The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff
The small town of Gentry seems like a normal enough place. It’s a lucky place – when a factory closes another large business seems to move in and keep the town employed, all seems to go well for the town. All is happy and gay except a child dies every seven years: a child that seems different, off somehow. And no one seems to notice or care that the child who dies isn’t the real child. It looks like the real child, but it simply isn’t. But Mackie Doyle cares. He’s is a “different” child: a child that has lived sixteen years despite being fatally allergic to iron, blood and consecrated ground. (Which some may not think is too hard to avoid, but his dad is a pastor.) Mackie Doyle is a replacement. And he’s determined to figure out why he is like he is and stop the horrible cycle of Gentry.
I’ll admit it. I picked this one up because of the cover. Young adult books have the coolest covers and I just tend to gravitate towards them. So does my mother. I received The Replacement as an advance reader’s copy last year and never got around to it. I was in an independent bookstore this weekend with my mom and she picked it up and I promised her my copy when I was done with it. Being a nice daughter I moved it to the top of the pile.
Fans of paranormal and urban fantasy would enjoy this book. What is also nice is that it isn’t to be continued. The story fits nicely in its small package and that is something to appreciate right there.
