Laney divorced and received a vacation home from her ex-husband in the settlement. In order to afford the upkeep on her schoolteacher salary, she decides to rent the house out. It’s am odeal destination for those looking to unplug and get away – it’s the only house on the island and there is no cell service. When she receives a frantic call early in the morning one day from a renter that there are odd markings and appears to be blood in the closet.

When Laney shows up to investigate her sister and best friend are all coming to help, and one of them has a brother who is a cop, and he decides to tag along. When things start to go sideways, Laney wonders if she is going to make it off the island alive.

I was pleasantly surprised with this book and absolutely loved it so much. I am not a huge horror fan but is usually a genre that I have fun with when I read it. This one did have some graphic scenes, but they weren’t over the top and horrible, they were tastefully done within the bounds of the storyline. This one was very atmospheric and just flowed easily. I am a fan of locked room type thrillers, and I adored that this was a secluded island horror. The story was so captivating and perfect for my mood. I really needed a good read to break up the slump I was in and this one was perfect. The characters were all wonderfully developed, and I thought they worked great together. I was really rooting for them all to make it off the island.

If you are looking for a fun horror book, then grab a copy of this one September 12th!

Thank you to the publisher St Martin’s Press, @stmartinspress, and Netgalley @netgalley for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

An itchy, creepy read. And oh, there are plenty of twists!
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion

Hemlock Island is ab Agatha Christie murder-mansion trope on steroids, and every bit as entertaining. I'm not generally a fan of gore, but what's here is effective and not overdone. This thriller is paced with humor, interesting characters and and a very unique villain. Light entertainment that's perfect reading to get you into that screaming Hallowe'en mood. #netgalley

A compelling and readable thriller horror set at an isolated home on a Lake Superior island. A report from renters sends Laney and her niece to investigate. They are joined by friends or perhaps not so friends to discover what is really happening on Hemlock Island.

The tension escalates immediately, both with the island happenings, as well as the group of who have traveled to the island. The secrets unfold in a fantastic way that keeps you guessing with the characters. Hemlock Island had me clamoring to know who or what was causing the mysterious and hair-raising events.

Read if you like:
- thriller x horror
- people vs. nature
- is it people or is it supernatural?
- isolated settings
- body horror

CW: animal death, gore, body horror, suicide, death of parent, rape, cancer, confinement, emotional abuse, pandemic

Miles from the shores of Lake Superior sits Hemlock Island -- a remote, beautiful, wild place with only one home on it. It's a home that Laney Kilpatrick and her ex-husband built together during their marriage, and the only thing she wanted to keep when they got divorced. In order to afford it, she rents the home out to tourists. But lately, her renters have been reporting eerie happenings on the island. After a hysterical late-night call from a renter claiming to have found blood and claw marks in a closet, Laney decides to travel to the island with her teenaged niece to investigate. But her ex-husband, Kit, had the same idea -- and he's brought along his sister, Laney's former best friend Jayla. Then another brother-sister duo with whom Laney has a complicated history shows up. Soon the group finds themselves stranded on Hemlock Island, their only means of transportation to the mainland destroyed, but that's only the beginning of their problems. There are hex circles, severed hands, and grisly totems just waiting to be found...

Eerie and atmospheric, Hemlock Island is tension-filled folk horror with a few scenes that left me thoroughly spooked. At times I was lulled into a sense of reading a locked room mystery or a domestic drama, until Kelley Armstrong dropped me squarely into a scene of visceral horror, laced with disturbing imagery, to remind me just what kind of book this was. Those are the moments of the book that were most successful for me -- the creepy and chilling ones that highlighted how much danger the characters were in, how isolated and far from help they were.

But the characters themselves -- that's where Hemlock Island started to fall apart for me a little bit. They're all linked together by secrets, which makes their dynamic a bit clunky because Armstrong doesn't reveal those secrets right away (and when the big secret is revealed, it's more than a little problematic). There's not much chemistry among them, and they act like acquaintances rather than people who've known each other their whole lives. All of them could've been a bit more fully-developed. In addition to the abundance of relationship drama, there's also a lot of expository dialogue and actions based on assumptions. And while I enjoyed the ending in theory, I thought it could've been executed better.

Despite its flaws, though, there's enough spooky stuff here to make Hemlock Island a solid choice for some rainy-day October reading. Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the early reading opportunity.

This one is really good. I loved how atmospheric it was. It was so creepy, suspenseful, and scary. A rental property on Lake Superior, all the peace you could possibly want. Thsy is until all the creepy things start happening. A renter complains of scary sh*t that is happening and finds claw marks and blood in the closet. Then the owner, Laney, decides to go there with her niece to find out what is going on. Then her ex and her ex's sister also show up. The secrets among these people made for a fun story on top of the mystery of this island. The ending brought it down a bit for me. It was twisty but maybe just a bit unbelievable and off the rails. Lol. Stil, I really enjoyed this. It was an easy read and I thought it was pretty tense and entertaining.

Out NOW.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

A great book to get you in the mood for spooky season! I went into this one pretty blind and I'm glad I did. I enjoyed the storyline with the paranormal/horror elements. I liked the characters and that they made rational choices versus every horror movie mistake. This story is dark and creepy with Blair Witch vibes for sure. Overall this was a 4 star read for me and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a horror story.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the spook factor of this book - it is the perfect read to kickstart my creepy Fall reading! Part lock-room mystery, part horror (yes, there is some mild gore in this one), part thriller/suspense - this book had it all. I really liked the characters and thought they had a depth that a lot of stories in this genre can sometimes lack. I loved the setting as well, and the author did a great job bringing it to life. Some parts of the story did feel unbelievable or forced, such as Laney finding the time to tell her niece a life-changing story about their family while something/someone was terrorizing the group. Overall, this was a fun read!

I am a big Kelly Armstrong fan and love the Rip Through Time series. So when I saw she wrote a horror novel I jumped at the chance to read it. I’m typical Kelly fashion I was hooked. I read this one in a night and I think I’m traumatized. No joke we have a vacation in a remote location soon and I might cancel because of this book. There is a super natural flare to this which I could see being a pro or con depending on the reader’s preferences. Great debut horror novel from a fantastic author.

Happy pub day to HEMLOCK ISLAND by Kelly Armstrong. Thank you to the author, @netgalley and the publisher @macmillan.audio for the audio-ARC.

Unfortunately...this one did not work for me. I felt like the story had an erratic pace, the characters were somewhat one-dimensional, and my least favorite, the narrator generally was telling you what happened or what you think instead of letting the story lead you in that direction.

I liked the idea of the story and started out with lots of notes about the characters but it went downhill from there - so this one was not for me. I DNFed at about 80% which was way longer than I should have!

I have heard this author tries out lots of different genres and styles so maybe this one just didn't work for her? Or at least me..

I should DNF books a lot faster but I have some serious FOMO for unfinished stories. Someone send help! 😵‍💫

How quick are you to DNF a book?

💚SMASHBOT💚

#bibliophile #bookreview #dnf #booksta #bookstagram #booklover #netgalleyreviewer #netgalley #booknerd

Laney and her niece Madison venture to Laney’s private island, a gift from her ex husband Kit, to look into some strange occurrences reported by renters. Once there, Kit and his sister Jayla show up as well as a former friend Sadie and her brother. Family secrets are revealed as well as a darkness on the island as they realize they’re stranded and being targeted.

I enjoyed this book. I wanted to give it 5 ⭐️ but didn’t because I thought the revelation of what the entity was lessened the story a bit. That said it was a good story with sufficient horror and gore! There were some downright horrifying scenes that I was able to vividly picture as I read it!

This book was wild! It definitely gave me The Blair Witch Project vibes and I absolutely loved that. It was dark, creepy, ominous, suspenseful, and overall just a harrowing read. There are supernatural/paranormal and occult elements. There’s drama, secrets, isolation, complex relationships between all the characters. It doesn’t take long to get to the crazy stuff and I love it when books put us right into the action.

I so appreciated that the characters actually made rational, smart decisions (instead of the cliché idiotic panic that happens a lot of times in horror), all the while coming up with theories and possibilities for what was happening. I never could guess where this mayhem was going to go. I loved the characters’ banter and personalities. The dialogue and monologues actually made me feel as though they were real people.

The audiobook is excellent! I will definitely be checking out what other books the narrator has done. Her voices for the different characters fit them perfectly, and the way she inflects the tone of the story really upped the suspense and kept me rapt.

Highly recommend this book! Can’t wait for everyone to read it just in time with spooky season!

Laney is still trying to get by after the heartbreak of her divorce. She’s hanging onto her wedding gift, Hemlock Island, by renting out the beautiful, secluded house and dealing with troublesome renters when she gets reports of strange hex circles and blood in the house. She’s about to investigate with her teenage niece, Madison in tow, when her ex-husband, Kit and his sister, Jayla insist on coming along. Unfortunately, Sadie and her brother Garrett, and ex-best friend and her brother also push their way into the investigation and it’s an uncomfortable gathering.

With complicated relationships and old hurts swirling about, this group finds themselves stranded on the island without a way to communicate with the mainland. Grisly discoveries have everyone on high alert! Are these accidents or a plan to scare them off the island? One of their own taking revenge, or is something evil at work here?

There’s a history with Laney and the others that’s slowly revealed, the reasons for their falling out while they deal with the horrors that seem to keep coming. Laney and Kit also deal with the feelings that haven’t died between them despite the divorce.

Hemlock Island was not only a horror story with supernatural elements, but also Laney and her old friends reconciling a past that drove them apart. A captivating story that gave me some chills and left me a little unsettled! The perfect kind of read for this time of year!

Kelley Armstrong is basically a one-click read for me. The minute I saw Hemlock Island as an option on NetGalley, I was thrilled at the opportunity to read it. Then when the audio popped up, I couldn't snag it quickly enough. I'm happy to say that neither disappointed. This book was everything you could want in a mystery/horror novel coupled with the trope of being stranded on an isolated island with no way to escape.

Laney is raising her niece on her own after her sister passed away. She's divorced from Kit, who she still cares deeply for and can't seem to move on from. Kit is wealthy and gifted her with an island when they got married. It's the one thing she kept when they divorced and she loves it. But it's difficult for her to maintain it on her teacher's salary, so she rents it out for a good portion of the year to help subsidize the maintenance expenses. But lately there have been strange things happening and she receives a phone call from her most recent renters telling her they found blood in a closet and abandoned the home and island. Knowing she needs to investigate it herself and see what's truly happening there, Laney heads to the island to investigate but along the way, she runs into Kit and his sister who insist on tagging along to help.

Things definitely aren't what they expected when they get there. Including the addition of two more people they didn't expect to join them. You have to wonder who's responsible for the creepy events taking place there. And as scary as things are initially, it only gets worse.

This book definitely is high on the creep factor and is clever on the why. I enjoyed it quite a bit and flew through it while toggling back and forth between the ebook and audiobook.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: This was really good. It was well narrated and creepy as heck. I think it made the book even better personally and would recommend listening to the audio, 4 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for early copies of both the ebook and audiobook. I voluntarily chose to read/listen and review both and the opinions contained within are my own.

I'm a long-time Kelley Armstrong fan, but I was still completely blown away by Hemlock Island. I loved the creepiness of it along with the completely unpredictability of what might happen next. One of my favorite settings is a remote cabin locked room mystery, and Hemlock Island takes it to the next level. There isn't anything about it that I didn't love. It's spooky season perfect.

Scary, propulsive reading - not recommended for dark and stormy nights. Once again in Hemlock Island, Kelley Armstrong has used her talent for creating realistic supernatural settings. The character-driven story had me hooked from the beginning with an ending I didn’t see coming. Can’t wait for the next one!

This was a new to me author, and I will definitely be looking for more of her stories. The author pulls you into the story and doesn’t let you go till the end. This is a fast paced, suspenseful and action packed adventure. I would recommend this to anybody who enjoys horror stories.


I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.

I am not normally a fan of scary/horror books but I am a fan of Kelley Armstrong plus my library book club is reading this book for October so I was game. This book was very gory and more suspenseful than I usually like but I really enjoyed it. The characters were varied and most of them were likeable. The entity that was causing the mayhem was very creepy but I liked the way it resolved. Nothing freaks me out more than when the creepy thing is left to wreak havoc on the world. I can't really say too much more without spoiling the story but you will not regret reading this book.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the chance to read this story. It was very much enjoyed.

I’ve never read a book from this author before but the synopsis pulled me in: creepy island where a group of people find themselves trapped - I figured it was the perfect spooky season read as we head into autumn & I was right!

The erie events start out tamely enough - Laney has started to rent out her beloved island getaway as a means of paying for it now that she’s post-divorce & has recently become the guardian of her niece (a teacher/writer’s income only goes so far), & some of the renters have been less than respectful. The island has been vandalized & a few small things like strange windchimes & occult symbols have been popping up - but when actual blood is found, Laney decides to take a trip out there & brings her niece with her. Upon their arrival, it becomes apparent that word got out as four other people have come to investigate as well: Laney’s ex-husband (who gave her the island in the first place), his sister (Laney’s former BFF), & another former friend with her law enforcement brother. The six of them make an unlikely party as they explore the island, & as time goes on it becomes clear that many things are not as they appear - the relationships within the group are full of surprises, & the situation on the island is much grislier than anyone could have predicted.

So many things are happening in this book!! These people were all in various forms of turmoil BEFORE they realized they were on an island with no way off, & none of them know who or what exactly is terrorizing them. A severed hand is only the first in a series of gorey discoveries that the group makes as they do their best to keep each other safe & wait for help to arrive. I enjoyed how the author balanced all the horror with a bit of humor here & there, and will have to keep an eye out for more sinister stories from Kelley Armstrong in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

*3.5 stars rounded up

I thought at first this was going to be another 'And Then There Were None' sort of mystery. Six friends arrive on a privately-owned island in Lake Superior and find themselves trapped there with a killer. But then the plot morphs into quite a horrifying supernatural thriller. Parts seemed to be quite nightmarish where the heroes try to rescue someone who keeps evading them time and again. Eventually all is explained in a way I thought was well done. Different.

I received an arc of this new novel from the author and publisher via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.