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A review by emmaraeempowered
The Changeling by Victor LaValle
5.0
YO! The Changeling?! Did what it needed to do! WOW!
This had been on my tbr for a while, then I remember when the trailer for the tv show came out and I thought oh I totally gotta read that before it comes out. I knew it vaguely had to do with magic and a young family. But I never read any reviews or really paid attention to the tv show trailer.
So when I did finally read this I was shook.
Beginning with the love story of Apollo Kagwa's parents. I remember thinking "hmm interesting to go all the way back but okay..." Until one day Apollo's father just disappears, no trace just boom gone. And little Apollo begins having dreams of his dad coming to him surrounded by a deep fog saying "you're coming with me". The nightmare plagued him for a while, his mother eventually changes his last time officially so he has no trace to his father. Now fast forward a bit and he is a teenager, avid reader, and a mysterious box appears at he and his moms doorstep. It's filled with things from his dad including a children's book he remembers him reading. Fast forward again to adult Apollo he is happily married and his wife is pregnant, due any moment actually!
What follows is a striking portrayal of post partum depression. With a terrifying element of horror...something is following this young family too closely. Something very dangerous is lurking.
I loved this story! Like loved loved loved! I loved how his wife, Emma, was portrayed. Her post partum depression felt like it was a true account. I have never been pregnant so I haven't felt these emotions or level of ppd, but from what I have heard from women in my community and women on the internet this depiction really felt real. It just showed how much care and research LaValle clearly put in. There is also a mystery around Emma, I won't mention here but with every passing chapter I just kept thinking "what is it???"
The ending took such a wild turn of events I was not expecting that at all! I really loved how like...New York it felt. I'm not sure how to put words to this but - New York always feels like the true 'melting pot'. So many cultures and thus so many fairytales, myths, beliefs, lores, etc. and I felt like the turn this story took really reflected that.
This was a fantastic book, another in the long list of "Why didn't i read this earlier???"
I hope you pick this up. But also please check content warnings. This post partum exploration gets very dark very fast. I've included content warnings with this review.
This had been on my tbr for a while, then I remember when the trailer for the tv show came out and I thought oh I totally gotta read that before it comes out. I knew it vaguely had to do with magic and a young family. But I never read any reviews or really paid attention to the tv show trailer.
So when I did finally read this I was shook.
Beginning with the love story of Apollo Kagwa's parents. I remember thinking "hmm interesting to go all the way back but okay..." Until one day Apollo's father just disappears, no trace just boom gone. And little Apollo begins having dreams of his dad coming to him surrounded by a deep fog saying "you're coming with me". The nightmare plagued him for a while, his mother eventually changes his last time officially so he has no trace to his father. Now fast forward a bit and he is a teenager, avid reader, and a mysterious box appears at he and his moms doorstep. It's filled with things from his dad including a children's book he remembers him reading. Fast forward again to adult Apollo he is happily married and his wife is pregnant, due any moment actually!
What follows is a striking portrayal of post partum depression. With a terrifying element of horror...something is following this young family too closely. Something very dangerous is lurking.
I loved this story! Like loved loved loved! I loved how his wife, Emma, was portrayed. Her post partum depression felt like it was a true account. I have never been pregnant so I haven't felt these emotions or level of ppd, but from what I have heard from women in my community and women on the internet this depiction really felt real. It just showed how much care and research LaValle clearly put in. There is also a mystery around Emma, I won't mention here but with every passing chapter I just kept thinking "what is it???"
The ending took such a wild turn of events I was not expecting that at all! I really loved how like...New York it felt. I'm not sure how to put words to this but - New York always feels like the true 'melting pot'. So many cultures and thus so many fairytales, myths, beliefs, lores, etc. and I felt like the turn this story took really reflected that.
This was a fantastic book, another in the long list of "Why didn't i read this earlier???"
I hope you pick this up. But also please check content warnings. This post partum exploration gets very dark very fast. I've included content warnings with this review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Mental illness, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury