The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff

Genre: paranormal
Series and Book #: none
Pages: 363
Summary:

Everything burns in Pandemonium, a city in Hell made of chrome and steel, where there is no future and life is an expanse of frozen time. That’s where Daphne lives.

 

The daughter of a demon and a fallen angel, she wonders what lies in store for her. Will she become a soulless demon like her sisters? Or follow in the footsteps of her brother Obie, whose life is devoting to saving lost souls on Earth? All she wants is to find a place where she belongs.

 

When Obie saves a bleeding, broken boy named Truman from the brink of death and then suddenly goes missing, Daphne runs away to Earth to find him. But on Earth, everything is colder and more terrifying, and Daphne struggles between her demon instincts and her growing—yet achingly unfamiliar—feelings for Truman. As Daphne and Truman search for Obie, they must navigate the jealousies and alliances of the violent archangels who stand in their way. But Daphne also discovers, unexpectedly, what it means to love and be human in a world where human is the hardest thing to be.

 

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The thing I love about Brenna Yovanoff is that she's not afraid to take the weird and the gruesome and turn it into something brilliant and hopeful. Like in The Replacement, she took the fabled changelings and created a story about a boy who just wants to be normal and not hurt anyone. Here, she takes an innocent girl born into terrible circumstances (I mean, her mom's Lilith and her dad's Lucifer) and she changes it into a story of love.

Daphne's character development was subtle but wonderful. The writing goes from very dull, colorless, Daphne just describing things not living them, to a more vivid tale where Daphne starts to recognize feeling with what she's seeing. Daphne herself was a great heroine because unlike her parents, she cared about the humans and she loved her family and didn't want to see them hurt.

Overall, this story was wonderful. Though there was the obvious plot where Daphne needs Truman's help to find Obie, it was also a story of recovery and love. That anything is possible as long as you believe it to be. The ending was appropriately shocking but when everything looked hopeless, Brenna offers you a satisfying ending. Loved it!

The Cover: Very glamorous. I like how Pandemonium is kind of pulling Daphne back in.

The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

Genre: paranormal
Series and Book #: none
Pages: 343
Synopsis:

Mackie Doyle is the Replacement.

Mackie is not one of us. Though he lives in the small town of Gentry, he 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. He just wants to play bass guitar and find out more about 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.

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This is definitely one of those novels you can read after dark and jump at the slightest sounds. Trust me. It happens.

Mackie was a wonderfully unique character. He wasn't particularly brave and he wasn't incredibly strong. Really, he was very weak and very quiet. He tried to keep his head down and avoid blood, iron, and churches. I thought this was great because you don't see a lot of weaker characters in novels. Mostly they're very strong and they're very curious. But Mackie knows what happens, and he doesn't feel he can change it, so he doesn't. And despite his otherness, he acts like a regular human boy. Which might be provocative to some, but it's true, and I like how Brenna doesn't fuzz up the reality of him being a high school boy.

Gentry was a character in itself. The town's fascination with the creatures that ruled them was beautifully written. Mackie always points out that the townspeople could change what happens to them, but they never do because things are the way they are and that's how it should be. Hopelessness overshadows this book immensely.

Overall, this is a beautifully written novel that touches base with scary, dark things. Though the Morrigan was sweet, she was dangerous when she had to be, and the Lady was wonderfully horrific. Brenna also added just the right amount of humor and wit in the story, and though it was a depressing novel, Tate spiced  things up by implying that things could be different. Mackie was a very real character and he wasn't made out to be a super heroic boy. Great first novel!

The Cover: Quoted from my best friend, "Are they trying to kill the kid?" It catches your eye and it speaks that this book isn't going to be about pleasant things.

Releases: The Pledge, Shatter Me, Wherever You Go, and The Space Between

The Pledge by Kimberly Derting

In the violent country of Ludania, the language you speak determines what class you are, and there are harsh punishments if you forget your place—looking a member of a higher class in the eye can result in immediate execution. Seventeen-year-old Charlaina (Charlie for short) can understand all languages, a dangerous ability she’s been hiding her whole life. Her only place of release is the drug-filled underground club scene, where people go to shake off the oppressive rules of the world they live in. There, she meets a beautiful and mysterious boy who speaks a language she’s never heard, and her secret is almost exposed. Through a series of violent upheavals, it becomes clear that Charlie herself is the key to forcing out the oppressive power structure of her kingdom…. 

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

"You can't touch me," I whisper.

I'm lying, is what I don't tell him.

He can touch me, is what I'll never tell him.

But things happen when people touch me.

Strange things.

Bad things.

No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal, but The Reestablishment has plans for her. Plans to use her as a weapon.

But Juliette has plans on her own.

After a lifetime without freedom, she's finally discovering a strength to fight back for the very first time—and to find a future with the one boy she thought she'd lost forever.

Wherever You Go by Heather Davis

Seventeen-year-old Holly Mullen has felt lost and lonely ever since her boyfriend, Rob, died in a tragic accident. But she has no idea that as she goes about her days, Rob’s ghost is watching over her. He isn’t happy when he sees his best friend, Jason, trying to get close to Holly—but as a ghost, he can do nothing to stop it. As their uncertain new relationship progresses, the past comes back to haunt Holly and Jason. Her Alzheimer’s-stricken grandfather claims to be communicating with the ghost of Rob. Could the messages he has for Holly be real? And if so, how can the loved ones Rob left behind help his tortured soul make it to the other side? 

The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff

Everything is made of steel, even the flowers. How can you love anything in a place like this?

Daphne is the half-demon, half-fallen angel daughter of Lucifer and Lilith. Life for her is an endless expanse of time, until her brother Obie is kidnapped - and Daphne realizes she may be partially responsible. Determined to find him, Daphne travels from her home in Pandemonium to the vast streets of Earth, where everything is colder and more terrifying. With the help of the human boy she believes was the last person to see her brother alive, Daphne glimpses into his dreams, discovering clues to Obie's whereabouts. As she delves deeper into her demonic powers, she must navigate the jealousies and alliances of the violent archangels who stand in her way. But she also discovers, unexpectedly, what it means to love and be human in a world where human is the hardest thing to be.