Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Changeling by Victor LaValle

11 reviews

emily_dunn's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Police brutality, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Medical content, and Colonisation

notthatcosta's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.75

While this book wasn’t the biggest slog to read for me this year, it was a struggle to motivate myself to see it through. Ultimately I wanted to see what Victor Lavalle had in mind, which is something. Unfortunately, he had about 20 things in mind.

Unfortunately I found the plot convoluted, the tone confusing, the characters flat and the dialogue trite. The plot had so many aspects that were jarring in the moment and confounding in retrospect. This was made worse by how the tone of the book was both young adult while also being incredibly graphic and dark. This was made worse by the AWFUL pacing. And then this was made worse by the dialogue being so flat and downright cheesy at times. It was all so…American. I think the feeble attempts to commentate on technology (which amounted to about 10% of the book involving someone fumbling with an iPad or posting something on Facebook) were the most egregious part. 

Overall I liked a couple of passages (Victor’s childhood, the island), but for the most part I was rolling my eyes. I’m not a sci fi fan at the best of times and this book sums up why. It was sloppy and fantastical without really achieving any level of awe or whimsy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

uranaishi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual content, Excrement, Medical content, Mass/school shootings, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

jaqxun's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Pregnancy

sarah984's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I really liked this book. The writing is really charming (which feels weird to say with this type of content) and the fairy tale atmosphere worked really well for the most part. New York and its history were well utilized. There is one plot point in the middle of the book that I thought was kind of silly

(the part at Rikers - considering later discussions that was all absurdly easy and felt kind of pointless)

but overall fantastic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gore, Grief, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Racism, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual content, Vomit, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

sup3r_xn0va_maya's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

 

The Changeling is a very interesting story and I honestly am not sure how to rate it. This is my first time reading a full length dark fairy tale and I'll say that I enjoyed it for the most part. I enjoyed the first half of the book more than I enjoyed the second half, probably because at the 3/4th mark in the book it gets a little bit confusing and is a little hard to follow.

I don't want to say too much because this is one of those books where the reader should start reading this with as little information on the book as possible. Overall I'll say that this was really creative and I really enjoyed LaValle's writing style. I felt creeped out a few times so this is the perfect read for spooky season! This wasn't my favorite book and I didn't feel completely fulfilled by the ending, I do however respect and appreciate the creativity that went into this story.

I'm going to give this 3.5 stars out of 5
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

lilifane's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Okay, wtf did I just read?!
At first, the story was so nice and funny and light-hearted for the most part. Then it got more intense and weird. And around the 50% mark it got totally off the rails... and that was just the beginning.

Although I liked the characters, they did some questionable things throughout the book. I loved the dark fairy tale like atmosphere and the writing style. Especially the humour in the first half of the book, which did disappear for the majority of the second half due to how dark and intense the plot got. Btw, I did not like the name of the bad guy because.. why? Couldn't take him seriously tbh, and it took out all the tension every time it was mentioned. 

I liked how unpredictable the plot was and all the different parts of it. I just think the book was too long. At least it felt like it was dragging sometimes despite all the action and mystery elements. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

bandysbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The Changeling is a mix of horror and modern day fairytale that creates a really unique story. It follows a family who is rocked by a tragic event, leaving a distraught father in its wake. It explores grief, generational trauma, and the meaning of family.

During the first part of this book, I was a bit confused and honestly a bit bored. It just seemed like a story about a family, but I’m glad I stuck with it. Once the story is set, it picks up quickly and gets really interesting. 

I thought the way that this book explored trauma was very unique as well. We See two people who are really struggling and are not receiving the support that they need. The consequences of that ripple throughout the story.

All in all, if you like horror and fairytales mixed with real life, I think you’ll like this book. There are some difficult topics in it, so please check the trigger warnings.

TW: Murder, Death of a Child, Mental Illness, Blood, Assault, Guns

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

grey_jayne's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

I was expecting this book to be more urban fantasy than it turned out to be.  If the story was 100 pages shorter, I'd probably be more of a fan.  There were big sections where we're supposed to relate to the main character's grief.  Since the plot only appears from time to time, those sections just dragged for me.

Parts of this are cool, which would be more pronounced if the story was shorter.  By the time we get to the fantastical end, it then feels rushed.  I didn't know that a book about changelings would not be for me. However, this one isn't because there's nowhere near enough fantasy.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Gun violence

rorikae's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

'The Changeling' by Victor LaValle is a horrifying story that delves into themes of parenthood, familial trauma, and how far one will go for their child. 

The story centers on Apollo Kagwa, a rare book dealer who has just welcomed a baby with his daughter Emma. But their life is disrupted when Emma starts getting strange text messages and begins to act off. One night, after an act of extreme violence, she disappears. Apollo is left trying to piece his world back together and learn more about what really happened in his home and what was its cause.

LaValle does an exceptional job of slowly ramping up the tension in 'The Changeling.' I knew this book was horror going in but the horrific acts and moments still sneak up on you because LaValle has created this really solid base of strong characters. We care for Apollo, learning about his childhood, how he met Emma, and how excited they are at the birth of his son. This makes the revelations and horrific moments in this story that much more stark because they stand out from the normal life that LaValle has painted. Apollo has to dig into his own past to learn about his family at the same time that he is trying to unpack what is happening in his life. This unpacks his familial trauma as he works to be a better father and husband than his own father. I listened to the audiobook, which is narrated by LaValle himself, and his calm narration is the perfect contrast to some of the truly horrific discoveries that are included in this story. I highly recommend this book, especially if you're looking for a horrific family story but go in knowing that there are a lot of trigger warnings and it isn't easy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Suicide attempt