Take a photo of a barcode or cover
kinda_like_shaft 's review for:
The Changeling
by Victor LaValle
This is the first time I’ve ever written a review mid-book, but with another 170 pages left to go, i feel if LaValle had trimmed down his writing, I’d be done by now.
His novellas are among my favs (Lucretia and the Kroons is one of my favorite of all time) but it feels like he just threw words into this book to make it longer. And he ruins the plot development by asking leading questions, right in the text. For example “...the plan had been clear. Kill her. But how? Was he here to harm her or help her? He couldn’t say. And where was she? Why hadn’t she shown herself?” “Had she killed their son? Or was their son still alive? Could there be hope here, too?”
I mean, that’s throughout the book. And, as a savvy reader, i get it! Let me think it through, Victor! Don’t over explain it to me! I feel bludgeoned by the leading questions.
Maybe he did that because he knew this storyline was implausible. The plot leaves room for lots of holes.
I’m finding myself skimming through the fluff to get back to the story. LaValle would have benefited from a strong editor. Lots of pages does not equate to lots of good writing, and i wish he would have stuck to what he’s the best at: packing fantastic tales of NYC magic into twisted storytelling.
His novellas are among my favs (Lucretia and the Kroons is one of my favorite of all time) but it feels like he just threw words into this book to make it longer. And he ruins the plot development by asking leading questions, right in the text. For example “...the plan had been clear. Kill her. But how? Was he here to harm her or help her? He couldn’t say. And where was she? Why hadn’t she shown herself?” “Had she killed their son? Or was their son still alive? Could there be hope here, too?”
I mean, that’s throughout the book. And, as a savvy reader, i get it! Let me think it through, Victor! Don’t over explain it to me! I feel bludgeoned by the leading questions.
Maybe he did that because he knew this storyline was implausible. The plot leaves room for lots of holes.
I’m finding myself skimming through the fluff to get back to the story. LaValle would have benefited from a strong editor. Lots of pages does not equate to lots of good writing, and i wish he would have stuck to what he’s the best at: packing fantastic tales of NYC magic into twisted storytelling.