The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff ARC review

Title: The Replacement

By: Brenna Yovanoff
Published: September 21st 2010 by Razorbill
Details: Hardcover, 352 pages
Special Note: ARC Review

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?

My Thoughts:

The entire town of Gentry knows that their human children are stolen and murdered by monsters, but they seem to be okay with the sacrifice in order to keep their town the happy place it is. This novel creates a intriguing world that is full of mystery.

Mackie Doyle is one of the creepiest main characters I've come across in a while, but I will say he is very likable and he won me over very easily. Mackie has this venerability that makes you root for him even though he's not quite human and placed in a crib to replace a human baby that had been stolen and sacrificed. While the creatures under the hill may be evil, Mackie isn't, and strives to just be "normal". Iron, even the slight amount in blood, causes Mackie to go into a toxic shock type syndrome, which adds to the struggle to live in the human world.

This novel is a great YOUNG ADULT (YA) mystery. The kind where you have to figure out exactly what Mackie is why these creatures under the hill suddenly want him back.

If you like creepy YA told from a male first person point of view with a little bit of romance sprinkled in, this one's for you.
 
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