Book review: Hemlock Grove

On April 19th, Netflix is launching another of their original series-- this time in the horror genre! HEMLOCK GROVE is based on the novel of the same name by Brian McGreevy, and the story is a modern gothic mix of horror, fantasy and mystery.


In Hemlock Grove, Pennsylvania, there is a string of gruesome murders making teenage Gypsy and rumored werewolf Peter Rumancek look mighty suspicious. Peter finds an unlikely ally in Roman Godfrey, the only son of one of the most powerful families in town. But it seems Roman and his Frankenstein-like sister Shelley also have otherworldly abilities- do they have a connection to the murders? As the story develops, more secrets are revealed, more characters look increasingly suspicious, or at the very least dangerous for reasons aside from possible homicidal tendencies.

The story is a gritty, bloody, dark, supernatural soap opera. Now that I say that, I realize a few other works of fiction in the world that could probably be defined that way. But I don't feel like HEMLOCK treads on any toes, it's just such a different story.

I did enjoy it quite a bit, but I have to say that some other reviewers out there are correct: the editing, she's-a-not-so-good. Don't get me wrong, I'm a serial offender when it comes to missing commas. I'm pretty sure the friend I had editing my novel wants to string me up with a rope made entirely of shredded commas. But my point is, if I noticed the missing punctuation... that really says something. So you might stumble around on a sentence here or there, when you realize you've completely lost the rhythm of it. It occasionally put me off, but not enough to dislike the story for that reason alone. And because there were so many characters, and several plot lines happening at once, you get a little turned around from time to time. There are still a couple of secondary stories I'm not entirely sure I understand.

But overall I liked it, and I'm excited to see it as a TV show- especially since Eli Roth is handling it. I'm not always the biggest fan of his work, but it's nice to know someone experienced with the genre is at the helm!

Hemlock Grove via Goodreads
Hemlock Grove via Netflix