The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

Title: The Replacement
Author: Brenna Yovanoff
ISBN: 9781595143372
Publisher: Razorbill
Page #: 343
Source: ARC from BEA

Summary:
"Though he lives in the small town of Gentry, Mackie 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 slowly dying in the human world.

Mackie would give anything to live among us, to practice his bass or spend time with an oddly intriguing girl called 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."
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First Lines:

"I don't remember any of the true, important parts, but there's this dream I have. Everything is cold and branches scrape the window screen. Giant trees, rattling, clattering with leaves. White rain gutter, the curtains flapping."
Page 3
(Refer to the official publication for exact text.)
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Review:

I have been drooling over this book since I first laid eyes on the cover. I mean, how much better does it get, right?!? It's got that perfect level of intrigue and creepiness. That alone got me really excite for this book. Who says we don't judge books by the covers?? I also got pumped for this one when one of my coworkers finished it and said it was fantastic.

All of that hype? Totally worth it. This book was wonderful! I think it was a little different from what I was expecting - I think I was thinking high fantasy with very little real life stuck in there. It's a story about a guy who has been raised as human, but in fact he is a creature of an underworld that replaces human babies with their castoffs. How creepy is that?!? And you meet this main character smack in the middle of high school. So, a little different from my expectation, but really good nonetheless.

One of the things I really loved about this story was that the town itself was almost a character in the book. There was so much going on with the location and where things were and how they looked, smelled, tasted, etc... it was just really well done. Of course, that could just be the wonderful skills of the author in description. Every single thing was given life or described so spot-on that it was very easy to get sucked into the story.

I cannot wait to give this to some of my teens at work! I just know they are going to love it. This is a story that's great for both guys and girls - and almost any age. I'd say starting in 9th grade or so, but it's really only because of the relationship stuff. Otherwise it's a great creepy story that I know a lot of people will love.

I'm very excited that this is the first book from this author - hopefully that means lots more books on the horizon! Well, at least a girl can hope. Check out her website and the link to her blog. I can't wait for this one to be published (less than a month now) so I can put it in the hands of teens who I know will love it. In other words, if you like creepy/urban fantasy - you have to read this one!
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Other Blog Reviews:

Reading Angel
YA Highway
Fat Girl Reading
Reading Teen
Squeaky Books (this one is a really negative review)
Wordbird
Bookyurt