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The Changeling
The Changeling

The Changeling

By
Victor LaValle
Victor LaValle
By
Victor LaValle
Victor LaValle
2017 • 448 pages

Ratings16

Average rating4.2

15
Book InfoReviews5Editions4Lists21Feed9

"The wildly imaginative story of one man's thrilling odyssey through an enchanted world to find his wife, who has disappeared after having seemingly committed an unforgivable act of violence, from the award-winning author of The Devil in Silver and Big Machine"-- "Apollo Kagwa has had strange dreams that have haunted him since childhood. An antiquarian book dealer with a business called Improbabilia, he is just beginning to settle into his new life as a committed and involved father, unlike his own father who abandoned him, when his wife Emma begins acting strange. Disconnected and uninterested in their new baby boy, Emma at first seems to be exhibiting all the signs of post-partum depression, but it quickly becomes clear that her troubles go far beyond that. Before Apollo can do anything to help, Emma commits a horrific act--beyond any parent's comprehension--and vanishes, seemingly into thin air. Thus begins Apollo's odyssey through a world he only thought he understood to find a wife and child who are nothing like he'd imagined. His quest begins when he meets a mysterious stranger who claims to have information about Emma's whereabouts. Apollo then begins a journey that takes him to a forgotten island in the East River of New York City, a graveyard full of secrets, a forest in Queens where immigrant legends still live, and finally back to a place he thought he had lost forever. This dizzying tale is ultimately a story about family and the unfathomable secrets of the people we love"--

Tags

Genres

  • Adventure
  • Fantasy
  • Science fiction

Moods

  • Adventurous
  • emotional
  • mysterious

Reviews

Popular Reviews

Reviews with the most likes.

thehourofpearl
Jess

What a page turner. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which I found creepy-but-not-too-creepy. I'm a bit confused about some of the fantastical elements but they're still well-done. Off to go cover my MacBook camera with tape...

September 5, 2017
manal
Manal

I rated it before I finished it and I'm taking a star back because of the ending. Worth reading but it eventually just gets too literal which cheapens all the lead-up. Read it for the creep factor but be prepared for some weird turns and disappointing choices.

March 7, 2019
LaShel
LaShelSupporter

The first half of this book is amazing - slow and beautifully written, with a delicious sense of foreboding doom. Then everything starts to happen at once, magical elements are popping up all over the place with no consistency or reason, there's graphic violence and stomach wrenching child abuse for what often feels like no purpose at all, and the book takes a moralistic anti-technology tone that I hated. So overall three stars, I guess?

June 11, 2020
illtakethenightshiftx
Julia ☕️

book 1/30  The Changeling by Victor Lavalle
First book of 2023 is complete! The Changeling is a story of, as the title suggests, ancient magic that brings changelings to our world. The story starts off a little slow, but picks up FAST about halfway through. I finished the last half of the story in a few hours (including into the wee hours of the morning today)
I really enjoyed this novel! I love magic and folklore in books and this novel had the right mix of it all for me. 

January 2, 2023

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