I have the pleasure in welcoming Brenna Yovanoff to Book Chick City today as part of her UK blog tour, celebrating the release of her young adult novel, ‘The Replacement‘.
There’s also a fab giveaway at the end of this post so make sure you enter! Jo’s review of ‘The Replacement‘ will also be coming very soon!
I never set out to write a faerie story.
That seems kind of silly in retrospect, since from the very beginning I knew I was writing a book about a changeling, and what’s more fae than stealing human babies and replacing them with strange inhuman children with wrinkled skin and too many teeth?
But when I first started working on The Replacement, I was mostly interested in the idea of changelings themselves—the lore and the limitations, and what their lives would be like in a contemporary setting. So many components of our day-to-day world are made of iron or stainless steel, which is toxic to the fae, and at first, I wasn’t even sure if a normal life would be possible.
During the early stages, I spent quite a bit of time figuring out the mundane details, the everyday existence of Mackie Doyle. The faeries didn’t show up until later.
When they did, it came as a big surprise (even though it shouldn’t have). I didn’t quite know what to do, because although I’d read a lot of faerie stories growing up, I’d never really considered writing one. Even at their worst, faeries tend to be precise and calculating, quite sophisticated in their machinations. They’re typically portrayed as graceful, statuesque, and as a life-long horror aficionado I’d always been more interested in the monstrous.
But faeries can be frightening, too—and not only in temperament, but in appearance. They can be cruel and vicious and even grotesque, and once I started researching the different varieties and discovering the more horrific subclasses, I knew that these were the kind of faeries I wanted to write about. The inhabitants of the House of Mayhem are not what one might immediately picture when thinking of faeries, but they take their roots in the same folklore. Once I considered these less-than-gracious creatures, I knew they’d be perfect for the world I was creating—they were not only beautiful, but monstrous.
Though he lives in the small town of Gentry, Mackie 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 slowly dying in the human world.
Mackie would give anything to live among us, to practice on his bass or spend time with an oddly intriguing girl named 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.
GIVEAWAY!
I have THREE (3) copies of ‘The Replacement‘ to give away courtesy of Simon & Schuster. All you have to do to enter is the following:
1. Leave a comment for the author
2. Read Book Chick City’s giveaway policy
3. Fill out this form
4. One entry per person
This giveaway is for UK residents only (publisher’s request) and ends Sat 8th Jan!
GOOD LUCK!
33 Comments
I'm so excited to get a copy of this book to read because i've been hearing so many good things about!
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I've been wanting to read The Replacement for a long time – I'm looking forward to the darker side of faeries in this one!
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I think the darker side os faeries looks good too. I love the cover very brooding
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This looks amazing! ~ Neda
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I finished The Replacement last week. I really enjoyed it and was suprised that the book wasn't what i expected at all. I couldn't put it down not only because it was a good story, but just so spooky. I am glad ya all finally get to buy it. (I am always a little jealous of the UK's fabulous book covers)
Kjovus
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Darn, I was really hoping this would be an international giveaway. I contacted the publisher to try to get a review copy of this one, since it looks really awesome, but I never heard a thing back.
Best of luck to your UK readers!
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This one sounds fabulous. Definitely one I would enjoy.
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This sounds like a great book, love stores of faeries
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I've read a couple of early reviews of this and it sounds very well written and the story is just up my street.
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The Replacement has been on my wishlist for some time now. The summary totally encaptured me because it sounds so different from other YA novels that have recently come out. The cover is awesome!
holz_twilight@msn.com
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I think The Replacement gives a twist to everyday belief of faeries! I look forward to reading it this year!
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sounds really cool! I would love to have a copy! The cover is fantastic!
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I've been aware of this for a while. I like the entire idea of this story. Glad it's finally going to be available
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This looks like the kind of thing that will go down really well in my School Library…after I've read it of course
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DO NOT ENTER ME IN CONTEST
I just wanted to thank Brenna for the excellent post.
All the best,
RKCharron
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I've seen lots of publicity about this book and I think the blog tour you are doing is a great idea. I am looking forward to reading the book – I'm intrigued!
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I'm really looking forward to this one, I've heard so many good things about it.
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I have been wanting to read this book since it came out. It sounds really good. Tore923@aol.com
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I love the idea of the darker more monstrous fey, can't wait to read this one
)
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This looks so good!
The cover is beautiful!
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I can't wait to read 'The Replacement' Brenna. It's been right at the top of my wishlist for a while now! It sounds amazing!
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Looks like a really interesting book…
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Having grown up loving The Brothers Grimm and anything and everything to do with Folklore, I know exactly what you mean about the other side to faeries. It's so easy to love both horror and faery tales because to me there is such a fine line between them – or at least the original ones before Disney got their mitts on them *g*
Loved this interview and can't wait to read the book.
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The Replacement sounds like a wonderful book. I love the idea of changelings, and I'm interested to see what you've done with the story.
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This looks like a good book, I am interested to read it
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Even though growing up I read books that had good and bad fairies in them, whenever anyone mentions fairies, the good ones always pop into my mind first.
This may have something to do with my childhood obsession with the FLOWER FAIRIES.
Now I much prefer reading about the more complicated kind of fairy, so i can't wait to read this book.
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I'm so excited that there are books like The Replacement being published, because it opens doors to other faerie books. Which is a must in a world of teen literature dominated by the typical, yet addictive, vampire themes.
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This looks brilliant! I can't wait to read it.
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Looks really good and different too which really appeals to me.:)
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I hadn't heard of this book or author before, but now I've had a look at many reviews and I certainly have added this an some others by Brenna to my wishlist.
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Is there a kindle version – I like to read in large print – lot easier on my eyes!! getting old
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Your Book sound like a good read, quite dark and it reminds me of Faerie Tale. Looking forward to reading it!!
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This sounds really good! I really want to read it!
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