{Review} The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

Release Date: 21 September 2010

Publisher: Razorbill

Age Group: Young Adult

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 343

Author: Brenna Yovanoff

Rating: 5 Books 

Buy the Book: Amazon

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. 

My Thoughts:

With the Replacement Brenna quickly became one of my favourite writers and I think that one of the main reasons why this happened was due to the fact that the setting plays such a huge role in the book itself.

I found the eerie town of gentry to be really fascinating and I enjoyed reading about this horrible town and what lurked below it. The setting; Gentry, is a small town with a big secret and this secret is just as gruesome and ugly as the town itself, yet the way Yovanoff wrote about this town made me fall madly in love with it and always had me wanting to try and explore it more somehow as I would want to know about every single little intricate detail about this wonderfully horrible town.

The story line or plot of this book was awesome and I loved the fact that this book was mostly about Fae, yet it was completely different to any other faerie books I have read and what makes this book all the more great is the fact that it is such a dark book.

Now when I say it is a dark book, I do not mean hide this book away because it is so touchy and terrible, it’s not at all. This book is wonderful and I loved it to bits, the reason I say it is dark is because the descriptions about this dark town made this book so lovely and delicious.

When reading this book from Mackie’s point of view I was able to relate to him instantly as he had this constant need to belong and to fit in and it is interesting to see him in both the worlds and I just really found this book to be awesome and loved how different it was!

If you like dark faerie tales and would love to read something new and refreshing then I urge you to pick up this book and read it please. It is wonderful!

{Review} Blood Magic by Tessa Gratton

Release Date: 24 May 2011

Publisher: DOUBLEDAY

Age Group: Young Adult

Format: Paperback

Pages: 416

Author: Tessa Gratton

Rating: 5 Books 

Buy the Book: Amazon

Draw a circle ... place a dead leaf in the center ... sprinkle some salt ... recite a little Latin ... add a drop of blood ...

Maybe that last part isn't exactly simple. Yet somehow it feels right to Silla Kennicott. And nothing in her life has felt remotely right since her parents' horrific deaths. She's willing to do anything to uncover the truth about her family—even try a few spells from the mysterious book that arrived on her doorstep ... and spill some blood.

The book isn't the only recent arrival in Silla's life. There's Nick Pardee, the new guy next door who may have seen Silla casting a spell. She's not sure what he saw and is afraid to find out. But as they spend more time together, Silla realizes this may not be Nick's first encounter with Blood Magic. Brought together by a combination of fate and chemistry, Silla and Nick can't deny their attraction. And they can't ignore the dark presence lurking nearby—waiting to reclaim the book and all its power.

Tessa Gratton's intoxicating first novel will keep pulses racing, minds reeling, and pages turning right up to the very last drop of blood.

 My Thoughts:

I had heard great things about this book and I was actually shocked when the book turned out to be way better than I had originally thought it would be. It blew me away, yet had my glued to every word on every single page!

I know for a fact that Tessa Gratton and Brenna Yovanoff are friends and to anyone who would like to know; I am in fact in love with Brenna Yovanoff's writing and I am oh so glad to say that Tessa gives Brenna a run for her money. I loved that Brenna showed Tessa how the setting can also be seen as a character and how big a role it actually plays. I love, love, love dark and delicious books(my term for these kinds of books) and I loved every moment of this book due to the setting making it even more creepy.

Silla and Nick were amazingly well thought out characters and I absolutely loved reading from both of their perspectives. You know a book is really great when you enjoy reading from both sides of the story without getting annoyed. I can not explain to you how wonderful these characters were! I will however try- well on the one hand you get a girl; Silla who is a little wacked in the brain(totally awesome) and you can't help but love her and then you get Nick; who is a jerk yet not like any other jerk you have read about because he is not always such a jerk, his thoughts may reflect this but he is just a really fun character to read about.

Blood Magic. That is ultimately what this book revolves around; creating magic with your blood and a few other things, but the thing I loved about this book was the fact that it was not about what species the characters were or what mystical powers they possessed, but rather yet normal people who discover creepy things and are not 'special' or 'gifted'. They simply are NORMAL people.

This book is absolutely amazing and if you have not gathered this yet, then I will say it a little more clearly: I LOVE THIS BOOK!

Tessa; a fantastic debut that had me on the edge of my seat and kept me constantly guessing. Your writing is simply beautiful and even more so addictive and that is why this book is being rated 5 stars.