I was drawn to this book by both the premise and the cover. “Every five hundred years, humanity bears a child who has unlimited power over life and death.” This hooked me along with the idea of a magical school and necromancy.
However, it fell flat for me in almost everything. Firstly, I don’t think I am the target audience for the book. The cover and description made me think it would be an older YA. But it reads as a very young YA paranormal fantasy. Saying that, I think a lot of young teenagers would enjoy this.
I only read 48% of this book and stopped reading. Nothing had happened in the plot, and the main character Rook didn’t seem to have any agency or motivation. It was just her going along with the flow.
In the first half of this book there weren’t enough fantasy or magic elements to keep me interested. They talked about magic a lot, but it wasn’t put into action and we didn’t see much first hand.
I had trouble with the setting, often feeling like the scenes had white room syndrome. I didn’t get any images in my head of where the scenes were taking place, and this made it very hard for me to read.
Some characters were interesting, I liked her roommate and the cat Bitter Bat. The intro to people in the school reminded me a little of the magic school in Sabrina (the tv show).
In the end this book was not for me. But I think others may enjoy this easy-to-read style of writing and paranormal teenage drama.

I seriously wanted to love this story. The cover is absolutely gorgeous and the synopsis had so much potential for it to be amazing, but the insides did not match the outsides and it fell flat in a lot of ways for me. This is supposed to be a book about necromancers which is what intrigued me from the get go, and yet its barely in the book at all and it takes a backseat to the drama amongst the characters. Amidst the necromancers, we learn that there are also witches, warlocks, werewolves, fae and vampires as well as other mythical creatures. I would've liked to have been given an explanation about these types of creatures and why they were at Hemlock Academy.

I did like the premise of the school and the idea that upon finishing school you are sent to a place based on your blood and I thought Bitter Bat the cat was pretty awesome. I just feel that there could have been so much more to this story!! I appreciate that it's part of a series but I don't think much happened in terms of plot. To be completely honest I was confused about what the plot even was, and even more confused at the end of the book when something finally happened. However, the plot twist was predictable and I guessed right away what was going to happen as there was an over mention of vampires throughout the story.

Overall, the premise of the story had a lot of potential but the execution fell flat for me. I feel sad that I didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I would.

I. am. frustrated.
Hemlock had a lot going for it: super cute cover, necromancy, the tag line of "Every five hundred years humanity bears a child who has unlimited power over life and death. And now she's a teenager." which sounded so cool to me but after now having read the book, I feel like I wasted my time.
For one thing nothing happens! I read 230 pages according to Goodreads and yet nothing happened! It felt like this was the weirdly paced opening to a story instead of the first instalment to a series.
Other factors that contribute to my frustration include: the lowkey insta love, the fact that barely anything was explained and when it finally was it wasn't explained well, the pacing.
A cute cover, a cool idea but a book that left me annoyed with the outcome.

I loved the premise of this title, I enjoyed the characters and the setting, but I found it hard to read.

The language used, made it feel clunky, which made it feel like a chore to read, it was something tou have to work at, not glide through.

That being said, out protagonist is fantastic, deep and complex.

I tried really hard wit this book and I just couldn't get into it. It read really weird and couldn't keep my attention

ARC supplied by NetGalley.

I don't read a lot of paranormal stuff. But I do love Twilight and Harry Potter - and this mentioned one and parts reminded me of the other. I was drawn in mostly by the cover with the promise of romance. This felt much more like fanfiction/a "long" short story than an actual book to me. The world was interesting but not described enough in depth for me to picture it or get invested in it. I'm not sure what the age range is for this - YA? But it actually felt kind of younger to me. Once I started imagining it as a book meant for middle school grade instead of teens/adults I liked it a lot more. The storyline with Emma Green was cool but underdeveloped. Pretty much all of it was underdeveloped. I'm giving it 3 stars because I think it genuinely had a lot of potential.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review

This cover is beautiful and that is what drew me in to begin with and then the synopsis sounded like a book that I would enjoy.

Well...this book just was not for me, maybe it will be for someone else, but I just couldn't get into it at all.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the eARC that I received in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This book was just meh for me. It wasn't a bad story and the plot flowed well, but the writing was very under grade level for the audience and just very unnatural feeling. I did like Rook (and is it weird that I really loved the name?) as a character and thought it was compelling, which is why I said that while I wouldn't adopt it, I would recommend it to certain readers, particularly reluctant or struggling high school readers.

This is a story about forbidden love.

This was a really sweet little story, that I really enjoyed reading. I think it's perfect for junior high/early high school readers, and it's something I would recommend to youth in the 11-14 range. I would have liked to see more action/magic, and less of a focus on romance, but that's just a personal reading presence and not a statement about the quality of the book. 3.5 stars, rounded to 4.

Thank you Negalley & Victory Editing for the e-Arc. My review will be posted on Goodreads, and will remain posted indefinitely.

I think if you haven’t already read a lot of the magic school/ necromancy fantasy type fiction, you’ll enjoy this more than I did. It’s a great concept and while the tropes are well worn, if they’re presented in a new light then they’re original and gripping. Unfortunately this just didn’t happen for me here. This was younger YA than I anticipated and it lacked the charm and whimsy I prefer from that end of the genre. The plot and pacing were good, the MC engaging enough but the writing was a little patchy, at least for me. A good idea but the execution didn’t really work imo.

This story plays on the old magic school theme. I grabbed this one because of the cover that I just fell in love with. The biggest issue with this one was the writing. I wanted to love it but it just didn't work out. I think this one would be a great book for those who are moving from high middle grade stories to younger young adult ones.

We follow Rook Dagger as she navigates leaving the safety of her house and her mom to come to the elusive Hemlock academy. This is unlike other schools, the academy is for Necromancers who are trained to join one of the seven kingdoms upon graduation. Rook is thrusted into a new life, seeing things she has never seen before such as cyclops or mermaids and explores new emotions she has never felt before, like love.

As she enters a new world, she feels drawn to towards the nightshade kingdom and the legend of Emma Green. Rook sympathizes for the kingdom who is similar to herself, the sole human, an outsider in this new world.

I really enjoyed learning about the history of necromancy and the world building Volley does. I also liked the juxtaposition she does with the tale of Emma Green an rook. As I read, I was as fascinated with this tale as much as Rook was. The author did a great job intertwining the two stories together and using it for foreshadowing.

I did wish the the story was longer and some of the magical aspects of the story was more developed. I enjoyed the love story but it would have benefited from it being longer. The story also contained many of the YA tropes, which could be a plus or a negative depending on the read. I did think the ending was also a bit abrupt but it did leaving me want to read the next book. I think any readers of paranormal romance and YA would enjoy this book.

I received this book from Netgalley for exchange of my honest review.

Rook is a necromancer born to human parents, because of this she gets sent to Hemlock Academy to learn how to control her powers. While there she meets G and there’s instant chemistry. (Think of it like Bella from Twilight has Harry Potter-esque powers and falls into an enemies to lovers type crush/romance)

Overall it wasn’t too bad, took me a hot minute to warm up to Rook and like her. The story is a little too far on the younger side of YA, but cute.

15-year-old Rook is a necromancer born to human parents. Rook has spent her life nestled safely away with her parents until the time comes when she must harness her power over life and death. She is sent to Hemlock Academy where she’s to learn how to manage her gift. Rook has extraordinary abilities but is having a wee bit of trouble keeping the balance between the giving and the taking of life. When she meets G Gianni, it is forbidden love at it’s finest <SIGH>

I loved the atmosphere at Hemlock academy, all sorts of shenanigans happen there but what can you expect when you’ve got a melting pot of supernatural kids learning to master their abilities? There’s some really interesting folklore surrounding the Academy and Rook finds that she has more in common with the sadly doomed love story of Emma Green. I enjoyed the quick pace of the story and the characters are well developed. The one downfall was that at times the writing style felt a bit rushed, especially the ending but it gives me something to look forward to with the next book.

This is a really fun Young Adult PNR and I’m looking forward to the next in the series. Thank you to Rue Volley for providing me with a DRC in exchange for my honest review.
3.5 rounded up to 4

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I had a hard time getting through this one. The writing was more juvenile than I expected and made it hard to relate to the main character. It was a good though but the execution didn’t live up to it.

I was so excited at the beginning of this book, the author wrote down a song playlist to play while reading the book. The author also described the character sketches at beginning as well as quotes and their translation. I was anticipating a great story and I wasn't disappointed.

The book is about a girl who has human parents but herself is a necromancer. She goes to this magical school and makes magical friends. It has very Harry Potter vibes, I love HP vibes so yep this was a great read, a great introduction to the world. I hated the romance though. Tbh I found G to be a jerk! But that's just me am not into bad boys who love playing around, I'll literally never even look at such a guy so it's my personal prejudice. This arc was provided to me as a complimentary copy by the publisher for an honest review.

Copy received from Netgalley and I am reviewing it voluntarily and objectively.

DNF @ 15%

The synopsis was good, but the writing was not for me. I made it to the end of Chapter 1 (15%) and even that was a fight to get to. The character spoke a lot in her head, so there are so many italics. When something needed to be emphasized, it was bolded, which was hard on the eyes. The dialogue was hard to get through.

Too bad, since this book sounds right up my alley. I see this author has a lot of books published, so she is someone’s cup of tea, just not mine, so take this review with a grain of salt and try it for yourself.

AHHHHHHHH. I REALLY wanted to love this story. I've been stalking this author and book since I first laid eyes on the cover. I mean, LOOK AT IT!!!! One of the most gorgeous covers I have seen in a long time. Sadly for me though the insides did not match the outside.

Now before anyone hates, please know that I will give the next book a chance as I am hoping it's more of what I was looking forward to. I think the blurb for this one heightened by expectations and when I actually read the story within it just wasn't what I thought it would be. Maybe it's just the foundation for the story but I was looking forward to a much different story than the one I got. I feel like this was a teen love/hate? story vs us learning about Rook's powers and how she will navigate a new school to harness those powers. We learn very little about the school and what she will be doing there and a lot about how G is a play boy and only gives attention when he's being ignored and how Rook still can't stop thinking about him. I did expect some of the romance but I did not expect it to take over this very short story.

Before I begin my review I want to say thanks for letting me read this ARC in return of my honest review.

First of all, I really enjoyed the book, I loved it, although it was nothing that I really expected to read, because the description was giving me ideas that this was more focused on the power of Rook and her growing as a powerful human in The Hemlock Academy, and her love life was a little plot of the story that was not going to take priority in the whole book. Despite that, this book prove that is better to be surprised than disappointed.

Second, the plot kept me excited, every chapter that I read was satisfying, I couldn't stop reading until the end, and that little plot twist at the end made me love this book, and wait until the second book come out to read it waiting to find the real representation that the powers of Rook deserved in this book.

The cover was beautiful, and was one of the things that made me request this book.
I also love the fact that at the start this got a Playlist to set the mood which I really enjoyed and it really set me in mood, Plus it got a description of every character and it was really useful when I needed it. The blessings and poems at the start were really love and were other thing that made me love this book.

I hope I could read the second book, thanks NetGalley.

I loved that the author started this book with a suggested playlist and character sketches. This book was a quick and easy read and a fun YA book, It had some very interesting points and the plot was intriguing. I couldn't really get in to the book through, I felt that the writing was a little rough and could have used more judicious editing. That being said, it was still an enjoyable story.