The Replacement by Rachel Wade Publisher: Rabbit Hole Press on January 27, 2014
Genres: Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, New Adult, Romance
Pages: 344
Format: eBook
Source: Blog Tour
Purchase: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads
Rating:
*Contains sexually explicit content and mature subject matter, including language and elements of abuse.*
A gritty New Adult drama about a young woman’s self-destructive quest to find purpose, self-worth, and love in a broken world.
My name is Elise Duchamp. I’m twenty-three years old and I’m known as the town whore.
No, not the kind who exchanges sexual favors for money. The other kind. The kind who gives it all away for free, whenever and however she likes. I am that girl. The one everyone whispers about and the one none of the girls seem to like, because all of their boyfriends either want to sleep with me or already have. Promiscuity is my thing—the kind that slowly, violently turns my insides black, but gives me something I need.
All things considered, I’m not completely reckless. I’m safe, and contrary to popular opinion, I do have a heart. I live in a world of careless choices, and with those choices come careless people. I cannot judge them, because I am one of them. I too bow down to the altar of the self-serving. I am not a good friend. I am not and never could be anyone’s girlfriend. I’m convinced any goodness in me shriveled up and died long ago.
But I am a replacement. That is something I know how to be, and this is a story of the lengths I’d go to in order to keep it that way.
At A Glance
I can see why some people don’t like this book but I LOVED it!
The Good
I was so nervous about this book. The reviews are all over the place. I think it’s the cheating thing. Most of us hate reading about cheaters and The Replacement has them in spades. But I got past all that and actually saw the interesting, heartfelt story that lay beneath.
I don’t believe in the word slut or whore, they are there to degrade women who have sex-drives. But I have to admit, if I was going to use the word slut, it would be for Elise. She was a horrible person in that she slept with unavailable men like it was no big deal. She NEEDED to sleep with them to feel better. It was pretty much a game to her. But we all know someone doesn’t get that way without a reason. Elise had her reasons. Her past family life was messed up. Really messed up. Anybody who went through what she did would not make it out unscathed. But what’s important is that Elise grows throughout the book. She stumbles a lot along the way, but once she meets Ryder, she is a changed women.
Ryder was an AMAZING person. He never gave up on Elise, no matter how much she hurt him. He always saw the real, vulnerable person behind her free vagina giving ways. Ryder is everything you want in a man…well…except for the lack of money. But that made things all the more interesting. Elise never needed a man with money, or a cool job, she just wanted sex, and she got that with Ryder, but she also got love and acceptance. Sometimes you fall for the guy who lives in a tent and takes odd jobs only to feed his addiction to traveling, and that’s okay.
It was a rough journey for these two to get together. Elise had a lot of healing to do, but she perseveres, even as you hate her for most of the book. But it was a good kind of hate. The other characters were amazing too. Jay was a great father figure that Elise needed badly. There were some other people who try to be her friend, which, of course, Elise messes up, but they help her grow for sure. The plot was simple but interesting the whole way through. This is very much a character book, a fucked up character book, but, hey, what are you going to do? lol
I hope some of you take a chance on this one. It’s very different, very rough, but very good.
The Bad
I will admit, it was hard to like Elise for most of the book. She was pretty horrible. She slept with married men like it was a game and she hurt so many people. I can see why some people could not get past these facts. Luckily, I did.
The Snuggly
Lots of sex, and much of it with married/in a relationship men. That was a little cringe-worthy but still sexy. I know, it doesn’t make sense. But I loved the sex scenes with Ryder. They were hot but endearing too. Elise and Ryder were explosive together.
Final Thoughts
I say it’s going to be 50/50 with some of you guys loving it and hating it. Elise is not an ideal character, but that was the point. She is flawed beyond comprehension but it only makes her healing that much sweeter. Highly recommended.
Quotes
“What’s your favorite book?” he mocks, lifting his head back up. “Asking a bibliophile that question is pure evil. There’s no way I can choose only one, and if you make me choose one, you’re forcing me to betray the hundreds of other books that have knocked me on my ass and shaped my soul. If you ask me that, you’re the devil.”
“The world likes to tell us not to be judgmental. To be kind and tolerant, loving and forgiving. But what they want and what they they’re actually willing to do are two very different things. At the core, the world is shallow. They want physical beauty, even if it’s only skin deep.”
“We all have a past, Elise. Sometimes we don’t like where the road takes us; sometimes it leads us exactly where we need to be. I don’t regret my past, and I don’t give a damn about yours.”
About Rachel Wade
Rachael Wade is the Amazon bestselling author of The Preservation Series, The Resistance Trilogy, and the upcoming sci-fi series, The Keepers Trilogy. When she’s not writing, she’s busy learning French, watching too many movies, and learning how to protect animals and the environment. Visit her at www.RachaelWade.com and www.LightsOnOutreach.com, or come chat with her on Twitter via @RachaelWade
Giveaway
This is a Tour Wide Giveaway
Melliane
It must be different to have a character like Elise and I wonder if I would like to read about her. But thank you, I didn’t know about this book.
Jennifer Bielman
She really is for only for some people. She is hard to take.
Giselle
I love it when you get an MC that is someone you would hate in real life, but you see them grow and learn, or at least you get to walk in their shows and understand their shitty behavior you know! It’s why I really love Courtney Summers’ books and I bet I’d like this too! Awesome review, Jennifer! 🙂
Jennifer Bielman
I need to read Courtney Summers’ books then because I agree. It’s nice to get the skinny on people we would hate in real life.
Jaclyn Canada
Yeah I definitely can’t stand reading about cheaters. It drives me bug-shit crazy. I am glad that she showed some growth in the book though. Great review!
Jennifer Bielman
I usually don’t either but this girl just interested enough to let me see past her badness.
Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction
Sometimes you read a book that you feel like you should hate, but you just don’t. You love those messed up characters anyway (even while you sometimes hate them). I actually just read a book that was like this for me called Rock Angel by Jeanne Bogino. These characters screwed with my head and sometimes made me want to scream – but the overall effect was a book I loved somehow. My review for that book (which I haven’t published yet – it’s going up next week) is the most rambling, crazy review I’ve ever written, but that’s what that book did to me!
Jennifer Bielman
I will have to check your review of Rock Angel for sure, it sounds great.