulking up her novel and trying to add more depth to the plot. 

Hemlock would have been so much better if it focused more on the werewolves, murder mystery and Mac's nightmares. Oh, and let's not forget about those poisonous plants.