Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Changeling by Victor LaValle

39 reviews

jess4276's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.0

This book was incredibly slow and there was so much that wasn't resolved or explained. I couldn't wait for it to end. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Violence

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Domestic abuse, Racism, Cursing, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

stephanielee's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

5.0

When I read this book, I thought it was going to be about a father looking for his son in the woods. It is that but it is so much more. There are a lot of content warnings but they are not always as they seem. This is the story of Apollo and his wife Emma. They are in love and living in NYC and start a family. Things seem perfect until one day everything seems to change. Then there are some really awful and freaky things that happen. Now Apollo is searching for Emma and trying to understand what happened. He uncovers some strange things that seem too fantastical to be real but what if it were? I feel like this is a blend of real life and some mystical/magical stuff that doesn't start to make a ton of sense until you are almost to the end. It is worth the wait as you find some of the horrors you thought to be true are actually quite different. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Grief

Moderate: Blood, Child death, Murder, Domestic abuse, and Mental illness

Minor: Animal death

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

jsteighn's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Murder, Grief, Violence, Mental illness, and Stalking

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Blood

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

minaopal's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Child death, Murder, Mental illness, Blood, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Grief, and Alcohol

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

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. 

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Death of parent

eequalskt's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Grief