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obsidian_blue 's review for:
The Changeling
by Victor LaValle
Don't even know what to say about this book.
It took my breath away and the ending was just fantastic.
I saw that some of my friends on Goodreads were reading this and I already had plans to read this because I loved LaValle's last book "The Ballad of Black Tom". I didn't think that this book would even hit what I loved from the previous book but it did. This book was just the best of the horror genre. I think I heard someone once say the way to best judge a story is if it sounds true. And this book felt true to me to the point I maybe turned some lights on cause I started getting a creepy feeling someone was watching me.
I also really loved that Lavelle takes his own observations about African Americans, about America, about where we are in the state of the world, about the internet, about mythology and just turns it into this book.
I delayed reading this for a couple of days just because I wanted to savor it and of course I just rushed right through this whole thing so that's just my initial thoughts on this book.
"The Changeling" follows Apollo Kagwa who is given the name of the god of the sun, but feels often out of step with the world around him. Raised by his mother after his father left them, he still feels the mark the absence of his father had on him as he grows up. Turning to books, because at least he can understand the worlds they open to him, he eventually becomes invested in the world of being a book dealer. When he comes across Emma Valentine, he thinks that his life has changed. And when they marry and have a son, he finally thinks that he has reached what has eluded him his whole life, a happy family.
I don't want to spoil, but I have to say this book has so many twists and turns, that I had no idea where the book would go next. Which is a great feeling. Sometimes while reading a book, I often feel like I can tell where the authors going because they use so much foreshadowing or just cliches in the writing that nothing's a surprise. So it's a wonderful feeling again to read a book like this and be surprised.
I thought that all of the characters in this book were so well-rounded and I really did think that Apollo, Emma, Emma sister, Apollo's best friend Patrice, I could feel like I was in the room with them when certain scenes were happening. I definitely have a lot of questions about Apollo's mother and to thought that LaValle left a hanging thread. Or maybe I just didn't read closely enough.
I thought the writing was very good and I just love the initial setup. I mean I definitely think a word for the wise is that when you start to read this book it might read as a typical fairy tale with a bit of horror, but everything just worked. The flow was great too.
The setting was New York, but a New York I haven't read about in years. Most days if New York is the setting, the main character is either living in a great place with a roommate and a lot of room, and or someone working at a job that makes six figures, so New York is super exciting. Heck, even when the plot is contemporary it seems like authors are reluctant to say hey, if you like bed bugs, come to New York.
The ending was a surprise. After reading "The Ballad of Black Tom" I know LaValle can go dark. Very good!
It took my breath away and the ending was just fantastic.
I saw that some of my friends on Goodreads were reading this and I already had plans to read this because I loved LaValle's last book "The Ballad of Black Tom". I didn't think that this book would even hit what I loved from the previous book but it did. This book was just the best of the horror genre. I think I heard someone once say the way to best judge a story is if it sounds true. And this book felt true to me to the point I maybe turned some lights on cause I started getting a creepy feeling someone was watching me.
I also really loved that Lavelle takes his own observations about African Americans, about America, about where we are in the state of the world, about the internet, about mythology and just turns it into this book.
I delayed reading this for a couple of days just because I wanted to savor it and of course I just rushed right through this whole thing so that's just my initial thoughts on this book.
"The Changeling" follows Apollo Kagwa who is given the name of the god of the sun, but feels often out of step with the world around him. Raised by his mother after his father left them, he still feels the mark the absence of his father had on him as he grows up. Turning to books, because at least he can understand the worlds they open to him, he eventually becomes invested in the world of being a book dealer. When he comes across Emma Valentine, he thinks that his life has changed. And when they marry and have a son, he finally thinks that he has reached what has eluded him his whole life, a happy family.
I don't want to spoil, but I have to say this book has so many twists and turns, that I had no idea where the book would go next. Which is a great feeling. Sometimes while reading a book, I often feel like I can tell where the authors going because they use so much foreshadowing or just cliches in the writing that nothing's a surprise. So it's a wonderful feeling again to read a book like this and be surprised.
I thought that all of the characters in this book were so well-rounded and I really did think that Apollo, Emma, Emma sister, Apollo's best friend Patrice, I could feel like I was in the room with them when certain scenes were happening. I definitely have a lot of questions about Apollo's mother and to thought that LaValle left a hanging thread. Or maybe I just didn't read closely enough.
I thought the writing was very good and I just love the initial setup. I mean I definitely think a word for the wise is that when you start to read this book it might read as a typical fairy tale with a bit of horror, but everything just worked. The flow was great too.
The setting was New York, but a New York I haven't read about in years. Most days if New York is the setting, the main character is either living in a great place with a roommate and a lot of room, and or someone working at a job that makes six figures, so New York is super exciting. Heck, even when the plot is contemporary it seems like authors are reluctant to say hey, if you like bed bugs, come to New York.
The ending was a surprise. After reading "The Ballad of Black Tom" I know LaValle can go dark. Very good!