The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

The cover attracted me to this book, and the description sounded promising, both scary and with the potential for some romance. Even though it wasn't particularly scary, I wasn't at all disappointed.

Mackie is a teen boy who has always known that he is a "replacement." When the "real" Malcolm was four years old, he was taken by a shadowy figure in the middle of the night and replaced with Mackie (similar but not quite the same as the original). His origin isn't quite known, but Mackie does know he is allergic to iron and metal. His pastor father has always impressed upon Mackie the importance of blending in and not drawing attention to himself (the whole family knows Mackie is a replacement, though). Even though the town seems to know strange things like baby abductions and deaths happen, they don't seem to want to acknowledge it. This state of affairs can't last at the point when the book's narration starts, however, because (a) Mackie is getting sicker, (b) he is confronted with other other-worldy beings who want to claim him, and (c) another baby dies. There is a lot of suspense, but I wouldn't say it's as creepy as the cover might lead one (ie. me) to believe. And there was a bit of romance, which I liked. Over all, I'd say it's certainly worth purchasing and reading. It is similar enough to other paranormal YA books that it will have an audience, but it's different enough to be worth reading and will likely hold the reader's attention.