Hemlock Grove

by Brian McGreevy

[thepunktheory]

Full book vs. TV show review on my blog!


So, I saw a post on Tumblr that prompted me to immediately check out the show on Netflix. I pretty much binged the first season and liked it quite a lot. Sure, there were flaws (quite a few of them to be honest) but the idea was good and the vibe of the show was right down my alley. The casting was also on point and the chemistry between Bill Skarsgard and Landon Liboiron was undeniable to I was excited about this whole thing and kept watching. Well, season 2 and 3 were awful and I was disappointed.
Most of the time, books are better than their adaptations so I wanted to give Brian McGreevy's novel a shot as well.
I shouldn't have.
While the show had some redeemable qualities, there was nothing I liked about this book. And that says a lot as it should actually be 100% my cup of tea.
Let's break down the bits that sucked.
First of all, the characters. Character development? Getting to know the characters? Nope and nope.
After finishing the novel I feel like I barely know more than the characters' names. There is virtually no development going on and it's impossible to follow their thoughts and actions. I'm sure I've never cared less about the entire host of characters of a book, movie or TV show.
Furthermore, there is no chemistry whatsoever between the characters (which might be due to the writing style, but we'll get to that in a moment). In the show Roman and Peter become friends and you get why. In the book, they barely speak ten sentences with each other and it is beyond me why anybody would refer to them as friends, even acquaintance seems like an exaggeration.
Then there's the story. While some bits didn't make sense in the show, here pretty much nothing makes sense. The story is weird and confusing and often you'll feel liked you missed something. Spoiler: you didn't miss anything, it's just not there. I'm glad I watched the show before picking up the novel, otherwise, I'm not sure I would have been able to make sense of anything.
It's not just that things don't make sense. McGreevy throws in those irritating bits that you can't even count as information. I suppose they were meant to give you an insight into the characters but it's not working. At all.
By the way, there is an entire host of characters in this book, we several (attempted) storylines that all fail to hit the mark. McGreevy just drops ideas here and there without elaborating on any of them. You finish the book and are none the wiser about 98% of the stuff going on. One might say he just took on too many different things in too short a book (less than 300 pages) but I didn't even see an attempt to clarify or explain (or actually properly develop) any of the stuff going on. So, it seems less like the length is the problem it seems more like a lack of trying.
In the show they had more time to devote to all the stories, so things make a great deal more sense there and are more enjoyable. You care about the characters and actually get invested in what they are doing.
Finally, let me tell you, I hate McGreevy's writing style. It's no use going into detail, you'd just have to pick up the book and read a page for yourself and you'll see.
There is an account on Twitter that I follow. It's called Men Writing Women and is essentially a collection of cringy-worthy bits of literature written by men who failed monumentally at creating female characters. Several times throughout Hemlock Grove I had to think of this particular account and was even tempted to make a screenshot and send it over. If you check out their posts, you'll immediately see what I'm talking about.