Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Changeling by Victor LaValle

40 reviews

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Grief

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

cosmicreader90's review

adventurous mysterious slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Murder, Violence, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Death, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, and Child death

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

lilifane's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious 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

3.0

Okay, wtf did I just read?!
At first, the story was so nice and funny and light-hearted for the most part. Then it got more intense and weird. And around the 50% mark it got totally off the rails... and that was just the beginning.

Although I liked the characters, they did some questionable things throughout the book. I loved the dark fairy tale like atmosphere and the writing style. Especially the humour in the first half of the book, which did disappear for the majority of the second half due to how dark and intense the plot got. Btw, I did not like the name of the bad guy because.. why? Couldn't take him seriously tbh, and it took out all the tension every time it was mentioned. 

I liked how unpredictable the plot was and all the different parts of it. I just think the book was too long. At least it felt like it was dragging sometimes despite all the action and mystery elements. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Racism, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Mental illness, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Medical content, Abandonment, Blood, Grief, Kidnapping, Violence, and Pregnancy

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

thehmkane's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

HOLY. SHIT.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Police brutality, Animal death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Racism, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Sexism, and Stalking

bookish_bry's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious slow-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

3.75

This was a bit of a slow start and it was a bit hard to get into. I did end up liking it a lot in the end, though it wasn't perfect. Sometimes I was frustrated by the characters not really communicating well, but overall it was okay.

It was an interesting look at all of the pitfalls of parenthood. We saw the consequences of parents who didn't pay enough attention and ones who paid too much. We saw parents who "loved" their children enough to kill them and ones that harmed them just by not knowing what they were doing.

The troll in the end was just a stand in for parents who mess up. It was basically a physical representation of Apollo's issues with his own father that he had to both learn to see for what they really were and eventually overcome with his wife in order to save his son.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Child death, Gore, Racism, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Classism, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Death, Medical content, and Suicidal thoughts