A review by cluckingbell
The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

2.0

Love the book cover (original hardcover edition, not the angsty-teen version). The premise sounds cool and the book starts off pretty strong, establishing Mackie’s unusual lifestyle and limitations, but it never quite goes anywhere. The plotting is mechanical, with small details that you instantly suspect will factor in at some later point (which they do, but in even less satisfying ways than you had imagined), and there’s a lot of mild-mannered exposition between friend and foe alike, and the story plods along without managing to build up any momentum or real moments of tension. Somehow, even trips to underground lairs and fights with ancient deities and their henchmen feel a bit mundane. Not offended to have read it, but I may have forgotten it entirely a week from now.