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amibunk's review against another edition
3.0
"The Replacement" is a different type of supernatural story that uses traditional lore of fairies and 'changelings' but turns it into a very modern and relevant novel.
I enjoyed the uniqueness of this book. (It's a nice change to be reading something that does not involve vampires or werewolves.) I enjoyed that this isn't a book with a cliche love triangle or misplaced hopes of becoming an overly long and tired trilogy. "The Replacement" is simply a good story with good character development and a different plot.
I did feel the ending was too rushed for the novel's somewhat sedated pace and I occasionally found Yovanoff's writing to be slightly lackluster. However, this book was overall a good read.
I enjoyed the uniqueness of this book. (It's a nice change to be reading something that does not involve vampires or werewolves.) I enjoyed that this isn't a book with a cliche love triangle or misplaced hopes of becoming an overly long and tired trilogy. "The Replacement" is simply a good story with good character development and a different plot.
I did feel the ending was too rushed for the novel's somewhat sedated pace and I occasionally found Yovanoff's writing to be slightly lackluster. However, this book was overall a good read.
emellis59's review against another edition
3.0
I'd been hearing some great things about this one...while I wasn't as impressed as I had expected to be, I still enjoyed the book. It seemed a little redundant in spots (the same argument over and over again), but fun characters and interesting plot.
honeybones's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
postitsandpens's review against another edition
3.0
This book was ... odd. I found the story interesting enough, but the book moves at a somewhat glacial pace (definitely go the audio route if you're going to read this, as it helped me stay engaged). I also never truly connected with Mackie or any of the side characters, and found the ending somewhat confusing. The final confrontation seemed like a let down - I was expecting more action - and I'm not sure what all was actually accomplished. The one thing this book does have going for it is the atmosphere. Brenna Yovanoff is a master at adding creepy, unsettling details into her books that really set the tone and mood. But other than that, this was just kind of okay overall, and not nearly as good as The Space Between or Paper Valentine, which remain my favorites by this author.
cakemouse's review against another edition
3.0
Good book. Interesting premise with a bit of a twist on mythology. As my introduction to this author, I'll definitely pick up more titles by her.
kerryzielke's review against another edition
3.0
The beginning was awesome and original. The last few chapters went on and on. I began skimming pages. I felt like the characters were never fully developed. I was irritated by the end and almost gave up.
colorfulleo92's review against another edition
3.0
Unfortunately the story didn't love up to it's promising premise for me. It wasn't a bad book but not my cup of tea. Was intrigued by the replacement premise as I've read a few fairytale with similar thing but it wasn't quite what i had hoped it to be
themarishale's review against another edition
4.0
No time for a real review, but the book is definitely worth reading.
Half way through, I felt that I must have skimmed some pages, because I was never quite certain about the Morrigan and what exactly the people under the hill were, but otherwise I enjoyed the story.
Half way through, I felt that I must have skimmed some pages, because I was never quite certain about the Morrigan and what exactly the people under the hill were, but otherwise I enjoyed the story.
heyjudy's review against another edition
2.0
~2.5/5
[Also available over at my blog.]
I am disappointed. I was expecting to like this, and I did not.
The Replacement about Mackie, a changeling. He’s the baby that replaces the baby that the fairies stole. This, on its own, is a really good idea. That alone caught my interest. And Mackie has lived longer than most in his place seem to, and he’s having a hard time living surrounded by everything human. His family knows, and the town knows this happens but not that it happened to him. And he’s badly affected by all the iron and steel in the world, in cars and in blood. And then he meets people like him, who pull him in and help him, but it’s not that easy. Because someone he knows sister was taken, and it’s just going to keep happening, and he doesn’t like it.
This sounds very good and very interesting, and those things I listed, are. But then there was all this stuff that didn’t need to be there. Mackie and Tate’s relationship for one. I didn’t mind that it happened, and I didn’t mind Tate, even liked her in one scene of the book, but their relationship didn’t work. They fought, and she got pissed off at him, and she was a bitch and yet he still wanted to make out with her, and there was no reason for any of it. He had an attraction to her from the beginning of the book, but there was never any reason for it. It was just suddenly there, for no reason, and wouldn’t go away. And then she would be pissed at him, no reason given. It wasn’t quite insta-love, because it wasn’t love, it was just attraction.
Another thing that bothered me: A lot of stuff wasn’t explained. It was hinted that people knew things, that there were stories told, and that his friends knew things about him, but you never really knew how much. I guess because they never talked about it, until finally they did. With his best friend, Roswell. And with Tate. For some reason, she starts coming to him, bothering him about things, with no reason, and he blows her off, tries to avoid her, and it doesn’t work. But it’s never explained why she hounds him so much, when it’s never really explained that everyone thinks he’s weird. Because, why would everyone think he’s weird and still hang out with him so much? It just doesn’t make sense to me.
And those things took so much time. Mackie took a lot of time with not knowing what to do, wanting something and then suddenly wanting something else. Ignoring something one minute and then trying to talk about it the next. It was like he couldn’t make up his mind, only he never thought of it like that. There was never an in between for his thoughts to change, they just suddenly did.
A lot of the book focused on Mackie and Tate, and then Mackie and his family, and then Mackie and the people like him. With nothing getting done. And then, when things started happening, it took forever. It was so slow going, so anticlimactic. One scene, within the last fifty pages, was exciting and really good, but the rest just took forever.
I wanted Mackie to finally just kick someone’s ass, beat someone up, get it over with already, but he fought so weakly, with no force. It was ridiculous and I did not enjoy it.
I liked: Emma, Mackie’s older sister. Their relationship was done really well. She took care of him since he was young, and so they got to be really close. They were loyal to each other all the way through, and I liked that.
I did quite like Roswell, and maybe even Danny and Drew, but I don’t think there was enough of them to really make it official for me.
I liked the set-up for everything, too. The lore, what Mackie is, what the people like him are like, that was all really interesting. And the writing was good. It was pretty and then disturbing when it needed to be. The ending wasn’t too bad, either. It was just the characters and the lack of action that bothered me; that didn’t keep me interested.
I don’t know if I’m going to read another of Yovanoff’s books. I might give her another try, but I might not, and it might take a while if I do decide to.
[Also available over at my blog.]
I am disappointed. I was expecting to like this, and I did not.
The Replacement about Mackie, a changeling. He’s the baby that replaces the baby that the fairies stole. This, on its own, is a really good idea. That alone caught my interest. And Mackie has lived longer than most in his place seem to, and he’s having a hard time living surrounded by everything human. His family knows, and the town knows this happens but not that it happened to him. And he’s badly affected by all the iron and steel in the world, in cars and in blood. And then he meets people like him, who pull him in and help him, but it’s not that easy. Because someone he knows sister was taken, and it’s just going to keep happening, and he doesn’t like it.
This sounds very good and very interesting, and those things I listed, are. But then there was all this stuff that didn’t need to be there. Mackie and Tate’s relationship for one. I didn’t mind that it happened, and I didn’t mind Tate, even liked her in one scene of the book, but their relationship didn’t work. They fought, and she got pissed off at him, and she was a bitch and yet he still wanted to make out with her, and there was no reason for any of it. He had an attraction to her from the beginning of the book, but there was never any reason for it. It was just suddenly there, for no reason, and wouldn’t go away. And then she would be pissed at him, no reason given. It wasn’t quite insta-love, because it wasn’t love, it was just attraction.
Another thing that bothered me: A lot of stuff wasn’t explained. It was hinted that people knew things, that there were stories told, and that his friends knew things about him, but you never really knew how much. I guess because they never talked about it, until finally they did. With his best friend, Roswell. And with Tate. For some reason, she starts coming to him, bothering him about things, with no reason, and he blows her off, tries to avoid her, and it doesn’t work. But it’s never explained why she hounds him so much, when it’s never really explained that everyone thinks he’s weird. Because, why would everyone think he’s weird and still hang out with him so much? It just doesn’t make sense to me.
And those things took so much time. Mackie took a lot of time with not knowing what to do, wanting something and then suddenly wanting something else. Ignoring something one minute and then trying to talk about it the next. It was like he couldn’t make up his mind, only he never thought of it like that. There was never an in between for his thoughts to change, they just suddenly did.
A lot of the book focused on Mackie and Tate, and then Mackie and his family, and then Mackie and the people like him. With nothing getting done. And then, when things started happening, it took forever. It was so slow going, so anticlimactic. One scene, within the last fifty pages, was exciting and really good, but the rest just took forever.
I wanted Mackie to finally just kick someone’s ass, beat someone up, get it over with already, but he fought so weakly, with no force. It was ridiculous and I did not enjoy it.
I liked: Emma, Mackie’s older sister. Their relationship was done really well. She took care of him since he was young, and so they got to be really close. They were loyal to each other all the way through, and I liked that.
I did quite like Roswell, and maybe even Danny and Drew, but I don’t think there was enough of them to really make it official for me.
I liked the set-up for everything, too. The lore, what Mackie is, what the people like him are like, that was all really interesting. And the writing was good. It was pretty and then disturbing when it needed to be. The ending wasn’t too bad, either. It was just the characters and the lack of action that bothered me; that didn’t keep me interested.
I don’t know if I’m going to read another of Yovanoff’s books. I might give her another try, but I might not, and it might take a while if I do decide to.
ckausch's review against another edition
3.0
It goes without saying – the cover is AWESOME.
This is a pretty original concept. While it is not my usual type of read, I really enjoyed it. That being said, at times I had a hard time stretching my imagination to really picture what the author was describing. I think this was more my fault. Fantasy is not my thing, and this reminded me of when I read Coraline and struggled to get a mental picture....
Full review at http://dogearedandwellread.wordpress.com/2010/11/03/the-replacement-by-brenna-yovanoff/
This is a pretty original concept. While it is not my usual type of read, I really enjoyed it. That being said, at times I had a hard time stretching my imagination to really picture what the author was describing. I think this was more my fault. Fantasy is not my thing, and this reminded me of when I read Coraline and struggled to get a mental picture....
Full review at http://dogearedandwellread.wordpress.com/2010/11/03/the-replacement-by-brenna-yovanoff/