Review: The Replacement

The Replacement

Brenna Yovanoff

Publisher: Razorbill

Release Date: September 21, 2010

Pages: 352

Ratings: 4 Stars

Summary (from Goodreads):

Mackie Doyle is not one of us. Though he lives in the small town of Gentry, he comes from a world of tunnels and black murky water, a world of living dead girls ruled by a little tattooed princess. He is a Replacement, left in the crib of a human baby sixteen years ago. Now, because of fatal allergies to iron, blood, and consecrated ground, Mackie is fighting to survive in the human world.

Mackie would give anything to live among us, to practice on his bass or spend time with his crush, Tate. But when Tate's baby sister goes missing, Mackie is drawn irrevocably into the underworld of Gentry, known as Mayhem. He must face the dark creatures of the Slag Heaps and find his rightful place, in our world, or theirs.

The Replacements was a creepy and eerie book, everything that I expected from this book. In a unique debut novel, Brenna Yovanoff has put a creepy twist on creatures that have become glamorized in many YA novels.

I read this book in one sitting and was really intrigued by the plot. I was very intrigued to learn more about these creatures who lived in Mackie’s town and why they would kidnap people. I loved the creepiness of the creatures, who are by most people’s definition are fairies, and the eeriness that was woven throughout the plot. There were plenty of twists and turns in this book that I did not see coming, something I love in books.

I was also interested in the progression of Mackie as a character through the action that occurred. He starts out as fragile, slowly dying and living a lie, to learning who he truly is and becoming stronger and willing to fight for those he loves and to protect other people. Mackie was definitely an intriguing character. I also really loved Mackie’s sister, Emma, and her devotion to her brother, even if she knows he is not truly her brother. She is willing to do anything for Mackie, and her love has been essential to Mackie’s survival. My one wish while I was reading was that I wanted to learn more about Tate. From the summary of the book, it seemed like we would know a lot more about her, but I felt like we knew little about her except that she loves her sister and wants her back. I would have really liked to see more about her and learn more about her because she was an interesting character.

This book was one of the most unique I have read in a long time. I loved the twist on a classic story, and I loved that Brenna Yovanoff was able to make this story her own. If you want a book that is bound to give you chills, in a good way, The Replacement would be that book.