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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.
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.
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
halbo's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Murder, Confinement, Child abuse, Gore, and Grief
Moderate: Sexual content, Blood, Child death, and Pregnancy
reading_rainbow_with_chris's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
“The Changeling” by Victor LaVelle
A young bookseller and his wife give birth to a baby boy, a start to their happy family. However, when the mother sees a monster instead of her child, her desperate attempts to find her true baby unlock an ancient story that the bookseller has to see to the end. For me personally, it was also an ancient journey that took a little too long for my liking. LaVelle’s concept was very strong and I appreciated many elements of the writing style. However, at times it felt like scenes were dragging and didn’t have the payoff they needed to. Chapters seemed to end on odd phrasing. I also felt like there were too many varied themes going on; it didn’t feel cohesive and I struggled to see how some of the parts fit together in ways which were organic. Ultimately it was still a fine listen and I was motivated enough to hear how the story ended, but for me “The Changeling” suffered from a few small, consistent flaws that added up to an experience that didn’t resonate with me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Medical content, Pregnancy, Grief, Mental illness, Blood, Abandonment, and Violence
shesaidlividly's review
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Grief, and Racism
Moderate: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Murder
Minor: Fatphobia
disasterwife's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping, Mental illness, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Grief, Gaslighting, and Murder
malloryfitz's review against another edition
dark
3.5
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
madarauchiha's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
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
❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜 my about / byf / CW info carrd: uchiha-madara 💜 💙 💚 💛 🧡 ❤️
I read LaValle's 'The Ballad of Black Tom' in an anthology I don't even recall the name of. And I was hooked. Instant fan, I'll follow LaValle's works ANYWHERE.
PHEW. Jeus christ. This was so much. It was a mildly slow, meandering start, but it benefited from laying down the groundwork. Everything you'd want to know gets answered in a satisfactory way. It does cover some heavy topics like child abuse, but it's not over the top graphic, romanticized, or gorey.
The book summary is a lil misleading in that it's not a straight up fairy tale. It has modern settings, and the fairy tale portions are relayed as just that: fairy tales. It was fantastic when the fairy tale and modern settings come together and you finally get the whole picture. This really needs a reread or three because there are LAYERS to this onion, baby! Please for the love of montressor, read this book!
Content warnings:
minor toxic masculinity, NSFW, alcohol, slavery,
medium diseases, insects, NSFW, throat trauma, suicide attempt,
police brutality, murder, gun violence, breast feeding, gun violence, hostage attempt, sharps,
major breast feeding, house fires, demolition, fire, cyber bullying, unsanitary, body horror, religion christianity, toxic workplace, sexual harassment, child neglect, pregnancy, childbirth, child abuse, domestic abuse, police, unsanitary, antiblack racism, police brutality, murder, child abandonment, mass murder, demolition, misogyny, domestic abuse, stalking, violence, drowning, torture, gore, confinement?, violence, domestic abuse, child death, prisons, child death, animal death, animal gore, police, unsanitary,
I read LaValle's 'The Ballad of Black Tom' in an anthology I don't even recall the name of. And I was hooked. Instant fan, I'll follow LaValle's works ANYWHERE.
PHEW. Jeus christ. This was so much. It was a mildly slow, meandering start, but it benefited from laying down the groundwork. Everything you'd want to know gets answered in a satisfactory way. It does cover some heavy topics like child abuse, but it's not over the top graphic, romanticized, or gorey.
The book summary is a lil misleading in that it's not a straight up fairy tale. It has modern settings, and the fairy tale portions are relayed as just that: fairy tales. It was fantastic when the fairy tale and modern settings come together and you finally get the whole picture. This really needs a reread or three because there are LAYERS to this onion, baby! Please for the love of montressor, read this book!
Content warnings:
minor toxic masculinity, NSFW, alcohol, slavery,
medium diseases, insects, NSFW, throat trauma, suicide attempt,
police brutality, murder, gun violence, breast feeding, gun violence, hostage attempt, sharps,
major breast feeding, house fires, demolition, fire, cyber bullying, unsanitary, body horror, religion christianity, toxic workplace, sexual harassment, child neglect, pregnancy, childbirth, child abuse, domestic abuse, police, unsanitary, antiblack racism, police brutality, murder, child abandonment, mass murder, demolition, misogyny, domestic abuse, stalking, violence, drowning, torture, gore, confinement?, violence, domestic abuse, child death, prisons, child death, animal death, animal gore, police, unsanitary,
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual content, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Gun violence, Police brutality, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Alcoholism and Slavery
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.
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
mattisonsbooknook's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
katiehicks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
I have sort of mixed feelings about this book, and by the end I felt myself kind of slogging through the audio book- though I'm not sure how much of this had to do with being in a reading slump at the time.
For the first quarter, I was REALLY enjoying the audio book. Its read by the author, and LaValle gives the whole book a quiet, dark, yet still beautiful tone which makes it feel truly like a bed-time story or fairy tale. I also appreciated the slower pace in this section, as it added to this tone and let us get to know the characters.
However, from the time the "inciting event" (I think its pretty clear from the synopsis what this is) to the end, I kept thinking that the pacing was off, and that it might have been better if it had been narrated by Emma instead of Apollo. I thought this for a couple reasons, all of which are spoiler-y:
1. Because we did not see the night Emma killed the Changeling from Emma's perspective, it made her very difficult to sympathize with, even by the end. Obviously, she did not actually hurt Brian, but she did actually hurt Apollo. She tied him up, essentially tortured him, and then hit him over the head so hard that he was in the hospital for weeks undergoing multiple surgeries and almost lost his eye. On top of that, it seems like her plan was to get Brian back from the troll and then just leave, without ever telling Apollo that his son was still alive. She spent months letting him believe that this horrible thing happened, even after he threatened her coworkers with a gun and went to jail.
And yet, when they are reunited, it is only Apollo who apologizes, as if he somehow deserved this abuse because he said some hurtful things and was not understanding of her mental health issues. I just think I may have been able to sympathize with Emma a bit more if I had seen what led her to that moment, and known if she felt even a little remorse for the physical and emotional pain she caused Apollo.
2. Because Apollo does not know about the Changelings for most of the book, when he meets the other women who have lost children to Changelings, he sees them as evil and murderous. Most of these women had also been victims of domestic abuse (like Greta) so framing this community of women and children as the "bad guys", even for a little while, made me pretty uneasy. Again, if this had been narrated by Emma, then we, the readers, would have already known about the Changelings by the time we meet Cal and her community, and they would have been framed as survivors from the start.
3. Again, because Apollo does not know about the Changelings for most of the book, it means that he learns about all of it in a series of kitchen table info-dumps right when the story is reaching its climax. It threw the pacing way off that he had to sit down and have everything explained to him right before running off to face a troll Again, I think this could have been fixed by having the story narrated by Emma, who would have been learning about all of this gradually from the beginning.
All that being said, I love a good re-imagined fairy tale which actually respects the original folklore, but adapts it for a modern audience. Discussing Norse troll mythology in the context of modern technology with the added layer of race and racism in America was incredibly smart and unique. The audio book was great and truly felt like a new classic fairy tale.
For the first quarter, I was REALLY enjoying the audio book. Its read by the author, and LaValle gives the whole book a quiet, dark, yet still beautiful tone which makes it feel truly like a bed-time story or fairy tale. I also appreciated the slower pace in this section, as it added to this tone and let us get to know the characters.
However, from the time the "inciting event" (I think its pretty clear from the synopsis what this is) to the end, I kept thinking that the pacing was off, and that it might have been better if it had been narrated by Emma instead of Apollo. I thought this for a couple reasons, all of which are spoiler-y:
1. Because we did not see the night Emma killed the Changeling from Emma's perspective, it made her very difficult to sympathize with, even by the end. Obviously, she did not actually hurt Brian, but she did actually hurt Apollo. She tied him up, essentially tortured him, and then hit him over the head so hard that he was in the hospital for weeks undergoing multiple surgeries and almost lost his eye. On top of that, it seems like her plan was to get Brian back from the troll and then just leave, without ever telling Apollo that his son was still alive. She spent months letting him believe that this horrible thing happened, even after he threatened her coworkers with a gun and went to jail.
And yet, when they are reunited, it is only Apollo who apologizes, as if he somehow deserved this abuse because he said some hurtful things and was not understanding of her mental health issues. I just think I may have been able to sympathize with Emma a bit more if I had seen what led her to that moment, and known if she felt even a little remorse for the physical and emotional pain she caused Apollo.
2. Because Apollo does not know about the Changelings for most of the book, when he meets the other women who have lost children to Changelings, he sees them as evil and murderous. Most of these women had also been victims of domestic abuse (like Greta) so framing this community of women and children as the "bad guys", even for a little while, made me pretty uneasy. Again, if this had been narrated by Emma, then we, the readers, would have already known about the Changelings by the time we meet Cal and her community, and they would have been framed as survivors from the start.
3. Again, because Apollo does not know about the Changelings for most of the book, it means that he learns about all of it in a series of kitchen table info-dumps right when the story is reaching its climax. It threw the pacing way off that he had to sit down and have everything explained to him right before running off to face a troll Again, I think this could have been fixed by having the story narrated by Emma, who would have been learning about all of this gradually from the beginning.
All that being said, I love a good re-imagined fairy tale which actually respects the original folklore, but adapts it for a modern audience. Discussing Norse troll mythology in the context of modern technology with the added layer of race and racism in America was incredibly smart and unique. The audio book was great and truly felt like a new classic fairy tale.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Mental illness
Moderate: Child death, Violence, Racism, and Suicidal thoughts
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