The Replacement-- Brenna Yovanoff
Release Date: September 21st, 2010Genre: Faerie/Paranormal/Teen-angst
Pages: 352
Rating: ZERO FLOWERS
Goodreads Page: Click here
Summary: (from ARC)
Though he lives in the small town of Gentry, Mackie comes from a world of tunnels and black murky water, a world of living dead girls ruled by a little tattooed princess. He is a Replacement-- left in the crib of a human baby sixteen years ago. Now, because of fatal allergies to iron, blood, and consecrated ground, Mackie is slowly dying in the human world.Review: I have never given a book zero stars on my blog before. I don't usually like to review books that I have such strong negative feelings for. But there has been a lot of hype for this book around the blogosphere, and I just wouldn't feel right if I didn't give you guys my two cents. I'm going to try to be nice, I have nothing against the author. She's published, which is a lot more than I can say.
Mackie would give anything to live among us, to practice on his bass or spend time with an oddly intriguing girl called Tate. But when Tate's baby sister goes missing, Mackie is drawn irrevocably into the underworld of Gentry, known as Mayhem. He must face the dark creatures of the Slag Heaps and find his rightful place, in our world, or theirs.
In regards to the book-- The premise was so interesting! A faerie trying to live in our world with all the downsides of being a faerie. It's cool, right?
I also really liked Mackie's sister Emma. She was the only person actually willing to do something about the chaos that was Gentry and Mackie's life. His parents... I was glad that they kept Mackie and didn't treat him like a freak, but they still bothered me. For reasons to be explained.
The entire book was extremely vague. No one in the town of Gentry ever talks about ANYTHING. They all know that there are strange things going on, but no one does anything about it. Even Mackie's best friend never questions his weird behavior. I recognize that there was probably a deep meaning behind this. But I just couldn't find it. I just found it extremely annoying, and it made the characters seem very two dimensional. So many questions were left unanswered that just made me so frustrated.
Also, the profanity. This book is described as "Edward Scissorhands meets The Catcher in the Rye." This probably should have tipped me off, since I couldn't stand TCitR. This book had so much profanity, and underage drinking, and immorality. *sigh* I just don't want to read books that gritty. I can handle some grit, but not to that level.
Anyway. Lots of people love this book, including plenty of people whose opinions I really respect. But just be aware when you pick it up that it is very edgy.
I hope I wasn't mean. I didn't want to attack the author or book in any way. Every book has its place, even if it's not on my shelf.
Before reading your review, I was really looking forward to The Replacement, though after reading that it consists of so much profanity, it reminded me of The Modern Faerie Tales by Holly Black. I dislike that series mainly because of the obnoxious language and attitudes. So right now, I definitely have to think twice on this one. Thank you SO much for your honest review.
ReplyDeleteGreat honest review! I hate it when books are so vague that drives me nuts!
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing wrong with an honest review. I'm glad you gave me a heads up. I will not be reading this one now. Like you, I can handle some grit, but not excessive. :)
ReplyDeleteDefinitely sounds like "horror" whether YA or not probably isn't your genre :) definitely not for everyone, the whole genre is pretty gritty!
ReplyDeleteDon't feel bad for posting an honest review, your opinion matters!
There are plent of horror books out there that I really like. I like Simon Holt's books, and Alexander Gordon Smith. This book was MUCH more teen-angst than horror.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your review. I intended to pick this one up, even though I don't like horror, and I know better now. I doubt I'd like it anymore than you did.
ReplyDeleteWow, I was looking forward to this one too. But now I have to pause for a while and think because vagueness in a novel is just something that irritates me to no end. I can handle grit, profanity, what-have-you--but if I don't know what's going on, and if I don't find out by the end, I am not sticking with it.
ReplyDeleteYou have no idea how happy I am that you gave an honest review. :D
I finished The Replacement today and I have to agree with you. Too much profanity and why the immorality? I am wondering if she is trying to appeal to teen boy audiences? I really didn't enjoy the book and it had such a promising premise! Thanks for reviewing the book.
ReplyDeleteYay! Thanks for the honest review. I have had this book on my radar for months now and was not planning on reading it. Then today I was on good reads and there were so many raving reviews of this book that I almost changed my mind. But as a rule, I always look at at least one review with one or two stars. Yours was the first one I saw. I like to try and stay away from books with excesses of profanity and immorality, especially when I'm reading YA. That, to me, is more important than the fantastic and original plot. Lots of books have those. So thanks for being honest.
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