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jialianyang's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
A beautiful tale that quickly snowballs into a haunting, mysterious, sad, and horrifying thriller. Survivors birthing and parenting survivors, a book man seeks vengeance, a mother fights to find her real child, all of these are just snapshots of the twists and turn in this gripping book. It's won many awards for good reason.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Gore, Blood, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Kidnapping, Death, Grief, Gaslighting, Murder, Stalking, Pregnancy, and Mental illness
Moderate: Suicide, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, and Body horror
Minor: Police brutality
bookbelle5_17's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Review of The Changeling
By: Victor La Valle
Apollo’s father abandoned by him when he was a child, and he was raised by his mother. As an adult he marries Emma, builds a career as a book collector, and they have a baby. Unfortunately, Emma starts experiencing postpartum depression and believes that their child isn’t their child.
This novel defies genre with its crazy plot that starts as a story about a young black man’s life, but the plot gets crazier as it progresses eventually getting downright fantastical. Both Apollo and Emma are complicated and relatable. I like how Apollo appreciates reading books as well as selling rare books. There’s even a discussion between him and another character how most collectors and sellers of rare books don’t care about reading them, but just making the money. As for Emma, I imagine a lot of women experience postpartum depression that manifests in different ways. I found myself siding with Apollo as we are in his head, but as the story progress I began to question things with Emma and her belief that baby Brian isn’t there. It is one of those stories where you ask yourself is this a supernatural situation or is Emma crazy? Who the antagonist was happened to be one of the twists in the story, so it was a surprise, though there are moments that hint that things aren’t right with a certain character. I liked the exploration of fairytales and what they do for us, the lessons we learn from them, and how today they’ve been sugar coated. There is a cult aspect exploring the idea of why someone might join one and how it can be cathartic for someone experiencing grief. There is also discussion parenting and those parents who constantly post pictures about their children on social media. The story talks about the consequences of that and how it make them targets. The writing is good and immersive, but the story is slow moving until it picks up a little more than half-way through.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Child death, Addiction, Grief, Cursing, and Murder
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