The Replacement

Author: Brenna Yovanoff
Publisher: Simon and Schuster UK Ltd
Price: £6.99
Availability: Out Now

Teenaged Mackie Doyle is a 'replacement'. The 16-year-old was switched at birth by creatures below the earth, and should have died as a child. He survived mainly due to the constant devotion of his sister Emma and manages to keep himself going with the help of a small, close-knit group of friends - but his allergies to iron, blood, and consecrated ground are slowly killing him.


A young girl dies and her older sister, who Mackie is fond of, insists that the child wasn’t really her sister. Reluctantly, Mackie tries to help save the girl from the underworld, and find a way to keep himself alive.

Yovanoff provides an interesting supernatural twist in this coming of age novel. Each character is unique and deals with life and death in their small town in their own ways. The book is geared more towards a teenaged audience than an adult one. The teens in the book are angsty, but not dramatically or annoyingly so. The author appears to be vying for the attention of Twilight fans, but the story is original, quirky, and pleasurable to read.

8/10
Jill Mcdole