The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

From Goodreads:

Mackie Doyle seems like everyone else in the perfect little town of Gentry, but he is living with a fatal secret - he is a Replacement, left in the crib of a human baby sixteen years ago. Now the creatures under the hill want him back, and Mackie must decide where he really belongs and what he really wants. 

A month ago, Mackie might have told them to buzz off. But now, with a budding relationship with tough, wounded, beautiful Tate, Mackie has too much to lose. Will love finally make him worthy of the human world?

 I really have to say I enjoyed this book. The beginning was very descriptive and really what I would call "grey". It was a bit slow, and I thought it was necessary to really get the vibe of what Mackie was going through as well as the whole town of Gentry. I don't know if the author could have done it another way. It spoke of untold truths and a total deniability as to why children were disappearing and why odd creatures took their place. People knew something or charms and other superstitions wouldn't have had such a hold on the town. It also spoke of the dangers of censorship and how when we deny that something exists, doesn't mean that it suddenly makes things okay.

The beginning also reminded me of something else. The fairytale of Pinocchio. Here was a boy dreaming of being human and all that entails. Mackie dreams of this, of not being caught for what he was and swallowed up by his whale of fear. However, it is love that transformed Mackie as it did Pinocchio. But that transformation was long ago and it is the beginning of this story that Mackie begins to truly realize this, but the surprise in the story is who transforms him as well as to how. It is a story of finding your place in the world and finding those things we are often blind to in our own world.

For me, this book was more of a philosophical ride than anything else. You can take this book apart and see the different themes that the author was writing about. The one person POV might be a bit much for some wanting a total thrill ride because I think this book was more about finding your place in this world than fighting the good fight (of course that was part of it, but a smaller part). With that in mind, I recommend this book for older teens and adults alike. I give it 4 stars.

I'd like to thank Razorbill for the ARC. No compensation for my review was given.






So, since this is a dark book and I think is perfect for this time of the year... would you like to enter for the ARC? Just fill out the form below:

Giveaway ends on 10/17/2010

Giveaway is now closed.

The linky here is if you have a review of The Replacement.