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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
Yeah… I’m just not a huge fan of this one.
Maybe the themes just didn’t connect with me, but I’d be lying if I said I thought it was just that. It was just so boring? I don’t know how such a (potentially) interesting premise makes for such a dull story, but it happened? While this is still a two star book for me, I was often tempted to DNF, not because anything aggressively bad, but just because I found my interest so lacking.
More so, the book itself seems to be split into three or four disjointed parts with little connection or explanation. Every time I was slightly immersed in one part (because nothing in this captivated me completely), there’s be a total tonal shift to the next segment of plot points, and I’d be completely torn out of the book again. I feel like this book had a lot of good, loose, base ideas, but they were never expounded upon or explained. The island, for example, was a plot point that was shoved in and then squandered.
I also didn’t connect or care about all of the characters. Due to the disjointed structure of the book, I was apathetic about the stakes, and about what happened to them. Some of them… I don’t know. Let’s just say I was rolling my eyes. There was a lot of irrational characters in this one.
I was looking forward to a dark fairytale, which I feel this book had the potential to provide, but it didn’t. I feel like it was in desperate need for some more revision to tie the many unraveled ends together and to streamline the plot. Right now, like I said, it meanders all over the place…which instead of interest, led to my exasperation.
All of this put together, “The Changeling” feels like a first draft that was polished and published. It feels undone and unrefined in structure, which was a disappointment.
Maybe the themes just didn’t connect with me, but I’d be lying if I said I thought it was just that. It was just so boring? I don’t know how such a (potentially) interesting premise makes for such a dull story, but it happened? While this is still a two star book for me, I was often tempted to DNF, not because anything aggressively bad, but just because I found my interest so lacking.
More so, the book itself seems to be split into three or four disjointed parts with little connection or explanation. Every time I was slightly immersed in one part (because nothing in this captivated me completely), there’s be a total tonal shift to the next segment of plot points, and I’d be completely torn out of the book again. I feel like this book had a lot of good, loose, base ideas, but they were never expounded upon or explained. The island, for example, was a plot point that was shoved in and then squandered.
I also didn’t connect or care about all of the characters. Due to the disjointed structure of the book, I was apathetic about the stakes, and about what happened to them. Some of them… I don’t know. Let’s just say I was rolling my eyes. There was a lot of irrational characters in this one.
I was looking forward to a dark fairytale, which I feel this book had the potential to provide, but it didn’t. I feel like it was in desperate need for some more revision to tie the many unraveled ends together and to streamline the plot. Right now, like I said, it meanders all over the place…which instead of interest, led to my exasperation.
All of this put together, “The Changeling” feels like a first draft that was polished and published. It feels undone and unrefined in structure, which was a disappointment.
This book could be used to explain exponential growth. It begins as a normal domestic drama, but each chapter is 9.6% weirder than the previous one. After 103 chapters, the craziness is beyond category.
Gorgeous and haunting, listening to LaValle narrate his own story was absolutely mesmerizing. This tale of a father, and of intergenerational trauma, and love, and loss, and what it means to do right by your family, set against a folklore-laced backdrop, is unforgettable. Highly recommend.
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
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:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5 stars. I really enjoyed the first half or so of this book. It was a little difficult to read a few scenes due to content. The story opens with a short and charming history of Apollo's parents, then continues to give us glimpses into how Apollo's life was affected by his very few memories or impressions of his father. Soon enough Apollo finds Emma and is about to become a father himself. Throughout this the story almost has a fairy-tale rhythm to it, though everything about the setting and the people are thoroughly and believably rooted in the present. I enjoyed it - especially his son's birth - and I even enjoyed the subtle suspense you could sense building throughout, knowing the reader is being led to a much darker place.
Even after the trauma of the event that you knew was coming because you read the synopsis on the cover, I found Apollo's story moving even as the suspense kept building and more and more questions seemed to be raised. When it came to the resolution of the story, however, I often found it to be... just weird. A number of questions were raised for me that were never really satisfactorily answered, and what I think was meant to be a kind of magical realism just felt... unreal. Just such an odd combination of everyday life in NYC and myth and folklore that did not mesh very well at all. Still overall an enjoyable ride into a genre I don't spend much time with.
Even after the trauma of the event that you knew was coming because you read the synopsis on the cover, I found Apollo's story moving even as the suspense kept building and more and more questions seemed to be raised. When it came to the resolution of the story, however, I often found it to be... just weird. A number of questions were raised for me that were never really satisfactorily answered, and what I think was meant to be a kind of magical realism just felt... unreal. Just such an odd combination of everyday life in NYC and myth and folklore that did not mesh very well at all. Still overall an enjoyable ride into a genre I don't spend much time with.
Victor is one of the greatest of our time. You can’t tell me otherwise…
Audiobook | (3.5-3.75 rounded up)
It was a decent book.
Now bring on the show staring one of my favorite actors: LaKeith Stanfield. :)
It was a decent book.
Now bring on the show staring one of my favorite actors: LaKeith Stanfield. :)
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
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:
Yes