Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

The Changeling by Victor LaValle

21 reviews

adiajamille's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

I really enjoyed this book, because you never really knew where you were headed next. The story is thrilling, heartbreaking, engaging, mysterious, and so much more. It touches on the real life and how we engage with people when they’re at their lowest, and makes the fantastical horror even more terrifying by how easily it all started, in a realistic way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Child death, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Death, Abandonment, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Violence, Gore, and Misogyny

ehmannky's review

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

A modern fairy tale of the horrific variety following Apollo dealing with the apparent murder of his baby at the hands of his wife. It's a wonderfully written book, with a lot of twists and turns (truly did not expect the ending creature) and it is beautiful. I did think the pacing was a bit off, and it felt like the book was a bit longer than it really needed to be. But it is a really interesting take on the changeling mythos and the fears of modern parenting and the lingering damage we can do to children. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Grief, Child death, Death, Violence, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Death of parent

sarah984's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I really liked this book. The writing is really charming (which feels weird to say with this type of content) and the fairy tale atmosphere worked really well for the most part. New York and its history were well utilized. There is one plot point in the middle of the book that I thought was kind of silly

(the part at Rikers - considering later discussions that was all absurdly easy and felt kind of pointless)

but overall fantastic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Child death, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Kidnapping, Racism, Violence, Child abuse, Stalking, Abandonment, Death, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Self harm, Alcohol, Confinement, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Colonisation, Gun violence, Misogyny, and Police brutality

sup3r_xn0va_maya's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

 

The Changeling is a very interesting story and I honestly am not sure how to rate it. This is my first time reading a full length dark fairy tale and I'll say that I enjoyed it for the most part. I enjoyed the first half of the book more than I enjoyed the second half, probably because at the 3/4th mark in the book it gets a little bit confusing and is a little hard to follow.

I don't want to say too much because this is one of those books where the reader should start reading this with as little information on the book as possible. Overall I'll say that this was really creative and I really enjoyed LaValle's writing style. I felt creeped out a few times so this is the perfect read for spooky season! This wasn't my favorite book and I didn't feel completely fulfilled by the ending, I do however respect and appreciate the creativity that went into this story.

I'm going to give this 3.5 stars out of 5
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Blood, Body horror, Physical abuse, Racism, Bullying, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, and Murder

badmom's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

A fascinating look at contemporary society through the lens of a Black father in Manhattan. The narration moves from relatively benign storyteling - observations of people’s lives, how they connect to others - into a dark, chaotic exploration of gender roles, societal expectations, & postpartum depression. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Abandonment, Medical trauma, Violence, Blood, Child death, Pregnancy, Gore, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Grief, Gaslighting, Stalking, Suicide attempt, and Self harm

jbeoin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

SUCH a good book! Victor LaValle has an amazing way of building and exploring character relationships, and he grounds the fantasy elements in such a vivid and real way. He also is one of the best audiobook narrators I've listened to! Great voice, both literary and physical.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Kidnapping, Grief, Blood, Body horror, and Racism

Moderate: Violence, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Suicide attempt

bandysbooks's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The Changeling is a mix of horror and modern day fairytale that creates a really unique story. It follows a family who is rocked by a tragic event, leaving a distraught father in its wake. It explores grief, generational trauma, and the meaning of family.

During the first part of this book, I was a bit confused and honestly a bit bored. It just seemed like a story about a family, but I’m glad I stuck with it. Once the story is set, it picks up quickly and gets really interesting. 

I thought the way that this book explored trauma was very unique as well. We See two people who are really struggling and are not receiving the support that they need. The consequences of that ripple throughout the story.

All in all, if you like horror and fairytales mixed with real life, I think you’ll like this book. There are some difficult topics in it, so please check the trigger warnings.

TW: Murder, Death of a Child, Mental Illness, Blood, Assault, Guns

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, Blood, Death, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Grief, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Self harm, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Confinement, and Domestic abuse

haileybones's review

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I feel conflicted about The Changeling. I like to read stories about changelings, so I went in blind aside from the title and cover art. The parts I liked were just as present as the parts I didn't.

I was pleasantly surprised by the majority Black cast.
I liked the use of New York City as a setting, but landmarks were frequently named and not described, so I wasn't as immersed as I'd liked to be.
The first act could be tighter, but I couldn't put the book down after I muscled through it.
Characterization is limited, but it kind of flows into the fairy tale theme.
I liked the writing style, but still noticed several repetitive turns of phrase.
I liked the way the plot and fantasy elements developed, but I wish more groundwork had been laid in the first act. There's a lot that could have been streamlined in the third act to heighten tension.
The villains are exposition-heavy with convoluted motives that don't quite connect, but people do bad things for stupid reasons all the time.

Despite the flaws, I enjoyed my experience and appreciated the book as a whole. It's not very scary (save one early scene), so I would caution horror fans. I'd recommend it to people interested in urban fantasy, Scandinavian beasts of myth, or supernatural mystery. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Child death

halbo's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Murder, Confinement, Child abuse, Gore, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual content, Blood, Child death, and Pregnancy

rosie_reader's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

The first half of this book held such promise. Then, the metaphors became so heavy-handed that they stopped being metaphors and just got spelled out, and it seemed like the author couldn't quite decide on a point to make. Quite a few unanswered questions. Nice prose, disappointing story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Child death, Child abuse, Violence, Mental illness, and Injury/Injury detail