The Book Scout: Review: The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Review: The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff

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.

Review:

The Replacement was a creepy and fast paced read that had me gripping the pages and dying to know what was going to happen next. Mackie was a completely original and endearing main character. I felt for him right away because of how tough his life was. Fear of death is a constant worry and he has to deal with feeling lonely and depressed most of the time. Luckily he had his best friends, Roswell, Danny, and Drew to help him out of any scrapes and to cheer him up when he was feeling especially down.

The plot was fantastic. It was completely unlike anything I've ever read and kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. From the first page I was drawn into the world Brenna had created and she kept me guessing until the end. There was never a dull moment and I had a hard time putting it down.

Brenna is a fantastic writer. She pulled me in from the first page and immediately had me hooked. She made Mackie so realistic and believable that I felt like I could have recognized him on the street. The worlds she created were highly original and she had a way with words that left me breathless.

This book was just so different, but it worked. Brenna is so creative and draws a variety of emotions from me. Love, revulsion, horror, and excitement... At times I was so creeped out by this book, but I loved it nonetheless. The descriptions were just so dark and eerie that I couldn't read this at night! Other than Mackie there were other great characters, especially Mackie's friends and family. They were all so supportive of him and would do anything to ensure his safety.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Replacement. It was an eerie and intriguing debut that had me hooked from the start. I can't wait to read more by Brenna in the future!