The Replacement

by K M Rives

422 pages, Paperback

Published March 30, 2021

Reviews

[Gabrielle Betters · Rating 2 out of 5]

Vampire royalty mimics the Bachelor franchise while the author rips off Twilight quotes and Vampire Diaries. Shallow, predictable, and underdeveloped. Yes I will be reading the next one.

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Came across this book on Audible and gave it a chance. Though I didn't have high expectations, I actually really enjoyed it. For the first 3/4 of the book at least.

I was even able to brush off the DIRECT QUOTE from Twilight ("She's like my own personal brand of heroin") .... didn't even change the wording. and I kept going.

Then it felt like either the author started the book and finished it a year later and threw a bunch of wild cards in there.. or like they ran out of ideas and basically consulted every popular vampire related tv show and movie. I liked the dynamic and the "will-they-wont-they" element throughout the book and then the last quarter of the book just felt like it had too much going on. Didn't solve the "big bad"... The King is still an ass... Now let's just throw all these other plot twists in at the last second!! It made it feel less impactful since all these things were happening so quickly.

Spoilery rant (mostly for my own sake so I remember why I was so frustrated by this book lol):
- The whole "shut off the humanity" thing... Came out of nowhere. I've seen this concept in other books and it was fine... But they had a "switch" EXACTLY like Vampire Diaries?? (Not to mention AUGUSTINE is a significant name in TVD too..)
- Further on that - the multiple personality thing bothers me. I know they tried to explain it.. but how did EVERYONE just accept the fact that Augustine was not August?? Does no one else have a literal different personality when they "flip their switch"? It felt cringy to me. I'm all for morally gray characters but he went too far and it just removed my connection to his character. There was no struggle on August's part, it just flipped to Augustine on a dime and bam, LOTS OF KILLING.
- The pregnancy. Though I understand it, it felt like it happened way too soon in the series. There were still a ton of unsolved mysteries, their feelings were unresolved, her safety was not assured, and now her and a team of people are protective over a baby that isn't supposed to exist. Changed the vibe of the entire book so quickly and it was a jolt.

Anyway - I enjoyed this book a lot.. until I didn't. Then I tried to pick up the second one and ironically, IT FEELS TOO SLOW. There's still a lot happening, but it all feels very anticlimactic and dragged out. Even partly into the second book, there's still no resolution, yet suddenly the pace feels slow. Then to find out there are 6?? Why couldn't the drama in the first book have been paced a bit better then?? Sheesh. I might keep going with it.. I might not. We'll see.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I should have realised when the plot started to drag that this was the first in a series. I should check before I dive in, but I'm an impulse buyer (even on audible).
I liked the premise. The bachelor style competition to be the new queen of it all was interesting. Especially when I found out the women had been there since they were 5 years old.
The murder mystery took a backseat to the excruciatingly slow burn.
I did like Malcolm and Callum.

[Kellee Wojtowicz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Accidently picked this up because I love the narrator. I am not a huge fan of slow burn in my vampire smut, and this did not change my mind. The plot is fairly predictable most of the time, but it was good enough that I am going to read the 2nd one.

[Kelsey Cheatham · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kind of liked the storyline. I like a little mystery mixed into my books but how it ended little weird. This is def like vampire diaries and twilight had a baby. 3.8⭐️🌶️3 🎧

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 🌟