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Review of "The Replacement"

"The Replacement
Brenna Yovanoff


4

Pub. Date: September 21, 2010
Pages: 352

Synopsis: Mackie Doyle is not one of us. Though he lives in the small town of Gentry, he 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 fighting to survive in the human world.

Mackie would give anything to live among us, to practice on his bass or spend time with his crush, 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.

"Edward Scissorhands" meets "The Catcher in the Rye" in this wildly imaginative and frighteningly beautiful horror novel about an unusual boy and his search for a place to belong.

This review is probably going to frustrate people, because writing it is frustrating me. I really enjoy "The Replacement" and thought it was a really cool book, but for some reason I didn't fall in love with this book and I am having trouble figuring out why. I really loved the plot of the book and thought the story was really intriguing, but I just didn't love it like I thought I would. The main character Mackie is really interesting because of his allergies to iron. I loved seeing how he would react to certain situations. Another thing that I liked was that Mackie was not perfect. At the beginning of the book he spent a lot of time looking out for himself and trying to protect his image; this mostly had to do with his father pointing out that someone who is different shouldn't make waves.

I'm not sure if it was just me, but Tate's character made me want to smack her at times. She just seemed all over the place, which I got at the beginning of the book, her sister had died and no one would listen to her, but at a certain point it got a bit annoying. She would just kind of appear in a scene and then get upset and leave. The funny thing about this behavior is that it made me like Mackie more because it didn't change his feelings for her. I did like Tate's devotion to her sister and how she could see through the magic that so many others ignored.

My favorite thing about this book was how creepy it was and it wasn't just the living dead that were scary; the role that the town people's played was also a bit frightening when you thought about it. I liked how the characters broke away from this and risked everything to change the towns cycle, even if that wasn't their initial thought when they decided to take action. Yovanoff created a terrifying set of characters in the underworld, many were grotesque, but I some of them had human feelings or desires. It was super creepy how an underworld being could take over a human life so easily. I could say more about this creepiness, but I have to leave something for you guys to discover in the book!

To me the beginning of "The Replacements" was good but the end of the book was awesome. I wished I had loved all of it, but it just didn't happen. I think most people will enjoy this book even more than I did and it is the perfect book to read before Halloween. If other people have read this book please comment with your feelings because I would love to hear them!

Less than 2 days left!

Just wanted to remind everyone that the contest I am holding to win 7 ARCs is ending tomorrow night! I know that there are so many contests out there and it is easy to forget. Good luck to everyone who enters! Click here to learn more or to enter.

On My Chair

Here are the books I am currently reading, books I have bought, borrowed or have been sent to me, and books I am planning on starting this week (this post was inspired by The Story Siren's In My Mailbox). I was really excited to get two books for review this week!

I borrowed:
"Avalon High"
Meg Cabot Pub. Date: December 27, 2005

Synopsis: Avalon High, Ellie's new school, is pretty much what she'd expected. There's Lance, the hunky footballer; Jennifer, the cute cheerleader; Marco, the troublemaker. And then there's Will - the most gorgeous guy Ellie's ever met. She can hardly believe he likes HER. When Will says he thinks he's met Ellie before, things start getting a little weird. A feeling that grows as Ellie discovers the strange bonds that entwine Will, Lance, Jen, Marco - and herself. As darkness turns to danger, can Ellie stop the horrific chain of events that is about the engulf them all...

For Review:"Halo"
Alexandra Adornetto
Pub. Date: August 31, 2010
Synopsis: Three angels are sent down to bring good to the world: Gabriel, the warrior; Ivy, the healer; and Bethany, a teenage girl who is the least experienced of the trio. But she is the most human, and when she is romantically drawn to a mortal boy, the angels fear she will not be strong enough to save anyone—especially herself—from the Dark Forces.

Is love a great enough power against evil?

"Enchanted Ivy"
Sarah Beth Durst
Pub. Date: October 12, 2010
Synopsis: What Lily Carter wants most in the world is to attend Princeton University just like her grandfather. When she finally visits the campus, Grandpa surprises her: She has been selected to take the top-secret Legacy Test. Passing means automatic acceptance to Princeton. Sweet!

Lily's test is to find the Ivy Key. But what is she looking for? Where does she start? As she searches, Lily is joined by Tye, a cute college boy with orange and black hair who says he's her guard. That's weird. But things get seriously strange when a gargoyle talks to her. He tells her that there are two Princetons—the ordinary one and a magical one—and the Key opens the gate between them. But there are more secrets that surround Lily. Worse secrets.

When Lily enters the magical Princeton, she uncovers old betrayals and new dangers, and a chance at her dream becomes a fight for her life. Soon Lily is caught in a power struggle between two worlds, with her family at its center. In a place where Knights slay monsters, boys are were-tigers, and dragons might be out for blood, Lily will need all of her ingenuity and courage—and a little magic—to unite the worlds and unlock the secrets of her past and her future.

What is in your to be read pile this week?

Review of "Ink Exchange"

"Ink Exchange" ("Wicked Lovely Series" Book 2)
Melissa Marr


3

Pub. Date: April 29, 2008
Pages: 336

Unbeknownst to mortals, a power struggle is unfolding in a world of shadows and danger. After centuries of stability, the balance among the Faery Courts has altered, and Irial, ruler of the Dark Court, is battling to hold his rebellious and newly vulnerable fey together. If he fails, bloodshed and brutality will follow.

Seventeen-year-old Leslie knows nothing of faeries or their intrigues. When she is attracted to an eerily beautiful tattoo of eyes and wings, all she knows is that she has to have it, convinced it is a tangible symbol of changes she desperately craves for her own life.

The tattoo does bring changes not the kind Leslie has dreamed of, but sinister, compelling changes that are more than symbolic. Those changes will bind Leslie and Irial together, drawing Leslie deeper and deeper into the faery world, unable to resist its allures, and helpless to withstand its perils...

I was really hoping that I would love this book, but it just didn't happen. I was happy to see that the faeries were as dangerous as I was hoping for in "Wicked Lovely"; Irial was a great villain and I always felt on edge when his character was around. I liked the premise of the ink exchange as a way of feeding the dark faeries. I liked Leslie and Niall as characters and even have to admit that I respect Irial as a character but I can't say that I liked the guy.

"Wicked Lovely" actually had more to offer than "Ink Exchange"; it was a lot darker and dealt with real issues, like abuse, but it was bordering on being too depressing. Where the first book in the series had a super happy ending where, this one totally did the opposite. I think the darkness in "Ink Exchange" did make sense up to a point, but I felt like it was kind of painful to read because of how dark it was and then the ending was also pretty depressing making me just feel sad about everything. I did like how Leslie's side of the story ended, I thought it was fitting, but I didn't agree with how it ended for Niall and Irial. One of the problems was that I liked Niall too much, even though he probably would have caused a lot of harm to Leslie, I just couldn't get over it. There were other problems I had with the ending, but I will totally end up giving something away if I say anymore. Another thing that bugged me was Gabriel's character, I did not get him at all... even his description kind of confused me. Out of all the characters in the book he just didn't seem that evil. At the end of the book I kind of felt like I missed something about his character.

I did like "Ink Exchange" and thought the book was entertaining, but at the same time it was a bit confusing. "Ink Exchange" didn't really seem to be part of the same series as "Wicked Lovely"; yes they did have some of the same characters and dealt with faeries, but I just wasn't expecting this completely dark and depressing book after the super happy-go-lucky ending of "Wicked Lovely". I know I asked for dark, but it just seemed to come out of no where. At the beginning I was enjoying "Ink Exchange" more than "Wicked Lovely", but sadly this changed halfway through the book. I think readers will like this book more if they know what they are getting into when they pick it up. I know a lot of people do really enjoy this series, but after "Ink Exchange" I don't if I will continue reading it.