Blogtour and Review: The Replacement – Rachael Wade

*I received a free copy of The Replacement from Rabbit Hole Press via Xpresso Booktours. This has in no way influenced my voluntary review, which is honest and unbiased *

*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.

Welcome to my stop on The Replacement / The Prisoner blogtour. I have the tour-wide giveaway (US only – sorry!) to share with you, as well as my review and my favorite quotes. This tour is hosted by Xpresso Booktours, and if you click on the banner above, you’ll be taken to the full tour schedule if you want to check out other stops.

My The Replacement review:

Quite different from the stories I normally read, The Replacement captivated me – in the beginning it was because I really couldn’t stand Elise. She is the epitome of ‘the other woman’ she seeks out men who are already in a relationship, and uses all she has at her disposal to get them to cheat on their girlfriends  – with her. And who likes a cheater, right? I usually don’t even enjoy reading about cheating, because in real life, it’s something that would upset me so much and that’s pretty much unforgivable in my opinion.

As I got to know Elise better, though, I realized that she wasn’t doing this to break up other couples, she actually acted this way because she was sure she only deserved to be second best. She didn’t deserve a man who would put her first – she is the replacement in her own mind. Growing up in a very unbalanced family, where her dad was psychologically abusing both her mom and her, Elise thought the only thing she had going for herself was her beauty, but that nobody would ever love her.

When she meets first Natalie, who really wants a friend and doesn’t care about all the rumors she’s heard about Elise. Then, Ryder, who is single, and seems to be willing to do what it takes to conquer her heart. Elise doesn’t change over night, though, and especially Ryder has to be extremely patient with her. And little by little he’s able to crack through the tall walls she’s erected around herself to keep from getting hurt, even if she hurts other people.

When her epiphany comes, Elise goes all out in order to explain and apologize, and while that is all well and good, it also felt a little bit like a cop-out in a way. She didn’t try to excuse her behavior, though, but wanted to change and do better in the future, hopefully with Ryder still in her life. While I didn’t completely love Elise, I found her story very interesting to read, and I will certainly continue to read The Replacement series as I want to know what else will happen, both to her and the other characters in the story.

Written in first person past tense, from Elise’s point of view, I got to know her pretty well. And while I could understand intellectually why she felt like she only deserved to be ‘the other woman’ it was still hard to get my emotions on board with it. However, the fact that she was able to turn her life around, change her ways and become more mature is testament to the good feelings I have about her future.

 Some of my favorite The Replacement quotes:

Like my mother, I’m a prop. A piece to a set that is his seemingly perfect life. My purpose is limited. Every now and then, though, my mom catches his eye. It’s times like those that she finds that elusive thing called happiness and catches and seals it tight in a little container.

“Beauty is our power.” “That’s right, honey. No matter what the world tells you, no matter what it says about being intelligent and all that, the real truth will always remain: beauty and money make this planet go round. […]”

I ponder that – my dignity – as Tim fumbles around in the bathroom. It’s something I think about often. The whole town seems to think I’m in short supply of it, because I sleep around. What they don’t realize, though, is I’ve found my own sort of dignity. It just doesn’t match up to their standards.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Purchase The Replacement:
Amazon | B&N

Purchase The Prisoner:
Amazon | B&N

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AUTHOR BIO
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

Author Links:
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads 

Thanks for stopping by today, good luck in the giveaway.

About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.

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