Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.43 AVERAGE
3.43 AVERAGE
Meh. My middle school book club chose this book because they thought the cover was awesome. We were all disappointed. It was not nearly as creepy as we were hoping for, and the story was really slow. Plus, all the characters were annoying. Only two of my teens finished the book, I got halfway then skipped to the last two chapters.
I'm giving this book 3.5 - 4 stars. It started off really slow, it was just too easy to put it down and read something else. I'm giving it so many stars because towards the second half of the book it picked itself up, picked a direction and ran there. I like a book that ends strongly...
No está mal, se lee fácil y la historia no es típica. Quizás es un poco precipitada y a los personajes les falta profundidad, pero es un buen libro para pasar el rato. No va a cambiarte la vida si es lo que estás buscando, pero si solo pretendes desconectar, te servirá.
In an interesting modern-day take on changelings and the darker fairy tales, this uneasy story of alienation and the search for belonging follows Mackie, a teenaged boy who is not what he seems. As a baby, Mackie was left in the crib of a child stolen by the creatures under the hill, as a 'replacement'. Among other things, Mackie is highly allergic to iron and to consecrated ground--difficult things for a pastor's son in the metal-saturated modern world--and struggles to survive high school social drama and appear safely ordinary in a small town where children keep mysteriously disappearing or dying. Then one day, a classmate's little sister disappears, setting off a chain of events that will force Mackie to choose which world he belongs in, and whether he should intervene or look away.
Though this wasn't an electrifying read--no car chases or epic battles here--I did finish it in 2 days and was interested in the main characters and how they would do, and I'm sure many of us can identify with Mackie as the awkward outsider. Overall a decent, entertaining read.
Though this wasn't an electrifying read--no car chases or epic battles here--I did finish it in 2 days and was interested in the main characters and how they would do, and I'm sure many of us can identify with Mackie as the awkward outsider. Overall a decent, entertaining read.
I'm not a big fan of horror, but I loved The Replacement. It's the perfect Halloween read. I like the fact that Mackie was not a normal working against the supernatural creatures. (They were never really named.) He was one of the them and tried to understand them as he learned to understand where he fit between the two worlds. I also really like the theme of accceptance throughout this book. The town accepts this dark underworld that nobody talks about. Mackie's friends don't question, they just accept that Mackie's different. His family accepts him as a replacement for their son who was sacrificed. Macki accepts the revenants of the underworld. As for the romance, I didn't really see it as a major part of the story except as motivation for Mackie to do what he does. The criticism about Tate running hot and cold is true, but I think it's part of her character. Mackie even talks about it as being payment for doing something she wants. I thought the descriptions of the underworld and its characters were well done and creepy. I could picture the sets and costumes as I was reading. I would expect a sequel as the Cutter is left to fight another day and there is that niggling little thing about why Roswell's family was never sacrificed.
Even before I heard of "The Replacement," I was intrigued by Brenna Yovanoff after reading about her upcoming book "The Space Between." After seeing the cover for "The Replacement," I knew I had to read it and what better time to do so than during the Halloween season?
The story centers on Mackie, who is a replacement (changeling - the baby of two mystical creatures like faeries or goblins). Although left in the crib to a new family, Mackie is embraced by his human family and loved as if he was their born son. Their love, though, cannot stop Mackie from feeling as if he doesn't belong. It also cannot stop him from slowly dying in the human world.
While the theme of love and family is strong in this book, it never comes across as cheesy or pandering to the YA-set. The bonds between Mackie, his parents, and his sister, feel natural. It's a kind of relief to read a story where there is a positive relationship between the protagonist and those forces in his life. I especially loved Emma, Mackie's sister - who is thoughtful and protective of her special younger brother, yet does so in an authentic way that mirrors an actual relationship between two siblings.
The other strong theme of "coming of age" has a darker twist to it, due to Mackie's background and the conflicts contained in the book, but it still...works. He's easy to relate to and seemed to me more of a tragic figure than most other heroes in YA books. The other plus is that I did not find him at all annoying, which tends to happen sometimes when I read YA (a tell-tale sign I am old)!
Although it can be dark at times, "The Replacement" doesn't lack funny moments, and is brimming with positive relationships. Due to some sexual descriptiveness and language, this may be better for the 15+ set but - as I am a prime example of - really has appeal across the age pool. I loved this book and now am even more excited to Brenna Yovanoff's "The Space Between."
The story centers on Mackie, who is a replacement (changeling - the baby of two mystical creatures like faeries or goblins). Although left in the crib to a new family, Mackie is embraced by his human family and loved as if he was their born son. Their love, though, cannot stop Mackie from feeling as if he doesn't belong. It also cannot stop him from slowly dying in the human world.
While the theme of love and family is strong in this book, it never comes across as cheesy or pandering to the YA-set. The bonds between Mackie, his parents, and his sister, feel natural. It's a kind of relief to read a story where there is a positive relationship between the protagonist and those forces in his life. I especially loved Emma, Mackie's sister - who is thoughtful and protective of her special younger brother, yet does so in an authentic way that mirrors an actual relationship between two siblings.
The other strong theme of "coming of age" has a darker twist to it, due to Mackie's background and the conflicts contained in the book, but it still...works. He's easy to relate to and seemed to me more of a tragic figure than most other heroes in YA books. The other plus is that I did not find him at all annoying, which tends to happen sometimes when I read YA (a tell-tale sign I am old)!
Although it can be dark at times, "The Replacement" doesn't lack funny moments, and is brimming with positive relationships. Due to some sexual descriptiveness and language, this may be better for the 15+ set but - as I am a prime example of - really has appeal across the age pool. I loved this book and now am even more excited to Brenna Yovanoff's "The Space Between."
dark
mysterious
All opinions are entirely my own. I am in no way affiliated with the author or publisher. Remember to support your local indie bookstore and library!
⊹₊ ˚‧︵‿₊୨ ᰔ ୧₊‿︵‧ ˚ ₊⊹
"The baby in the crib: crying, in that anxious, fussy way. The man comes in the window-bony, wearing a black coat – and grabs the baby up. He slips back out over the sill, slides the window down, pops the screen back in. Is gone. There's something else in the crib."
- Discovery: Thrifted
- Reading Format: Physical
- Read Time: 3.5 Hours
Demon fae twink struggles to assimilate with his peers and it's slowly killing him while discovering his town has a dark history and it's up to him to break the cycle.
Aged quite well for a 15 year old book however the characters were rather two dimensional and lacking in diversity.
I love stories about dark fae please give me more!
This was a really unique, original idea, which I appreciated. What does it look like for a changeling to grow up among humans? What does it look like for a town to be in an uncomfortable symbiotic relationship with the fae, choosing to turn a blind eye to the loss of their children in exchange for prosperity? There's a lot of formulaism in fantasy these days, especially ya fantasy, and this was something brand new.
But the ending felt somewhat unsatisfying. The trope of "evil teams up with good to defeat a greater evil" doesn't quite work for me here. Maybe I read too fast; I definitely wanted more emphasis on how human morality is completely inscrutable to fae.
Also, would a changeling have the same hormonal drives as a human? Would coming of age look the same for a non-human creature? Mackie wasn't human. His allergy to blood and iron would mean that his blood wasn't iron-based. Would puberty and teenage hormones work the same as for a human? This is conveniently ignored.
tl;dr I wanted more out of this book and I felt like it didn't live up to its potential.
But the ending felt somewhat unsatisfying. The trope of "evil teams up with good to defeat a greater evil" doesn't quite work for me here. Maybe I read too fast; I definitely wanted more emphasis on how human morality is completely inscrutable to fae.
Also, would a changeling have the same hormonal drives as a human? Would coming of age look the same for a non-human creature? Mackie wasn't human. His allergy to blood and iron would mean that his blood wasn't iron-based. Would puberty and teenage hormones work the same as for a human? This is conveniently ignored.
tl;dr I wanted more out of this book and I felt like it didn't live up to its potential.
A oldy but goody for me. Dark YA, interesting concept and a main character I didn't want to shake violently
Unexpectedly affecting YA novel about changelings and the "ugly" world which is intertwined with those of humans in a small town. Characters were the strength of this book, as were the eery settings, well-described.