Actual Rating: 4.5 stars. 
 At first glance, Hemlock seems like any other werewolf book published in the YA world of literature. There is a girl, there is a boy. Boy is werewolf, and guess what? There's another boy. Two boys and one girl make, what? What? Oh yeah, a looooove triangle. 
 Just the summary of this one alone made me hesitant to read it, because it's easy to assume certain books will be the same as a lot of others. I haven't really read a ton of werewolf books, just Twilight, Shiver, Nightshade, Fateful, and maybe a couple others I'm forgetting. Some of them I liked, and some I did not (*coughNightshadecough*). My point is, based on the premise, this book does not stand out. 
 But once you start to read, it begins to. And as you get deeper and deeper into the novel, your skeptism may begin to vanish like mine did. I found myself enjoying the characters and the story so much more than I thought I would. Even though at some points I got that, "Hmm, I've read this before" feeling, I didn't care. Hemlock was suspenseful, heart-racing and just good. I will be racing to the bookstore for the sequel when it comes out, because I really want to find out what happens next. 
 Another thing that stood out to me was that, normally I don't enjoy love trianlges, but the one in Hemlock didn't really bother me that much. Proof that - to me - an overly used cliche in YA literature can be good if done right. I applaud Kathleen Peacock for this, and for surprising me in a good way, which I always love. 
 I think I am Team Kyle right now, but Jason is still an interesting character, despite all the nasty things he did. 
 Hemlock just became my new favorite werewolf book.