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spano150's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
daja57's review
4.0
"A fairy tale moment, the old kind, when such stories were meant for adults, not kids." Set in New York, in which the magical buts up against the mundane. Apollo, seller of rare books, meets librarian Emma; they marry and have a baby called Brian. Then Emma starts to believe that they have a changeling, a creature from myth, not their own baby. Her dreadful reaction, followed by her disappearance, leads means Apollo must travel into mythic and magical realms (within New York) on a quest whose purpose shifts as we understand more of what is happening.
I thought the first half of the book was brilliant.
But it was rather like those horror movies in which the tension builds up until you see the monster, at which point it becomes too hard to suspend disbelief. The first half of the book crackled with mystery. The second half was a straightforward adventure story.
The highlight, apart from the episode in which Emma gives birth on a subway train with the help of four break-dancers, was the relationship between Apollo and Patrice "Usually they were the only two black book men at local estate sales. They might as well be two unicorns that happened into the same field. Of course they’d become close." There is a lot of insult trading as in the best buddy movies and Patrice has a fantastic way of anchoring their adventures in reality, such as when the two young men are seeking to break into a cemetery and Patrice points out that in this (white) neighbourhood the police often shoot first, ask questions later. "We can be heroes,’” Patrice said. “But heroes like us don’t get to make mistakes.”; "Some 'concerned citizen’s' anonymous phone call had killed many a black man before him."
But there were lots of fantastic authorial asides, reflecting on parenting, and the American way of life as seen by a black protagonist in New York City.
But in the end I was terrifically disappointed that a book which promised so much, for so long, dissipated its impact in a fantasy story.
I thought the first half of the book was brilliant.
But it was rather like those horror movies in which the tension builds up until you see the monster, at which point it becomes too hard to suspend disbelief. The first half of the book crackled with mystery. The second half was a straightforward adventure story.
The highlight, apart from the episode in which Emma gives birth on a subway train with the help of four break-dancers, was the relationship between Apollo and Patrice "Usually they were the only two black book men at local estate sales. They might as well be two unicorns that happened into the same field. Of course they’d become close." There is a lot of insult trading as in the best buddy movies and Patrice has a fantastic way of anchoring their adventures in reality, such as when the two young men are seeking to break into a cemetery and Patrice points out that in this (white) neighbourhood the police often shoot first, ask questions later. "We can be heroes,’” Patrice said. “But heroes like us don’t get to make mistakes.”; "Some 'concerned citizen’s' anonymous phone call had killed many a black man before him."
But there were lots of fantastic authorial asides, reflecting on parenting, and the American way of life as seen by a black protagonist in New York City.
But in the end I was terrifically disappointed that a book which promised so much, for so long, dissipated its impact in a fantasy story.
magicole's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Violence
Moderate: Murder and Suicidal thoughts
pathofpages's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
hirvimaki's review
4.0
This was....weird. As another reviewer noted - although he did not like the book - it starts as Love Actually then kind of melts into Rosemary's Baby and then all of a sudden it is Jurassic Park. And despite being so very adamant about those kind of endings, well...it has one of those kind of endings. All of which made for a fun - think funhouse mirror fun - read.
justinkhchen's review against another edition
5.0
An all encompassing emotional journey. I don't think I've been this invested in a story in quite awhile, The Changeling is a modern day fairy tale, in a dark and explicit, non-Disney-gentrified kind of way. Even though on the surface it is a straightforward adventure plot about a father's quest searching for his lost son, with its contemporary New York setting, Victor LaValle manages to weave together the fantastical elements with urban grittiness and modern day anxiety like nothing I've read before.
I can see some readers taking issue with its on-the-nose puns/wordplays(such as the protagonist's name being Apollo, and light/sun does come into play at some point), I find them quite endearing and fitting to the folklore genre it's referencing (where characters often behave as what they are named), and The Changeling still contains nuances elsewhere (when it touches upon parenthood, social medias and racism). Victor LaValle also narrates his own audiobook, which is an excellent way to experience this.
I can see some readers taking issue with its on-the-nose puns/wordplays(such as the protagonist's name being Apollo, and light/sun does come into play at some point), I find them quite endearing and fitting to the folklore genre it's referencing (where characters often behave as what they are named), and The Changeling still contains nuances elsewhere (when it touches upon parenthood, social medias and racism). Victor LaValle also narrates his own audiobook, which is an excellent way to experience this.
linda48's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Murder, Kidnapping, Grief, and Violence
jdhauk's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Child death, Murder, and Child abuse
Moderate: Racism and Grief
Minor: Stalking
xsonia's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75