Cannonball read #19: The replacement by Brenda Yovanoff

I read a translated version of this book, so I wondered if my issues with it had more to do with the translator doing a poor job and less with the author's talent for writing. Then I went online to see what others were writing about it, and saw that they had the same issues.

Mackie Doyle is a teenage boy facing some of the typical teenage problems most kids his age face: allergic reactions to steel, baby kidnappings, evil demons. Oh, and he's also unique. You know, just like all other kids his age. Only unique in a different way: he's also a demon, a replacement for the real Mackie Doyle, whom the demons stole and sacrificed when he was a baby.

What follows is....I'm not entirely sure. He's on a quest. To save someone. And some demons object, while others don't. Or do they? What's going on?

To say that this book is confusing is to put it mildly. Couple that with a lukewarm interest in the characters and you have a very short attention span. The language is simplistic. Yovanoff seems to have some sort of fascination with teeth. Why else would she include a description of them every time she introduces a character?

A book I would recommend to angsty 12-year old goths.