Mackie Doyle isn't your average teenager. He's not a real teenager at all. He's a Replacement. Literally plucked from the bottom of the heap to take the place of a real baby in the real world. But with allergies to blood, iron and consecrated ground, Mackie has a hard enough time fitting in. Now add to that a pissed off girl named Tate hounding him to help her find her baby sister and his recent discovery of an underground world full of ugly things from which he hails, and Mackie's life goes from complicated to even more so. Now time is running out. Tate's sister will be sacrificed for the good of the town. And Mackie may be the only one able to stop it.
Ok, i'm gonna start off by saying DAMMIT! I really wanted to like this book. I mean, just look at the cover! But I guess that's why you're not supposed to judge books by them. Because, as it turns out, I didn't like this one.
I felt like, as the designated "hero" of the story, Mackie was never very heroic. He kinda wallowed in self pity throughout the entire book. I mean, I get that he's the odd duck and that's what the story is about but I found myself being drawn more to Tate and Roswell. I think the book would've been much more interesting from either of their perspectives. I just didn't really connect with Mackie's voice.
There were certain parts too that I didn't get. Like at one point, Mackie is concerned about Tate's sister and her impending murder and how he should really try and stop it and then he's flirting with school hottie Alice, asking her to be his date to a party to make Tate jealous. It's like, HELLO!, a baby's life is at stake here! I think Jaeger bombs and copping a feel can probably take a backseat to the more pressing matters at hand, don't you?
Plus there were a few throwaway plot lines. His mother and her whole deal. Mackie having to play bass for Rasputin Sings the Blues. Alice's role in the story at all. I felt like all of these were introduced and then quickly pushed aside. That really bugged me.
I did like the descriptions of the House of Mayhem and its many uglies though. It was very Tim Burton-esque. And I wish the Morrigan, Carlina and Luther had gotten more page time. Basically if the book had been less about Mackie and more about everyone else I might have liked it more. That's kind of a weird statement to make about the protagonist but that's my opinion.
I thought the pacing was too slow &, more often than not, the story meandered. It never really held my interest.
I do think there's a fan base for it though because I've seen some positive reviews throughout the blogosphere. Just not here.
The Scale of Judgment says...... 2 and a half.
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