My main knock against the novel is that it doesn’t feel complete. I actually see a little bit of Dan Simmons’ CARRION COMFORT here when it comes to Roman Godfrey. The monsters apart from the werewolf (you had to know there would be others) are terrifying in their own way. It thankfully pulls us away from the “sexy monster” cliche and gives us actual monsters. HEMLOCK GROVE, overall is a pretty solid novel. One thing I do wish, however, is that McGreevy wouldn’t have telegraphed who the killer was. The back-and-forth between Peter and Roman feels very natural in the novel. Like I mentioned before, there is so much more personality in McGreevy’s novel. The novel fares much better than the show. In a way, the whole show was worth it for that one scene. The only thing saving the show for me is the fleshing out of side characters, and the STELLAR werewolf transformation.

All that emotion from the novel is missing. Lines that have great personality in the novel are delivered in flat monotone. But beyond that, much of the acting is pretty bad. I feel like the show wasn’t trying to be intelligent, but rather to present the viewer with all stereotypical horror tropes. Let’s stay for a moment on the shock value of the show, and the show in general. But it does serve to point out all the good things of the novel. The tone of the novel feels a lot like the reader is having a casual conversation about the supernatural and scientific events in the town of Hemlock Grove, while the show feels like it is trying desperately to shock the viewer. I suppose this shouldn’t come as a shock since McGreevy is part of the team for the show.īut here is the thing, the novel has way more personality than the show.

So close, in fact, that there are no real surprises from one version to the next. And the series sticks extremely close to he source material. Now, upon comparison, I must say that the Netflix series did a great job of visually casting virtually every character (the only exception being Peter’s mother, who isn’t even close). Our other main character is Roman Godfrey, son of the deceased JR Godfrey whose company runs the town. Peter can tell something is going on with the murder. Peter and his mother are gypsies who had a trailer in Hemlock Grove left to them (kinda) by a dead relative. Everyone is freaking out, so naturally they blame the new kid in school, Peter Rumancek. A girl from the local high school (in the town of Hemlock Grove) is murdered. It’s kinda a Twin Peaks murder mystery with a werewolf thrown in. HEMLOCK GROVE ( Amazon) by Brian McGreevy, turned out to be an interesting novel. So when I was offered a review copy o the novel, I figured it was the perfect opportunity to satisfy that curiosity. A lot of people have asked me if I’d read the book it was based on and if I’d also watched the first season.

The series got mixed reviews, but was renewed for a second season. I’d been curious about HEMLOCK GROVE for a while.

Hemlock grove by brian mcgreevy