Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Changeling by Victor LaValle

7 reviews

jaqxun's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.25

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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

lapislazuli's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

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

3.25

I was hooked throughout the slow build up, looking for foreshadowing and clues of magic between the lines. The culmination and reveals fell flat for me. The ending feels unearned despite the page count.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Child death

Moderate: Gore, Murder, Torture, Death, and Violence

iirreeaadd's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Quite the book. I was engaged throughout but it kinda lost me in the end when it went full fantasy. I didn't dislike it but I found the characters and their actions a little harder to believe at that point. It was really well written though and an excellent journey to go on.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Torture, Child abuse, Medical content, and Pregnancy

foxo_cube's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

I wasn't sure how this one was going to go when I started reading it - I didn't get on too well with the writing style initially, and, although I settled into it, I'd still say it's not my favourite. Not outright bad or anything, just not for me. 

Nonetheless, it wasn't a dealbreaker, and I'm very glad I continued reading because it's a HELL of a story. If ever you think you know where the plot's going - which, for me, was often - you are proven wrong pretty quickly. It heavily telegraphs one thing, then does something else entirely. The book narrowly avoids going into the territory of silliness, and I mean that in a good way. At least, I like that sort of thing. 

I do think some of the "Internet bad" messaging is a little heavy-handed. It's not preachy, or even totally anti-Internet - part of the book's sentiment is simply about caution when using social media, which is a pretty important thing. Still, I can't not mention it. The troll bit is especially obvious as a metaphor. The only other big criticism I have of this book is that the characters are a little flat. They're enough to be invested in - what shines through most is Apollo's absolute adoration of his son, and that is beautifully expressed - but it's sort of... just enough for that, if that makes sense.

The thing that made this story work for me is how curious it made me to find out the truth. Because you mostly know only what Apollo knows, and uncover things along with him, you will often find yourself led to believe one version of events only to discover, later, a whole different truth entirely. The way that LaValle pulls that off is fantastic. 

I think this will be a book worth re-reading because, having read this in two sittings, more-or-less, I noticed that there was a sort of breadcrumb trail for the curveballs in the plot, and I'd like to see if this is more visible the second time round. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Grief, Body horror, Mental illness, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Stalking, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, and Torture

Minor: Racism

griffinthief's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Racism, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Vomit

malloryfitz's review against another edition

dark

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Violence, Pregnancy, Grief, Gore, and Murder

Moderate: Abandonment, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Racism, Mental illness, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Alcohol, Confinement, Excrement, Fatphobia, Police brutality, and Vomit

rorikae's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

4.5

'The Changeling' by Victor LaValle is a horrifying story that delves into themes of parenthood, familial trauma, and how far one will go for their child. 

The story centers on Apollo Kagwa, a rare book dealer who has just welcomed a baby with his daughter Emma. But their life is disrupted when Emma starts getting strange text messages and begins to act off. One night, after an act of extreme violence, she disappears. Apollo is left trying to piece his world back together and learn more about what really happened in his home and what was its cause.

LaValle does an exceptional job of slowly ramping up the tension in 'The Changeling.' I knew this book was horror going in but the horrific acts and moments still sneak up on you because LaValle has created this really solid base of strong characters. We care for Apollo, learning about his childhood, how he met Emma, and how excited they are at the birth of his son. This makes the revelations and horrific moments in this story that much more stark because they stand out from the normal life that LaValle has painted. Apollo has to dig into his own past to learn about his family at the same time that he is trying to unpack what is happening in his life. This unpacks his familial trauma as he works to be a better father and husband than his own father. I listened to the audiobook, which is narrated by LaValle himself, and his calm narration is the perfect contrast to some of the truly horrific discoveries that are included in this story. I highly recommend this book, especially if you're looking for a horrific family story but go in knowing that there are a lot of trigger warnings and it isn't easy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Violence, Torture, Stalking, Physical abuse, Murder, Kidnapping, Gun violence, Gore, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Suicide attempt