The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff. Something's Rotten, beneath the Town of Gentry...
Summary: Mackie 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, he's slowly dying in the human world.
Mackie would give anything to live a normal life, play his bass, and find out more about an oddly intriguing girl named Tate. But when Tate's baby sister goes missing, he is drawn 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. (Summary found on book cover)
Official Reviews: "Funny and brave, scary and touching." Lauren Kate, New York Times best selling author of the Fallen novels
"Shockingly original and frequently breathtaking." Booklist, starred review
"A devastating look at familial love, sacrifice, and loneliness. Yovanoff's spare but haunting prose creates an atmosphere shrouded in gloom and secrecy." BCCB, Starred review
"A fast-paced, dark delicacy." Kirkus Reviews
"This book has the makings of a success." Publishers Weekly
"I loved this eerie and beautiful story of ugly things. It should be read aloud after dark, at a whisper." Maggie Stiefvater, New York Times bestselling author of the Wolves of Mercy Falls series
My Review: I finished reading this book today, and I still can't seem to figure out what it was about. When I saw this at the book store I though that it looked like a neat book. The cover art was very neat in a creepy-Stephen-King sort of way and I liked the idea. I'm very into old folklore and the character Mackie is a Changeling which are creatures from folklore. The story however wasn't developed very well. I the plot revolved around the fact that the children of Gentry (the town) were being killed, but I just couldn't figure out why. I know there are many points where this idea is discussed and they tried to explain why the children were being killed, but Yovanoff's characters over explained this point and made it more confusing than it should have been.
The characters didn't seem super developed either. Though I did like the family dynamics between Mackie and his older sister Emma, I felt like she was one of the only strongly developed characters.
The events that occur in the story seem kind of jumbled and don't seem to do anything for the story, and it doesn't help that they aren't elaborated on making them unnecessary.
Another issue I found was a) the swearing b) the sex and c) the drinking an issue I find when it comes to books about teenagers. For the swearing, yes I understand that in this day and age, many people think that by swearing you look "cool" but in novels is it really necessary? Even if they do swear in a novel, do the characters have to use the "f-word" every other page? Maybe I'm just old-fashioned that way. Now even if the characters do cuss like sailors, I have a big problem with the whole sex-and-drinking-without-consequences theme in books. That just absolutely drives me insane. I know some teenagers do have sex and the do drink in real life, but not every single teenager does these things. In this book, it seemed as though everyone partied like that. If they didn't drink or have sex with the "popular kids" than they wanted to. I thought drinking was illegal to drink underage? Where are the police? Where are the parents?
I digress, I was thoroughly disappointed with this book. It wasn't nearly as good as I thought it was, lacking a clear plot, little-to-know character development, and stereo-typical teenagers. I couldn't see myself reading it again and I'd give it two and a half out of five stars max. That's just my opinion. If you've read this book and disagree, I'd like to hear from you. What did you think of this book? Have any book suggestions? Leave a comment and let me know! Together we can start the reading revolution!
Soon to come: Last book in the Hunger Games series, The Clockwork Prince, and maybe some old books. I've become rather fond of them. Until next time, keep reading!
Mackie would give anything to live a normal life, play his bass, and find out more about an oddly intriguing girl named Tate. But when Tate's baby sister goes missing, he is drawn 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. (Summary found on book cover)
Official Reviews: "Funny and brave, scary and touching." Lauren Kate, New York Times best selling author of the Fallen novels
"Shockingly original and frequently breathtaking." Booklist, starred review
"A devastating look at familial love, sacrifice, and loneliness. Yovanoff's spare but haunting prose creates an atmosphere shrouded in gloom and secrecy." BCCB, Starred review
"A fast-paced, dark delicacy." Kirkus Reviews
"This book has the makings of a success." Publishers Weekly
"I loved this eerie and beautiful story of ugly things. It should be read aloud after dark, at a whisper." Maggie Stiefvater, New York Times bestselling author of the Wolves of Mercy Falls series
My Review: I finished reading this book today, and I still can't seem to figure out what it was about. When I saw this at the book store I though that it looked like a neat book. The cover art was very neat in a creepy-Stephen-King sort of way and I liked the idea. I'm very into old folklore and the character Mackie is a Changeling which are creatures from folklore. The story however wasn't developed very well. I the plot revolved around the fact that the children of Gentry (the town) were being killed, but I just couldn't figure out why. I know there are many points where this idea is discussed and they tried to explain why the children were being killed, but Yovanoff's characters over explained this point and made it more confusing than it should have been.
The characters didn't seem super developed either. Though I did like the family dynamics between Mackie and his older sister Emma, I felt like she was one of the only strongly developed characters.
The events that occur in the story seem kind of jumbled and don't seem to do anything for the story, and it doesn't help that they aren't elaborated on making them unnecessary.
Another issue I found was a) the swearing b) the sex and c) the drinking an issue I find when it comes to books about teenagers. For the swearing, yes I understand that in this day and age, many people think that by swearing you look "cool" but in novels is it really necessary? Even if they do swear in a novel, do the characters have to use the "f-word" every other page? Maybe I'm just old-fashioned that way. Now even if the characters do cuss like sailors, I have a big problem with the whole sex-and-drinking-without-consequences theme in books. That just absolutely drives me insane. I know some teenagers do have sex and the do drink in real life, but not every single teenager does these things. In this book, it seemed as though everyone partied like that. If they didn't drink or have sex with the "popular kids" than they wanted to. I thought drinking was illegal to drink underage? Where are the police? Where are the parents?
I digress, I was thoroughly disappointed with this book. It wasn't nearly as good as I thought it was, lacking a clear plot, little-to-know character development, and stereo-typical teenagers. I couldn't see myself reading it again and I'd give it two and a half out of five stars max. That's just my opinion. If you've read this book and disagree, I'd like to hear from you. What did you think of this book? Have any book suggestions? Leave a comment and let me know! Together we can start the reading revolution!
Soon to come: Last book in the Hunger Games series, The Clockwork Prince, and maybe some old books. I've become rather fond of them. Until next time, keep reading!
