The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

Mackie isn't a normal kid. He's one of the unmentionable things about Gentry, the town where strange things happen. The town where babies are kidnapped and something else takes their place. Mackie is a replacement. He can't touch iron or steel, he can't walk onto consecrated ground, he's sickly in our modern world. No one really talks about it, not even his family. They just replaced the iron utensils with aluminum ones, and his preacher father created a daycare near the church outside the consecrated area. They tell him he must be careful to blend in, never stand out, never reveal that he's different...or he could end up like Kellan Caury: pulled out of his home and killed because people needed someone to blame.

Mackie's having a rough day, it's Blood Drive Day at school and the iron from the blood is nauseating. His classmate Tate is back in school after the death of her sister, and she keeps following him around trying to ask him questions he isn't allowed to answer. She wants to know what happened to her real sister, the one that was taken and replaced with the one who just died.

His condition is getting worse, not that he's ever been very healthy. Some guy approaches him, and tells him he knows how to help. He whispers the one phrase Mackie can't get over: "you're dying." What's he supposed to do? His sister Emma, the one who has always been there for him, brings home a friend from college. Instantly he knows that Janice is like him. When Emma brings home something Janice has mixed up for him, he drinks it, desperate to feel better...and he does! It's like a miracle! He doesn't remember ever feeling this good. He goes to a party and sees Tate, and again she tries to talk to him about her sister. There is something that draws him to her, he wants to open up and just talk about it with someone.

The drink Emma brought him wasn't free. The House of Mayhem wants a return on their investment. They will supply him with the analeptic if he will play with their band. They need the adoration, it's like a booster shot for them. The attention sustains them. If the Morrigan is to be believed, so do the blood sacrifices of the kidnapped children. In return, they protect the town, help the crops grow, and in general help the town prosper.

Tate is beside herself when she learns that her sister may still be alive. Mackie wants to help, but after meeting the Lady at the House of Mystery, he doesn't know what he can do. Can they stop her from completing her bloody task? Dark and creepy, this one draws you in. It's got plenty of plot, and even a little romance. Yovanoff knows how to spin a yarn.

"'We love the town as best we can, and they love us back, although they don't always know they're doing it. But it isn't enough for my sister. She needs sacrifice.'
She played with the flower behind her ear and said in a low, singsong voice, 'She takes their pretty babies, and in exchange, she leave them our own diseased flesh. Those are the ones who die, of course - almost always. It's nearly impossible to live outside the hill. So you see, we sacrifice our own too. But it's a small cost to give up the sick ones, the ones who are only going to die anyway. Except...'
'Except what?'
Her hand was small and hot when she reached for mine. She turned and smiled up at me, showing her jagged teeth. 'Except you didn't. Isn't that the most wonderful thing?'" (Yovanoff pg. 119-120, 2010).

*Library Link*

If you liked this, check out:
The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff
The Iron King by Julie Kagawa (Iron Fey, Book 1)
Shattered Souls by Mary Lindsey

Yovanoff, Brenna. (2010). The Replacement. New York: Razorbill.