While Brenna Yovanoff’s The Replacement was not one of my favorite readers, this is a book that will have wide appeal to fans of the macabre, horror, and folk legends. Think of your Edgar Allen Poe fans with this one.

Mackie has always felt like an outsider, and perhaps his sister’s insistence that he was a replacement — a baby put in the place of a human baby’s bed — doesn’t help. But when Mackie finds out that what his sister tells him is true, well, perhaps he feels even more like an outsider than he did before. But when he descends into the underworld from where he came, he comes to realize that fitting in isn’t as easy as he thought it would be.

In addition to the dark elements (and the very human elements of fitting in), Mackie has a little bit of a romance budding with Tate. Tate and Mackie have a unique bond in that Tate’s sister has been a replacement, as well.

The Replacement is full of lore and builds a world that many readers will fall right into. Although the book’s pitch of being “Edward Scissorhands meets Catcher in the Rye” seems really far fetched to me (in no way is Mackie any Holden Caulfield), I think fans of Edward Scissorhands and similar stories will enjoy this tale. Fans of Catcher in the Rye might want to skip this one if they are expecting a similar main character.

Although fitting in is a big theme here, other themes tend to center around legends and folk lore. I found some big plot holes in this novel, as well as some weak development among characters (Mackie and Tate never once seemed like they were into each other, since Mackie had a huge crush on another girl the entire time), but readers who go in for the darker aspects will easily appreciate this story, the world building, and the ending.

Pop this into your Halloween displays this year but don’t expect it to stay too long!

*Review copy received from the publisher.