Waiting on Wednesday: The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff

Waiting on Wednesday (WoW) is a weekly meme hosted by

Breaking the Spine.

My first, second, and eighth WoW posts were about my guilty pleasure reading - romantic (often paranormal) paperback/mass market novels. My third, fourth, and eighth WoW posts were YA (young adult) titles. My fifth and sixth WoW posts were about adult literary fiction. My middle grade WoW post is here. And now, featuring another YA:

The Space Between 

by Brenna Yovanoff

9781595143396, $17.99, Razorbill (Penguin)

I recently reviewed Brenna Yovanoff's first YA book, The Replacements, mostly in preparation for this book. No, you don't have to read one before the other, they have nothing to do with each other, but I read about The Space Between, saw that it wasn't out yet, and decided to read The Replacements because it was out and I wanted to test her writing and now I'm even more excited for The Space Between. In particular, I enjoy the way Yovanoff explores the sibling relationship, which she also does in her second book.

Here's the publisher's pitch for The Space Between:

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.

This second novel by rising star Brenna Yovanoff is a story of identity, discovery, and a troubled love between two people struggling to find their place both in our world and theirs.

Book Review: The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

The Replacement
by Brenna Yovanoff
97818595143372, $17.99, Razorbill (Penguin)
Age appropriate: 14+ (some sexual content, macabre scenes)

Every seven years in the town of Gentry, a child is taken and replaced with a look-alike that is not quite...human. The replacement child usually dies, leaving the family to grieve twice: once for the missing child and once for the replacement. The town doesn't speak of it, but they know this sacrifice is necessary to ensure their town's prosperity. Only not all the "replacements" die. And lately, not all has been going so well for the town. So who, or what, is upsetting the balance? And is it worth it?

When Tate's baby sister goes missing, she turns to the only person she can think of who might be able to help her - Mackie, a 16-year-old "replacement". Mackie knows what he is. How could he not, when he can't enter his preacher father's church or step on consecrated ground or be near blood or anything else that has iron in it? Yet his entire life, his mother, father, and sister Emma have done everything they could to help him keep his head down, appear normal, and blend in, for fear of the townspeople's attention, which could lead to another lynching, like it did to poor Kellan Caury years ago. With this story hanging over his head, Mackie is disinclined to pay any attention to the one person who is throwing the truth in his face.

But Mackie hasn't been feeling so well, himself. Getting sicker by the day for no apparent reason, he eventually comes face-to-face with the people/creatures of Mayhem, the city below Gentry, made up of dead replacements. They have the potions that can keep Mackie from dying, but he has to help them in return. Soon Mackie must face a choice: continue to help the people of Mayhem, a place and people that are beginning to feel familiar and like home, or rescue Tate's sister, currently being kept as a living doll for the ruler of Mayhem, but who is scheduled to be sacrificed on All Soul's Eve. Pulled in both directions, all Mackie wants to do is stay alive, stay well, play his bass, and explore all the feelings that come along with being a living teenage boy. Mackie must find the strength within himself to do the right thing for him, his family, Tate, her sister, the people of Mayhem, and the people of Gentry. No pressure.

Book Review: Dust City by Robert Paul Weston

Dust City

by Robert Paul Weston

9781595142962, $16.99, Razorbill (Penguin)

Dust City combines fairy tales, paranormal characters, futuristic science, and a dash of adventure and romance in this new Young Adult novel by the author of Zorgamazoo, a 2008 Booklist top ten debut title.

Henry Whelp is the son of the Big Bad Wolf. You know, the one who murdered Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother? As the son of a famous murderer, Henry is content to keep his head down and not cause any trouble at Dust City’s Home for Wayward Wolves. Unfortunately, most of the other kids at the Home are troublemakers, so that’s a little difficult. Especially in a town like Dust City, known for its black-market dealing of mind-altering fairy dust concoctions.

You see, years ago, fairies used to populate Eden, the city above Dust City. Their fairy dust would grant miracles and wishes by bringing about the fairy dust recipient’s full potential. Within minutes of inhaling the fairy dust, a painter would create a masterpiece, a musician would compose an opus, and so on. Sadly, though, the fairies all disappeared one day, leaving a population hooked on fairy dust but without a reliable source. That’s where the evil steps in. Nimbus Thaumaturgical is a company run by two brothers that found a way to create a synthetic dust substitute using leftover fairy dust mined from the hills of Eden. Some of their medicine is sold over-the-counter for relieving small headaches, healing small cuts, basically small miracles like that. What most people don’t know is that the rest of the dust is sold through Skinner, Dust City’s famed mobster, and his Water Nixie crew, on the underground (literally) black market.

When Henry’s best friend Jack escapes the Home (with the help of a few beans), and a murder takes place, Henry knows it’s time for him to leave as well. A clandestine trip to his father in prison gives Henry some new information – Henry’s father believes the fairies are still alive and have been kidnapped, forced to produce evil dust for Nimbus Thaumaturgical. Henry’s father inhaled some of the evil dust on the night he killed Red and her grandmother. If Henry can find out if the fairies do still exist, he may be able to prove his father’s innocence. AND, he may be able to work a deal with the fairies to bring back the mother who died many years ago, accidentally killed by a Nimbus Thaumaturgical truck. To do this, though, Henry will need to go deep into the underworld, become one of Skinner’s runners in the drug trade, and try to uncover the secret behind the manufactured dust. All without being found out, getting addicted to the dust himself, or ending up dead. With a sexy female wolf named Fiona by his side (who happens to be the sister of his biggest rival, Roy), how can he fail?