Take a photo of a barcode or cover
whatathymeitwas 's review for:
The Changeling
by Victor LaValle
I finished The Changeling by Victor LaValle last night (this morning?), finally (and I say that because it took longer than I wanted it to take to finish it really, but that's on me for taking break days for movies and art) and I would definitely recommend it to anyone that's into that blurred line space where horror and fairytale come together. It's a really wonderful entry into the genre spaces of magical realism/dark fantasy/holy shit fairytales are dark.
I'll also add that it was EXTREMELY refreshing and not your run of the mill formulaic horror. It's also a book written by a Black man, featuring predominantly Black main characters, that brings a lot of real world horrors and social issues into it from that very perspective and honestly has quite a bit of food for thought in it, which personally I appreciated because I feel those are areas that often get glossed over in fiction. Characters had to actually consider things like what danger police presence posed to them in a very realistic way, whether things they did would draw attention due to racial bias, etc. Maybe that's not for everyone, but in my opinion, it rooted the story that much more into the real world and made the fantastical bits that much more fantastical. I'm so happy we're seeing many more BIPOC writers hit the mainstream, achieve success, and get their books out there to us.
I would go a bit more in depth with the plot, but I think you get the gist from the title, and if you choose to read it, I highly suggest NOT reading too many reviews and going in as blind as possible. I did this and therefore did not at all expect where the book was going around the halfway point when things shifted, and I absolutely didn't expect the last third of it to go where it did.
My only real complaint that knocked this down a star, is that the ending felt a little rushed, though I'm honestly not sure it would have benefitted any from being more drawn out either, but either way I was a bit startled at how suddenly and simply things came to a close after such a whirlwind of a book beforehand.
As a fan of fantasy and fairy tales, I pretty much knew I'd like this book no matter what, and I was right. I'm starting to question my own sanity for reading so many novels in a row that hinge a major part of the plot on children, but only because I have my own young child and it's something that really keys in on my anxiety, so obviously I get macabre enjoyment out of it in some sense, and just as I do with horror movies, it seems to be a safe space to contemplate the horrors that can come with having children and how we can really only protect them to a certain extent. Sometimes there really is a boogeyman to contend with.
I found this easy to read and well written, the characters very well fleshed out and lively. I really am a sucker for very dark fairy tales, and I thought a lot of the plot points and twists in this were genius and well thought through. The blend of things from reality converging with the tall aspects really made it hit home.
I'll also add that it was EXTREMELY refreshing and not your run of the mill formulaic horror. It's also a book written by a Black man, featuring predominantly Black main characters, that brings a lot of real world horrors and social issues into it from that very perspective and honestly has quite a bit of food for thought in it, which personally I appreciated because I feel those are areas that often get glossed over in fiction. Characters had to actually consider things like what danger police presence posed to them in a very realistic way, whether things they did would draw attention due to racial bias, etc. Maybe that's not for everyone, but in my opinion, it rooted the story that much more into the real world and made the fantastical bits that much more fantastical. I'm so happy we're seeing many more BIPOC writers hit the mainstream, achieve success, and get their books out there to us.
I would go a bit more in depth with the plot, but I think you get the gist from the title, and if you choose to read it, I highly suggest NOT reading too many reviews and going in as blind as possible. I did this and therefore did not at all expect where the book was going around the halfway point when things shifted, and I absolutely didn't expect the last third of it to go where it did.
My only real complaint that knocked this down a star, is that the ending felt a little rushed, though I'm honestly not sure it would have benefitted any from being more drawn out either, but either way I was a bit startled at how suddenly and simply things came to a close after such a whirlwind of a book beforehand.
As a fan of fantasy and fairy tales, I pretty much knew I'd like this book no matter what, and I was right. I'm starting to question my own sanity for reading so many novels in a row that hinge a major part of the plot on children, but only because I have my own young child and it's something that really keys in on my anxiety, so obviously I get macabre enjoyment out of it in some sense, and just as I do with horror movies, it seems to be a safe space to contemplate the horrors that can come with having children and how we can really only protect them to a certain extent. Sometimes there really is a boogeyman to contend with.
I found this easy to read and well written, the characters very well fleshed out and lively. I really am a sucker for very dark fairy tales, and I thought a lot of the plot points and twists in this were genius and well thought through. The blend of things from reality converging with the tall aspects really made it hit home.