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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
Outside Over There by Maurice Sendak was one of my earliest and all-time most beloved books as a child. It would be fair to say I was obsessed with it. I still have it mostly memorized, and certain phrases and cadences will trigger it to play in my head even now.
I saved my childhood copy all these years for when I had a child of my own, only to have my husband hide it because he found it so disturbing and didn't think our daughter should be exposed to it. (But we found it - and it became one of my daughter's favorites too).
Victor Lavalle is one of my favorite new writers, and the intersection of horror and fairy tale one of my favorite flavors of fiction.
So the fact that he wrote a book in that genre starring and inspired by the story of Outside Over There?
Four stars before I even started reading.
The extra star is for the story, the writing, and the characters.
I saved my childhood copy all these years for when I had a child of my own, only to have my husband hide it because he found it so disturbing and didn't think our daughter should be exposed to it. (But we found it - and it became one of my daughter's favorites too).
Victor Lavalle is one of my favorite new writers, and the intersection of horror and fairy tale one of my favorite flavors of fiction.
So the fact that he wrote a book in that genre starring and inspired by the story of Outside Over There?
Four stars before I even started reading.
The extra star is for the story, the writing, and the characters.
What a ride this one was. It started out seeming pretty normal, then goes a little off the rails, then jumps into an entirely different stratosphere about halfway through. Hard to describe this one - I guess I'd call it a realistic fantasy with horror elements. The fantasy stuff doesn't really come into play until maybe halfway through and then we kinda just run with it.
The Changeling starts off relatively tame, with a seemingly mundane story of a kid from NY, a little bit of his parents' backstory, and how he became a book collector and seller. I loved the way this part of the book was written - everything seems pretty normal but there's a hint of eerieness, of "something isn't quite right". This was a common thing throughout the book actually, there's a subtle feeling of dread that builds and builds all the way through that makes it a very creepy read.
Anyway this is the story of Apollo, a new father who faces an insane series of events leading to him searching for his wife and child, but everything is not what it seems. We follow Apollo's story as he travels between boroughs and worlds, slowly learning more and more about what's actually going on with his family.
The pacing of this book was a bit odd to me. We flew through certain scenes but others felt like they lasted forever(the subway birth for one...) . There were multiple parts that I thought were way further or earlier in the book than they actually turned out to be. When I got to the main...inciting incident, I guess you can call it - I thought I was a LOT further into the book than I actually was. I guess that's good, because it led me to keep reading to find out what was going to happen in the remaining 3/4 of the book.
The main thing keeping me from rating this higher though is how confused I got in the last 30%-ish. There was a lot I had a hard time following and I had a lot of unanswered questions (and googling tells me that others had the same problem lol). I mostly understood it all by the time I finished but it went a bit over my head.
Also, and I don't think this is necessarily a con - but I think this book would resonate a lot more for people with kids. It had a LOT of emphasis on like, doing anything for your kid and the impact of what it's like to be a parent and stuff like that. And like I said...that's not a bad thing. I just found that I couldn't relate to a lot of it myself.
Overall I really liked the writing style though, and will definitely pick up more of Victor LaValle's works. The audiobook is also narrated by the author and I loved it and would def recommend!
The Changeling starts off relatively tame, with a seemingly mundane story of a kid from NY, a little bit of his parents' backstory, and how he became a book collector and seller. I loved the way this part of the book was written - everything seems pretty normal but there's a hint of eerieness, of "something isn't quite right". This was a common thing throughout the book actually, there's a subtle feeling of dread that builds and builds all the way through that makes it a very creepy read.
Anyway this is the story of Apollo, a new father who faces an insane series of events leading to him searching for his wife and child, but everything is not what it seems. We follow Apollo's story as he travels between boroughs and worlds, slowly learning more and more about what's actually going on with his family.
The pacing of this book was a bit odd to me. We flew through certain scenes but others felt like they lasted forever
The main thing keeping me from rating this higher though is how confused I got in the last 30%-ish. There was a lot I had a hard time following and I had a lot of unanswered questions (and googling tells me that others had the same problem lol). I mostly understood it all by the time I finished but it went a bit over my head.
Also, and I don't think this is necessarily a con - but I think this book would resonate a lot more for people with kids. It had a LOT of emphasis on like, doing anything for your kid and the impact of what it's like to be a parent and stuff like that. And like I said...that's not a bad thing. I just found that I couldn't relate to a lot of it myself.
Overall I really liked the writing style though, and will definitely pick up more of Victor LaValle's works. The audiobook is also narrated by the author and I loved it and would def recommend!
Not really what I was expecting. And for as much as I love urban fantasy/magical realism, this book just didn't do it for me. Like Apollo through the story I never quite knew what was "real," and while I can suspend disbelief with the best of them, I couldn't do it here.
One of my great lamentations is that I'm better at expressing myself when I dislike a book than when I'm enchanted by one. If I hadn't enjoyed this, I'd have plenty to pick apart and poke fun at. As it is, though, I find myself at a loss for words.
I'm a little bit in love with this book. It's a fairytale. It's a monster story. It's folklore in a modern setting. It's the overwhelming love of a parent, and the terrible fear of a parent, too.
I only finished it this morning, but I can already tell that this will be a story that climbs into my soul and takes up residence there. I wish I had the words to adequately explain just how much I loved it.
Go read this freakin' book, y'all. Oh my gosh.
I'm a little bit in love with this book. It's a fairytale. It's a monster story. It's folklore in a modern setting. It's the overwhelming love of a parent, and the terrible fear of a parent, too.
I only finished it this morning, but I can already tell that this will be a story that climbs into my soul and takes up residence there. I wish I had the words to adequately explain just how much I loved it.
Go read this freakin' book, y'all. Oh my gosh.
Good, but not great. Another one where the author is the narrator and he's not great, either. Not bad, just not great.
Suffering from what appears to be post-partum depression, Emma murders her and Apollo's son, then disappears. She claims that "IT is not a child." Eventually, he runs into a man who claims that Emma is alive and he can help Apollo find her. The search takes Apollo to a secret community of women and children who have survived domestic hardship on a New York City island.
I wanted to suspend disbelief, but just couldn't do it. Too much "urban" and not enough "fantasy" for what I'm looking for in urban fantasy.
Suffering from what appears to be post-partum depression, Emma murders her and Apollo's son, then disappears. She claims that "IT is not a child." Eventually, he runs into a man who claims that Emma is alive and he can help Apollo find her. The search takes Apollo to a secret community of women and children who have survived domestic hardship on a New York City island.
I wanted to suspend disbelief, but just couldn't do it. Too much "urban" and not enough "fantasy" for what I'm looking for in urban fantasy.
This was intriguing, creepy, and a page-turner (although I listened to it...read by the author!). The magical realism was just right, and I was really attached to these characters, their story, and the mystery surrounding them. It was pretty creepy (which was perfect for an October read). I didn't love the gore which was described at times, but it was short-lived. My only complaint was William Wheeler was hard for me to wrap my head around. I had a hard time nailing down his character and often felt very disconnected from who he was and what his motives were...
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
"Monsters aren’t real until you meet one."
The Changeling by Victor Lavalle is a terrifying modern day fairy tale, full of emotion, depth and horror.
Apollo Kagwa couldn’t be happier. After starting his own business reselling books, he and his wife Emma are expecting their first child together. Once their son is born, both Apollo and Emma experience more than the expected changes to their new life as parents. Apollo is haunted by a father who up and left him and Emma seems to start to detach from reality and from her child, eventually committing a heinous act and disappearing. Convinced there is more to Emma’s actions, Apollo sets out on an odyssey to find out what happened to his family, crossing land and sea and, with each moment, questioning the reality he understood to be true.
The Changeling checked all the boxes for me.
I can confidently say I have never read anything like this, and that's an exciting feeling to have as a reader. Lavalle proves himself a gifted storyteller. The way he weaves the different, seemingly disparate elements in the story together in a way that is emotionally resonant and completely terrifying is an accomplishment.
Lavalle takes inspiration from books and fairy tales we may have heard, but The Changeling places these “far off” ideas into a real and modern world and the combination is a trip. It’s a fairy tale, with all the dark and twisted parts fully intact (Grimm would approve). There’s levels and layers to everything here; there’s terror in ideas like guilt and loss and terror in the real tangible things that can hurt us. The Changeling shows both can feel equally terrifying.
If someone were to ask me what genre this book fit into, I could think of many but none would fully do it justice. There are moments of genuine terror, of immense emotional pain, of longing for connection, of love lost and regained, of cleverness and wit, and of self discovery. It has everything. If you’re a fan of creepy myths and legends and retellings, I must recommend this one.
The Changeling by Victor Lavalle is a terrifying modern day fairy tale, full of emotion, depth and horror.
Apollo Kagwa couldn’t be happier. After starting his own business reselling books, he and his wife Emma are expecting their first child together. Once their son is born, both Apollo and Emma experience more than the expected changes to their new life as parents. Apollo is haunted by a father who up and left him and Emma seems to start to detach from reality and from her child, eventually committing a heinous act and disappearing. Convinced there is more to Emma’s actions, Apollo sets out on an odyssey to find out what happened to his family, crossing land and sea and, with each moment, questioning the reality he understood to be true.
The Changeling checked all the boxes for me.
I can confidently say I have never read anything like this, and that's an exciting feeling to have as a reader. Lavalle proves himself a gifted storyteller. The way he weaves the different, seemingly disparate elements in the story together in a way that is emotionally resonant and completely terrifying is an accomplishment.
Lavalle takes inspiration from books and fairy tales we may have heard, but The Changeling places these “far off” ideas into a real and modern world and the combination is a trip. It’s a fairy tale, with all the dark and twisted parts fully intact (Grimm would approve). There’s levels and layers to everything here; there’s terror in ideas like guilt and loss and terror in the real tangible things that can hurt us. The Changeling shows both can feel equally terrifying.
If someone were to ask me what genre this book fit into, I could think of many but none would fully do it justice. There are moments of genuine terror, of immense emotional pain, of longing for connection, of love lost and regained, of cleverness and wit, and of self discovery. It has everything. If you’re a fan of creepy myths and legends and retellings, I must recommend this one.
Oh, man, did I like this book. I read a description elsewhere and thought, yes, this is exactly my cup of tea. And then the description didn't match what I was reading at all. Which was great, because I did not see what was coming (and the Goodreads description is more explicit).
In the book, a character explains that fairy tales were originally for adults. "A bad fairy tale has some simple goddamn moral," she says. "A great fairy tale tells the truth." I love it when an author sets out their purpose and then delivers. The Changeling is a great fairy tale. It is dark and bloody, but filled with redemption. You could delve into issues of internet culture, police brutality, parental neglect, the role of men and women, race inequality, and so much more. Yet, on the surface, it's about none of these things. LaValle lays his tools out as he tells the story, and then each one is used perfectly in its place.
The description of new parent life, both the capricious joy and the less-talked-about horror, is visceral, having just crossed those waters. LaValle spends time developing that world before moving on, which makes the atmosphere all the more emotionally exhausting going into the main plot.
Now, can someone please read this so we can discuss?
In the book, a character explains that fairy tales were originally for adults. "A bad fairy tale has some simple goddamn moral," she says. "A great fairy tale tells the truth." I love it when an author sets out their purpose and then delivers. The Changeling is a great fairy tale. It is dark and bloody, but filled with redemption. You could delve into issues of internet culture, police brutality, parental neglect, the role of men and women, race inequality, and so much more. Yet, on the surface, it's about none of these things. LaValle lays his tools out as he tells the story, and then each one is used perfectly in its place.
The description of new parent life, both the capricious joy and the less-talked-about horror, is visceral, having just crossed those waters. LaValle spends time developing that world before moving on, which makes the atmosphere all the more emotionally exhausting going into the main plot.
Now, can someone please read this so we can discuss?