Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
I so enjoyed this book! I can't really remember why I picked it up. I read LaValle's "Destroyer" and so perhaps in my browsing I decided to give one of his novels a try. I don't really remember and to be honest, "The Changeling" resides WAY outside my comfort zone and my normal genre scope. Honestly, I'm still not sure which fiction genre this novel falls into, but it was an engaging and fascinating read.
At about 1/3 of the way through the book I wasn't sure I could finish. The subject matter got a little dark, but then I reread the dust jacket and decided it would probably "end" okay, so I kept going and what an adventure LaValle led me on! The twists, turns and connections this book makes are innumerable and the commentary on our modern context sublime in its effortlessness.
It's a book to mine. I know I missed so much and part of me wants to start all over again knowing how it ends so I can listen beyond "what's going to happen" and hear LaValle's voice, commentary and allusion more poignantly.
I would warn anyone who has or has recently lost young children to proceed with caution, but I have four-year-old twins and by the end, I fell in love with this modern day fairy tale.
At about 1/3 of the way through the book I wasn't sure I could finish. The subject matter got a little dark, but then I reread the dust jacket and decided it would probably "end" okay, so I kept going and what an adventure LaValle led me on! The twists, turns and connections this book makes are innumerable and the commentary on our modern context sublime in its effortlessness.
It's a book to mine. I know I missed so much and part of me wants to start all over again knowing how it ends so I can listen beyond "what's going to happen" and hear LaValle's voice, commentary and allusion more poignantly.
I would warn anyone who has or has recently lost young children to proceed with caution, but I have four-year-old twins and by the end, I fell in love with this modern day fairy tale.
I bought this book after having read the author's book Black Tom, which is a horror story set in Harlem. This book however was too much for me. It is a story about a mother with PTSD that kills her infant son. I just can't handle books about dead babies. It was gruesome and depressing.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It was never scary like I was hoping it would be, but the twist did get me and I did care about the main characters.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Changeling was a freaking roller coaster!! As someone who's lived in NYC for about 5.5 years, I can tell when a book set in the city was written by someone intimately familiar with how it works. The descriptions of the trains, transit, and the general attitude of NewYorkers was so spot on, I was blown away. Of course Victor LaVelle grew up here, so I wasn’t surprised at all. New York City just felt so alive in his book— not just the background, but truly a part of the story.
Gathering my thoughts about the book is hard because it spans genres. It’s fiction that dips into the varied subgenres of speculative fiction, urban fantasy, horror, and thriller. The story focuses primarily on family: parenthood, partnership, and generational trauma. Believing women and motherly instincts also are themes that grow throughout the book. Apollo is a charming main character faced with unique challenges throughout The Changeling that force him to reflect, learn, and grow from where he began.
Great book. Very strange, but definitely worth the dark and emotional journey required to get to the end.
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A book dealer's family is torn apart when his wife commits a horrific act, then disappearsin this fairy tale retelling.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated