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A review by jjaylynny
The Changeling by Victor LaValle
4.0
Yowza. I read the beginning of this book and didn't like the voice, though I couldn't put my finger on why. I felt like the prose was mechanical, stilted. Then I knew I was about to lose the ebook (library loan) and I thought, eh. Then I decided to keep reading, because, as a good little library-loving girl, I don't waste library books. Then BAM.
The reason the voice is so stilted in the beginning is that it's a fairy tale. And this book has a love/hate thing with fairy tales. When you think about it, when we tell fairy tales, we seldom embellish, or weave beautiful language into it. It's a story. Plot is all, especially when a moral is included. And Apollo's story starts and ends with a fairy tale.
Never this week did I think I'd end my week with a rollicking tale of used books, Baby Bjorns, matricide, a boiled sheep's head, a huge troll, and an exceedingly important App Store purchase. Whoooooeee.
The reason the voice is so stilted in the beginning is that it's a fairy tale. And this book has a love/hate thing with fairy tales. When you think about it, when we tell fairy tales, we seldom embellish, or weave beautiful language into it. It's a story. Plot is all, especially when a moral is included. And Apollo's story starts and ends with a fairy tale.
Never this week did I think I'd end my week with a rollicking tale of used books, Baby Bjorns, matricide, a boiled sheep's head, a huge troll, and an exceedingly important App Store purchase. Whoooooeee.