Mackie is a special sort of outcast: The kind that can't enter consecrated ground or tolerate being around iron. He lives in a town where mothers hang steel over cribs to protect their babies and where quartz buried in their backyard will cause the yard to stay green longer in the fall. The folks of Gentry know that Mackie is different but as long as he pretends to be normal, they are more than happy to pretend along with him.
Mackie can no longer pretend to be normal when a stranger from beneath the slag heap tells him that he's dying -- and that he knows someone who can help. Life becomes even more complicated when Mackie's schoolmate, Tate, experiences the death of her sister. However, Tate insists that it wasn't her sister that died, but a lookalike. Tate also starts to demand answers from Mackie, but all Mackie wants is to blend in.
Life takes an unexpected twist when Mackie starts to hang out with the Morrigan and feels at home among the dead that no one else wanted. In the process, he learns more about his heritage and refuses to choose between the humans that raised him and the Fae who can keep him alive. To make matters worse, Mackie discovers that not only is Tate's sister still alive, but that she is scheduled to be sacrificed for the prosperity of Gentry if Mackie doesn't step in.
I was initially drawn to this book because of the creepy cover; more specifically, why you would need to dangle sharp, metal objects over a baby carriage. I was also fascinated by the words chosen to describe this book: eerie, haunting, and beautiful. When I read the back, I was hooked. I love Fae stories and it isn't very often that changelings enter the story, let alone be the main character.
The author's interpretation of the replacements, the ritual sacrifices, and how they were related was fascinating. Even Gentry and its involvement with the Fae, along with its gradual decline into ruin, creates an interesting history for a town that once mined iron.
I think one of the main themes in this book is tolerance versus prejudice, and about how familial love and acceptance can shape who you become, regardless of the circumstances of your birth. The friendships in this book essentially state the same thing.
In terms of character development, I think only Mackie changed. He finally accepted himself as a whole rather than trying to hide his true nature from those closest to himself. By pretending to be wholly human, he was literally killing himself, and it wasn't until his sister took a chance on him that he felt better.
The only part of this book that I was confused by was the semi-naked make out scene. I didn't think it fit the story or the characters. Mackie read into it as her way of saying thanks, but there was nothing prior to that to indicate that Tate was into giving sexual favours for information, unless I completely missed something before that.
I would highly recommend this book. I found that Brenna asked questions that she answered later, which made for an informative read. While the ending seemed a little dull compared to the build up, it also fit the self-discovery theme of the story. I kept expecting the book to turn creepy, but it never did. Even the spookier characters were written so the reader would feel sympathetic to the character. The only word I can think of to describe this book is fascinating and it definitely lived up to my expectations.
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