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hnm2015's review against another edition
2.0
I don't put down many books and I know this is loved by so many but I was bored through the whole thing. I finished 3/4 of the book.
cleah's review against another edition
5.0
Malcolm (Mackie) knows he is not normal. In the small town of Gentry, he has to keep everyone else from knowing he is not normal too. His father is the local pastor, who tries his best to keep up appearances that nothing is wrong with the town. But things are about to get a lot more difficult to hide. Mackie's condition starts to worsen by the day, and he knows he will have to come to terms with the dark truths he's always known were there a lot sooner. Plus, a girl named Tate has been sniffing around, asking Mackie a lot of questions about her dead baby sister and who he really is. If Mackie hopes to save his town and get the girl, he is going to have to toughen up and go back to the ugly place he originally came from.
I liked this book! Changeling stories are one of my favorites. It is both exciting and scary to think of babies being swapped for troublesome little creatures from another world! Mackie speaks and thinks wise beyond his years, a fact that made this book very enjoyable to read. I also really liked Tate. She was such a rough and tough girl, so assured of herself! Very refreshing and sexy! Mackie's older sister Emma was also a fresh character. A sister who loves and cares about her brother - imagine! And this review would not be complete without mentioning how awesome Mackie's friend Roswell is. We all should be so lucky as to have a friend like him. The changeling lore was fun and I liked that Brenna Yovanoff never actually named the other beasts. Honestly, I was expecting there to be a lot of loose ends, but all my questions were answered by the climax, and not in an overly rushed way. I am definitely looking forward to more from this author!
I liked this book! Changeling stories are one of my favorites. It is both exciting and scary to think of babies being swapped for troublesome little creatures from another world! Mackie speaks and thinks wise beyond his years, a fact that made this book very enjoyable to read. I also really liked Tate. She was such a rough and tough girl, so assured of herself! Very refreshing and sexy! Mackie's older sister Emma was also a fresh character. A sister who loves and cares about her brother - imagine! And this review would not be complete without mentioning how awesome Mackie's friend Roswell is. We all should be so lucky as to have a friend like him. The changeling lore was fun and I liked that Brenna Yovanoff never actually named the other beasts. Honestly, I was expecting there to be a lot of loose ends, but all my questions were answered by the climax, and not in an overly rushed way. I am definitely looking forward to more from this author!
zoe_e_w's review against another edition
4.0
Well first, let me get my one of my two quibbling complaints out of the way about The Replacement: I hated the blurb the more I read of the book. It isn't even remotely accurate, and I wouldn't have left this on my TBR pile for so long if the blurb had been more honest about what a creepy and refreshing story I'd find inside.
Malcolm "Mackie" Doyle is a a replacement, a sickly fae child left behind as part of a bargain for the healthy child who is stolen and sacrificed by The Lady. Make no mistakes about this being a cheerful story. Mackie is a sick kid with an allergy to iron and steel, so just about everything in the human world is killing him. But his church going family works hard to protect him, and his pastor father works hard to hide his replacement child from the prying eyes of the neighbors.
The thing I love about this story right off the bat is, EVERYONE in town is aware of the monsters already, even if they don't have proper names for them. It's just that everyone has agreed to accept the bloody terms of the deal with the monsters. They know these thing kill kids every seven years, but the town prospers if they let it happen. So they let it happen. So, don't make up your mind that the humans are the good guys in this story, because there are no good guys. Even Mackie isn't perfect. Which I suppose is what makes him easier to love. He doesn't have the right answers, and he's not witty or a natural leader. You wouldn't expect that, given the way he's been raised anyway. It would be out of character in a terrible way.
Before I go on, I noted two scenes that either shows Mackie has a death wish, or the writer didn't think too hard about Mackie's choice of sustenance. In any case, he consumes cold breakfast cereal from the box like it's no big deal. Uh, well most boxed cereals are vitamin-fortified, including a full daily dose of iron. So if the taint of the metal from metal cans was too dangerous for him to eat canned food, his habit of snarfing iron-packed kiddie cereal over potatoes didn't seem like a bright idea. I tend not to think it's a death wish because Mackie's allergic reaction to iron were violent and sudden, yet eating the cereal didn't even make him queasy. So I'm calling this one as a legit mistake in the story. It's not quite a deal breaker, but it is going to cost the book half a star.
Then again, during a party, Mackie demonstrates that he MAY have a death wish when he pulls a typical guy stunt. He's paired up with a hot girl, the girl he's been watching since first grade, like. And he knows she has a pierced tongue, and that kissing her could be deadly for someone like him. But he still kisses her, and yep, her steel tongue piercing almost kills him. But being fair, put in the same position, I'm not sure I'd have acted differently. Kissing the girl wasn't so much about kissing her, it was about finally doing something normal after years of being sick and afraid. Problems is, in trying to act normal, Mackie has to confront the reality that he's not, and that scares him.
And why is Mackie afraid? Because his whole life, his parents have both told him to never talk about himself, or the townspeople will kill him. Yet, everyone of Mackie's friends pretty much knows what he is already. Mackie doesn't know that, and he's too paranoid to ask. Why? Because his parents said the same thing over and over for his whole life: "The truth will kill you." So that's a LOT of programming to overcome, and that Mackie does at the pace he does is great.
What really makes Mackie shine is his self-awareness of being a monster. He doesn't know what happened to the real Malcolm Doyle, but he wants to know. He wants to understand why this deal keeps being made, and why everyone just accepts living with the lie. And the more Mackie pushes for the truth, the more it comes out in creepy, ugly spurts, like rotting blood spurting from a swollen corpse by a scalpel. This is a story with monsters, zombie girls, blood sacrifices, with terrible deals made with ancient fae forces, and with human adults who look the other way to stay happy with their lot in life. At the heart of this rotten town is someone finally so mad about the injustices of it all that they inspire Mackie to be brave, even if he's really afraid of the whole world.
The last time I reviewed a YA book, I hated it, and someone said, "Well, maybe you just don't like YA." No, it was more fair that I don't like Post-Apoc, and the book already had to recover from a huge debt for being PA. It never did. This book is the kind of fantasy YA work that allows me to say "See, I like some of YA just fine!" But I don't just like this book. I love it.
And what I love most about this story is that the characters feel real despite the fantastic surroundings. It's not just Mackie, but his sister Emma, his mother and father, his friends. Even the mean girl, Alice has more screen time and understanding than I've seen from other YA writers. Aside from the cereal thing and minor quibbles with the world-building ideas shaping the fae "gods" around human whims, there's no one and nothing in this story that didn't leave me feeling charged up and tense. It's a creepy tale from start to finish, and the monsters stay scary to the last fight. And Mackie is a great teen, not a snarky stereotype, but a frightened dying kid who just wants to do the right thing for once in his rotten life. In the process, he sorts out that maybe if he pushes a little, it doesn't have to be a rotten life, and he doesn't have to die.
He's also incredibly self-aware, and his desire to help his neighbor Tate outshines his love and respect for his parents, and for his fears, also instilled by the same parents who claim to love him. He has to overcome the training they falsely tried to program into him and become his own person. And after some stumbles and falls, the kid delivers with a big gory slide for the finish plate.
Can I gush any more about this book? Not without taking a break to breathe. I give The Replacement 4.5 stars. I woulda given 5 but the cereal thing really bugged me. Mackie reacted to iron poisoning instantly, so boxed cereal really shouldn't have been on his list of acceptable foods. But setting aside that one tiny, TEENSY quibble, I am ready to declare Brenna Yovanoff a new literary hero, right up there in skills with John A. Lindqvist and yes, even Stephen King. This is an awesome book, and I'm glad I gave it a chance despite the iffy blurb.
Malcolm "Mackie" Doyle is a a replacement, a sickly fae child left behind as part of a bargain for the healthy child who is stolen and sacrificed by The Lady. Make no mistakes about this being a cheerful story. Mackie is a sick kid with an allergy to iron and steel, so just about everything in the human world is killing him. But his church going family works hard to protect him, and his pastor father works hard to hide his replacement child from the prying eyes of the neighbors.
The thing I love about this story right off the bat is, EVERYONE in town is aware of the monsters already, even if they don't have proper names for them. It's just that everyone has agreed to accept the bloody terms of the deal with the monsters. They know these thing kill kids every seven years, but the town prospers if they let it happen. So they let it happen. So, don't make up your mind that the humans are the good guys in this story, because there are no good guys. Even Mackie isn't perfect. Which I suppose is what makes him easier to love. He doesn't have the right answers, and he's not witty or a natural leader. You wouldn't expect that, given the way he's been raised anyway. It would be out of character in a terrible way.
Before I go on, I noted two scenes that either shows Mackie has a death wish, or the writer didn't think too hard about Mackie's choice of sustenance. In any case, he consumes cold breakfast cereal from the box like it's no big deal. Uh, well most boxed cereals are vitamin-fortified, including a full daily dose of iron. So if the taint of the metal from metal cans was too dangerous for him to eat canned food, his habit of snarfing iron-packed kiddie cereal over potatoes didn't seem like a bright idea. I tend not to think it's a death wish because Mackie's allergic reaction to iron were violent and sudden, yet eating the cereal didn't even make him queasy. So I'm calling this one as a legit mistake in the story. It's not quite a deal breaker, but it is going to cost the book half a star.
Then again, during a party, Mackie demonstrates that he MAY have a death wish when he pulls a typical guy stunt. He's paired up with a hot girl, the girl he's been watching since first grade, like. And he knows she has a pierced tongue, and that kissing her could be deadly for someone like him. But he still kisses her, and yep, her steel tongue piercing almost kills him. But being fair, put in the same position, I'm not sure I'd have acted differently. Kissing the girl wasn't so much about kissing her, it was about finally doing something normal after years of being sick and afraid. Problems is, in trying to act normal, Mackie has to confront the reality that he's not, and that scares him.
And why is Mackie afraid? Because his whole life, his parents have both told him to never talk about himself, or the townspeople will kill him. Yet, everyone of Mackie's friends pretty much knows what he is already. Mackie doesn't know that, and he's too paranoid to ask. Why? Because his parents said the same thing over and over for his whole life: "The truth will kill you." So that's a LOT of programming to overcome, and that Mackie does at the pace he does is great.
What really makes Mackie shine is his self-awareness of being a monster. He doesn't know what happened to the real Malcolm Doyle, but he wants to know. He wants to understand why this deal keeps being made, and why everyone just accepts living with the lie. And the more Mackie pushes for the truth, the more it comes out in creepy, ugly spurts, like rotting blood spurting from a swollen corpse by a scalpel. This is a story with monsters, zombie girls, blood sacrifices, with terrible deals made with ancient fae forces, and with human adults who look the other way to stay happy with their lot in life. At the heart of this rotten town is someone finally so mad about the injustices of it all that they inspire Mackie to be brave, even if he's really afraid of the whole world.
The last time I reviewed a YA book, I hated it, and someone said, "Well, maybe you just don't like YA." No, it was more fair that I don't like Post-Apoc, and the book already had to recover from a huge debt for being PA. It never did. This book is the kind of fantasy YA work that allows me to say "See, I like some of YA just fine!" But I don't just like this book. I love it.
And what I love most about this story is that the characters feel real despite the fantastic surroundings. It's not just Mackie, but his sister Emma, his mother and father, his friends. Even the mean girl, Alice has more screen time and understanding than I've seen from other YA writers. Aside from the cereal thing and minor quibbles with the world-building ideas shaping the fae "gods" around human whims, there's no one and nothing in this story that didn't leave me feeling charged up and tense. It's a creepy tale from start to finish, and the monsters stay scary to the last fight. And Mackie is a great teen, not a snarky stereotype, but a frightened dying kid who just wants to do the right thing for once in his rotten life. In the process, he sorts out that maybe if he pushes a little, it doesn't have to be a rotten life, and he doesn't have to die.
He's also incredibly self-aware, and his desire to help his neighbor Tate outshines his love and respect for his parents, and for his fears, also instilled by the same parents who claim to love him. He has to overcome the training they falsely tried to program into him and become his own person. And after some stumbles and falls, the kid delivers with a big gory slide for the finish plate.
Can I gush any more about this book? Not without taking a break to breathe. I give The Replacement 4.5 stars. I woulda given 5 but the cereal thing really bugged me. Mackie reacted to iron poisoning instantly, so boxed cereal really shouldn't have been on his list of acceptable foods. But setting aside that one tiny, TEENSY quibble, I am ready to declare Brenna Yovanoff a new literary hero, right up there in skills with John A. Lindqvist and yes, even Stephen King. This is an awesome book, and I'm glad I gave it a chance despite the iffy blurb.
readwithpassion's review against another edition
4.0
Mackie Doyle's mother tried to protect her child. But the scissors and metal couldn't keep him in his crib, and he was replaced. The replacement (who they continued to call Mackie) can't stand to be around metal, and he is slowly dying. The town of Gentry is unable to keep their children, who are replaced with monsters that die within days. This story is very creatively crafted and a bit spooky.
emjay24's review against another edition
1.0
I’m not sure why so many people in the reviews seemed to be confused with this book. This town, Gentry, is kept alive by sacrifices to the Faerie. There are different types of Faerie who need to be fed in different ways. One way is through a Faerie band that performs regularly at the teen band/dance venue that seems to be in many books and shows (Buffy!) but I’ve not seen in real life. Music serves as a conduit for people’s emotions and admirations, which then feed the Faeries. Another way is by other Fairies taking a human baby every seven years and replacing it with a changeling. Usually these changelings can’t survive in the human world and die, but Mackie, the main character, has survived 16 years so far, mostly through the will of his loving sister, and also a good support system of his parents and friends. No one talks about anything in this town, they just gloss over things, and so Mackie is pretty clueless until the book begins. Most of the things people in the reviews are confused about are explained in the text, but perhaps they’re just reading too fast and not gaining reading comprehension. He is able to drink out of a can because it’s made of aluminum, which doesn’t affect Faeries. Another reason people could be confused is because they possibly aren’t familiar with folklore, but I think even without that knowledge you can figure things out from what the book says. Some people expressed dismay at swearing, drinking, etc. I didn’t even notice any bad language, but there probably is, as it happens in life. It’s not excessive enough to hinder their speech or stand out. Now that I’ve got all of that covered, I did not finish this book. I almost did. I was over ¾ through with it and realized I didn’t care what was going to happen, so I stopped reading. A book from a Changeling’s point of view is an interesting concept, but then I couldn’t care about him, or about the little girl that had been freshly stolen he wanted to save, or his weird family. The only one I liked was his best friend, just because he seemed like a nice guy and a great friend. The book started out better and dragged as it went along.
libertyskies's review against another edition
2.0
This one was a bit too gory for me. I also didn't like the amount of swear words and I was often angry with the main character. But that's just me.
nightowlreview's review against another edition
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
nerdyfangirl's review against another edition
5.0
Let me just say that I LOVE this cover . . . and also this book. Brenna Yovanoff has crafted a seriously eerie book with wonderful characters. Mackie is a believable boy complete with the inability to not stare at girls and endanger his well-being for a kiss, and the best part is that he's not drop dead gorgeous. He's pale and tall and awkward (which is totally my type, but still), and I love it!
I think my favorite character, though, is Tate. Her little sister dies (so the town is willing to believe), and everyone shuns her because she doesn't mourn the death of the thing that replaced her. Everyone turns against her, and she turns to the single weirdest kid in town to help her (and then falls for him). She's strong and quirky and stubborn as hell, and she is the reason Mackie gets involved at all . . . I said he was a real guy.
The writing is superb, and the descriptions leave just enough to the imagination to make your skin crawl in places. Yovanoff has created a twisted world and filled it with strong, realistic characters (and a few creepy, intimidating ones as well) in her stunning debut novel. If you think there aren't any "boy books" out there, you're missing out on this one.
I think my favorite character, though, is Tate. Her little sister dies (so the town is willing to believe), and everyone shuns her because she doesn't mourn the death of the thing that replaced her. Everyone turns against her, and she turns to the single weirdest kid in town to help her (and then falls for him). She's strong and quirky and stubborn as hell, and she is the reason Mackie gets involved at all . . . I said he was a real guy.
The writing is superb, and the descriptions leave just enough to the imagination to make your skin crawl in places. Yovanoff has created a twisted world and filled it with strong, realistic characters (and a few creepy, intimidating ones as well) in her stunning debut novel. If you think there aren't any "boy books" out there, you're missing out on this one.
sausome's review against another edition
2.0
Not the most amazing book ... a bit too much teen-melodrama for me, what I imagine Twilight to be like. You know, angsty and darkish. I will say it was an interesting take on the story of the changeling, and a refreshing change from vampires, zombies, and fairies that seem to have taken over the teen and adult book world.
It was, however, always raining, wet, misting, dreary, etc, which makes for an 'overcast' feeling when reading it. I would have preferred more of the underground/ story of the Morrigan and the Lady, and all the creepies living in the House of Misery and the other house. I imagined these creatures from some Tim Burton animated film, like "Nightmare Before Christmas."
It was, however, always raining, wet, misting, dreary, etc, which makes for an 'overcast' feeling when reading it. I would have preferred more of the underground/ story of the Morrigan and the Lady, and all the creepies living in the House of Misery and the other house. I imagined these creatures from some Tim Burton animated film, like "Nightmare Before Christmas."