The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Summary:
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 disappointing read for me. Again, I was excited to read this one - as I'd heard great things about it - but I feel like it just fell short.
This was another story told from a boy's POV - and while Brenna Yovanoff did a decent job of writing from his perspective, the MC Mackie, was a little flat and often times boring. Granted his character was trying to stay out of the spotlight, so as not to draw attention his way - but even when it came time for him to shine, I just felt like he was a little too dull around the edges.
On more than one occasion throughout the first 100 pages of the book, I found myself putting it down and walking away - which is never a good sign. Not until halfway through, did it start to pick up for me.
I will give Ms. Yovanoff credit regarding her world building though - she did a great job creating a dark, and often times scary underworld - albeit sometimes confusing and hard to follow. Some of her side characters were great - the Morrigan in particular had a series of wonderful little ticks, particularly in the way she flitted around like a child, yet wanted so desperately to be loved.
Overall, I'll say it wasn't what I was expecting - and while it was an interesting concept and had some serious potential, I just didn't think it pulled through.