The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

I really enjoyed reading this book. It's a quick, relaxing read that's perfect for a lazy weekend. I give it a 4 out of 5 and here's why.

When I first opened the book, it wasn't to the first chapter, or even a prologue, it was a letter from the author, which was short and sweet just like the rest of the book. I liked that. Straight from the beginning, before the story even started, I already knew why this story was written and what it was really about; letting go of all inhibitions and just being yourself. That it's okay to love and be allowed to be loved just as you are, something that every person should remember.

The characters themselves were a lot of fun. Each one had a very distinct personality, each one adding it's own quirk to the story. I didn't feel that any of the characters were there to just fill up space, but were useful to the plot.

Overall, I found that the story moved smoothly and quickly. I didn't feel like there was a lot of useless information or characters, there wasn't too much going on and unlike our last book, I wasn't begging for the story to hurry up and end because I was bored. Instead, I found this read to be thoroughly entertaining, with it's brief love scenes, mystery, moments of suspense, and brief but enjoyable humor.

So, why 4 out of 5 instead of just an all out 5? I was able to predict the ending halfway through the book, but to be fair, there were no other options for the ending.

Right now the author only has two books out, The Replacement and The Space Between. I'll be adding The Space Between to my GoodReads list, "to-read" and will probably use it for the club at some point. But I really look forward to more of her books.

77 Shadow Street: Review and Analysis

I know the title says "Review and Analysis" but we're going to start with the analysis and if you have some kind of condition where things have to be done in some specific order or else you go berserk, then I suggest you step away from the computer. I don't want to be sued for driving you into berserkness, causing you to destroy your computer, or iPad, or iPhone for that matter. Are there any other devices I need to mention?

Pressing on.

The Analysis.

77 Shadow Street is not the horror tale as one is lead to believe from the description of the story on the back cover. There are no ghosts, or demons in the general sense as society understands them today. The true terror lies in between the lines, within the moral of the story. Technology can be a wonderful thing, but is society advancing too quickly? The Roman Empire fell because it could not keep up with their own technological advancement. In this story (SPOILER ALERT!!!! TURN BACK NOW!!!!) a scientist comes up with a way to better human kind, but the science goes too far and is applied to other ideas with the best intentions, but instead creates a sort of Gaia, where the Earth is a living creature and in which no human lives because they were all destroyed by their own technology. Perhaps our future is not fated so dramatically, but how long will it be until we destroy each other with our iPods? (There's an app for that). <<<<< I'm joking here. I'm not a conspiracy theorist or paranoid. But I think you get the idea.

The Review

This book is only 607 pages in the large print yet I felt as though it dragged on. The story didn't start to pick up until about a third in, which up until that point I was having to force myself to read it. I felt the characters lacked depth and imagination. You had the scientist, who was nice enough but refused to admit he was at fault, you had the ex-marine who kept everyone alive, there was the conspiracy theorist, and the expert who through his thoughts revealed to the reader the history and nature of the house, and of course the children who had to be protected above all else. Then there were characters who really didn't need to be in the story at all and should have died much sooner than they did. Frankly, there were just too many characters for the story, and there was too much going back and forth between them.

During the last quarter, I was getting to the point where I was tired of reading the story and was ready to yell at the book, "JUST GET TO THE ENDING ALREADY AND TELL US WHAT HAPPENS!" I was skimming, and skipping passages. The story should have been wrapped up around page 500.

However, the monsters were unique, but not as terrifying as Mr. Koontz wanted them to be. Despite all this though, the ending was very satisfactory, and at the last moment the reader was lead to believe that there was going to be a last second plot twist, the last surprise; but with a sigh of relief, all was well with our heroes in the end. I enjoyed the twist though, it was refreshing, and made me gasp for about 5 seconds and before I phewed and wiped the sweat from my brow.

So, I give it 2.5-3 stars out of 5.

77 Shadow Street so far...

When I read the synopsis for the book, I was given the impression that the story was going to be told from the houses point of view, or even the thing that was killing everyone. Then as I started reading the book, I decided the story was going to be told in a series of events, much like a paranormal documentary. Now that I'm a little further into the book and certain characters keep making reappearances I am now able to pick out which characters will be the main characters, and who will probably form bonds and possibly even romances. However, since Dean Koontz's writing has changed since his older books, I haven't decided if this could end in absolute tragedy, or if there will a silver lining at the last chapter.

Also, I'm getting a House on a Haunted Hill vibe.

Oh and, I'm still waiting to be terrified.