The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff
I love it when a book that intends to be creepy is legitimately creepy and not contrived creepy. (Sidebar: just how many times can I use the word creepy in one sentence?) The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff is an eerie coming of age tale. Mackie Doyle is a replacement aka a changeling, meaning that he has taken the place of a kidnapped child. Mackie is a 16 year old boy with an aversion to iron and blood. He is dying. We see him yearn for a life of normalcy. Yet, the underworld of Gentry, where Mackie came from, comes calling when they steal Mackie’s friend-girl’s baby sister.
At first, I was not sure how much I would enjoy The Replacement. You know how sometimes it can take a bit to get into a book? It took me probably 50 pages to really sink into the plot. Despite the slow start, on the whole, I loved The Replacement. I am a fan of macabre books. Hello, Stephen King fangirl right here. I think Yovanoff does atmosphere right. There is such an air of ghoulishness throughout this book that I often got the chills while reading it. I mean, Gentry is a regular small town, much like where I grew up. However, they have a deep dark secret. Unraveling the layers and going deeper and deeper into Gentry’s secrets is incredibly creepy. I can’t help thinking the phrase, ‘Something Wicked This Way Comes’ (also a book by Ray Bradbury).
Mackie, the lead, is irresistable. He’s vulnerable. He’s prone to low self-esteem. He likes boobs (can I get an AMEN for a non-sanitized boy character). He is shown to have deep emotions. I really loved the character of Mackie. I thought he was the sort of character I would have loved as a teen, someone who questions himself and the world around him. His weaknesses are balanced out with his strengths.
Tate, the female lead, is the sort of girl I wish I could have been in high school. She doesn’t give a shit about what anyone thinks of her. She’s so self-assured. I love that. I love seeing a self-assured girl from a male point a view, as this story is told through Mackie’s eyes.
Then of course, the cast of supporting characters is steller. From Mackie’s best friend Roswell, who is everything a friend should be, to the twins, to Mackie’s sister, Emma, these characters I felt were well-rounded. I thought I had a good sense of these characters. I rarely questioned their motives.
The characters of the underworld were scary! HOLY CRAP. There’s this character referred to as the lady. I was basically picturing that girl from The Ring, with the hair who crawls out of your TV, the whole time. EEK. Then the supporting characters who hang out in the slag heap, they’re like the people in Corpse Bride who are dead. Creepy, friend, creepy!
I think if YA absolutely must focus on boys, or increase the focus, then I would hope boy characters like Mackie come to the forefront, as I thought he was fully-realized and able to have emotions and to hug his male friends without being called names.
Disclosure: I got this at BEA.
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This post was written by...
April (Books&Wine) – who has written 1074 posts on Good Books And Good Wine.
April is 24 years old. She is an educator. In her free time she can be found reading, working out, or eating junk food. She often wears her sunglasses at night.
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I think this one looks creepy too… I love the cover! This one has been on my Wish List for awhile now…
Great review!
The cover is definitely awesome, and so different from what is on the shelves.
I have this to read. I’m so looking forward to it. Thanks for the great review.
Lisa ~ YA Literature Lover
Great. I hope you enjoy!
I loved Mackie too. I loved that he wasn’t the standard golden boy or poor misunderstood soul who didn’t want to fit in. He seemed like a real honest to God teenager who is kind of awkward and weird, who wants to fit in but isn’t really sure how much or if it’s really right once he does. The dark spookey stuff was fantastic too – a real old fashioned ghost/ghoul story, so refreshing.
Right, he’s totally a legit awkward teenager. I loved that. Please more books with ‘real’ teenagers.
I agree so much with how refreshing this was!
This sounds like the perfect book to read around Halloween! I always try to read books around hollidays that pertain to them. Thanks for the great review April! :]
Me too. Or reading with the weather. Right now it’s gross and rainy outside, so I am just craving a mystery.
I just saw you In My Mailbox post, maybe one of those books will get you through the crudy weather.
They have actually! The Lady Julia Grey mysteries are getting me through the rain.
I read this one a while ago and did so purely because of the creepy cover. The book was pretty good – didn’t quite like the ending, but it didn’t ruin the experience for me. Way outside of my normal reading tastes but was great for me!
I’m the opposite, if I don’t like the ending of a book, it ruins the entire experience for me (I’m looking at YOU My Sister’s Keeper!!).
Rarely do I judge a book by its cover, but I do like this cover. I don’t know why. I don’t know if I’ll ever have time to get to this book, though I do want to read a few YA titles. This may just be one of them.
It’s a good YA title if you are interested in books with male characters, or something Halloween-esque.
This definitely sounds like my kind of book!
Hahaha, if you like awesome books, this is totally up your alley!
I’ve never heard of this book before, but now I can’t wait to read it. It looks awesome!
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