Artificial Angels

Nothing like being in a different state to catch you up on reading.

The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff is a young adult novel about a changeling, a creature who is placed in the crib of a child much like a cuckoo bird’s egg, and his struggle to live a normal life in a town with a secret that everybody knows but nobody acknowledges, but it’s not so easy when the iron in the city and in the blood of his peers hurts him. When a friend’s sister is kidnapped and replaced with a changeling, he is forced to deal with the underworld from which he came. However, he does so very reluctantly.

Mackie, the changeling protagonist, is a selfish individual, choosing self-preservation over all else. The only exception is his sister. It’s frustrating to watch him brush away the questions of Tate, the sister of the missing girl, and play along with the town’s naivety. The cowardice fit his character, but I’d have preferred he grow a pair sooner. Despite his self-interest, he’s not an unlikable or unrealistic character. Most people would choose self-preservation. I enjoyed the rest of the characters as well and never felt as if any were a Mary Sue or Gary Stu, which is too often the case in novels written for teenagers and young adults.

The story flows at a good pace, which is appreciated considering that it’s almost 350 pages. None of the scenes felt like filler and no action contrived or forced. Although I question how a teenage girl could fight a dreaded demonic creature and survive, the direction the story took all the way to the end was natural. There is romance, but it’s atypical–nobody is too perfect–and it’s not the crux of the book. There was a scene that felt too explicit, especially since the characters were teenagers, but it did not last very long. There are gritty details of the town, its underworld, and the happenings that occur in the shadows, so keep in mind that it is a dark novel that deals with some mature themes.

I loved the book enough to finish it in a single session. The story is wonderful, the characters are enjoyable, and the theme of a town that smiles away the harsh realities that live right beneath them connected with me. How often do entire communities fake it and deny what really occurs in their own neighborhood? They don’t even have the excuse of demonic creatures! I saw myself in Mackie, playing along because I didn’t want to be singled out even though everybody knew I was different and weird. That is probably why I enjoyed it so much, but even if you don’t empathize with him, you’ll enjoy this book if you enjoy urban fantasy.

My Final Score: Over 9,000

One of my new year’s resolutions is to read a novel a week. That might not sound like much, but I tend to have huge lulls in between books, so it’ll be a nice challenge for me to maintain momentum in my reading. I also want to share my thoughts on the books I read, if only for the excuse to write more.
The first week of 2012 was intense, so I’ll start this week with The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff. It’s about a changeling who lives in the small town of Gentry who must travel to his birthplace of Mayhem, the underworld beneath Gentry, and must “find his rightful place, in our world–or theirs.”
I bought it because I’ll buy any book about fairies, even if it isn’t blatantly about them. Good Amazon reviews helped too. It’s also different from the usual YA novel I read in that the protagonist is male. It’s a fresh change after novels where the protagonist is a teenage girl who’s unique in the same way as every teenage girl who’s a main character.
I’ll write an actual review by next Monday, if not this Sunday.