Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Changeling by Victor LaValle

24 reviews

sierrainstitches's review

dark

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Gore

queersubtext's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense fast-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

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Kidnapping, Death of parent, Violence, Vomit, Confinement, Suicide attempt, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Stalking, and Pregnancy

megj23's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Blood, and Gore

Moderate: Kidnapping and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Abandonment and Murder

grandpas_farts's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

The storyline gives me 3 stars, the writing however makes this a four star. I would love to read a romance written by LaValle and I cannot wait to read more by him! While reading, I could easily see the portrait that LaValle was was painting through his words.

The novel is broken into eight parts. Each part building more than the last. First we are met with Apollo's parents Brian and Lillian. I enjoyed reading their love story and finding out his foundation of life through his parents' story. Later we see Apollo as a young kid where he becomes an entrepreneur. Then we get into the meat of the story.

Apollo's fatherhood is immediately broken into chaotic adventure when his child is born. Despite all of this he takes everything in stride, until he can't. That's when Apollo sets out for what he feels he needs to do.

I did not understand a few things. Then again, when I finished the book with a few unanswered questions, I needed to remember this was fantasy horror novel. When Apollo is... 13? years old, he hears knocking on the door as he is taking a shower and as soon as he opens the door, the knocking stops. How? Also, water played a huge part in Apollo's trauma. The steam when Emma has him locked up. The water when he picks up the box. The steam in his nightmares. Brian tried to drown Apollo. Apollo was locked up in Rikers Island. Selling the book on water (the boat) and traveling to the witches' hideout.

Emma's friend tells the story of the photograph Emma took of herself naked implying it was connected to the third wish. In the last wish we learn Emma wanted a life of adventure. How is taking a nude picture an adventure? I thought Emma wanted the photo to be removed from the Earth or something with how I read it. 

What the hell happpened when they went back to their normal life? Was the womanhunt for Emma called off? Black children do not get the same news coverage as others, so maybe people forgot she even "killed" her child. How are they going to explain Brain's reappearance to people? I guess "and they lived happily ever after" sums up other questions.

I've never watched the Apple TV show, but I'd be curious to see what's it about.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Child death, Blood, and Gore

Minor: Suicide

bleepbloop's review against another edition

adventurous dark

4.0

goofy gross depressing fairy tale

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Child death, and Murder

jaqxun's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Violence, Child death, Child abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Cursing, Blood, Death, Torture, Gun violence, and Murder

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

tey_lynn's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Gore, Murder, Pregnancy, Violence, and Cursing

Moderate: Child death, Grief, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

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. 

---

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

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.

---

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