“The Changeling” is a 2017 horror novel by Victor LaValle and now is the basis for a series of the same name on AppleTV+. The novel follows the life of Apollo who is a book dealer living in New York City. Apollo meets and eventually marries a librarian named Emma. Soon they become parents to their first child, Brian. This is where things begin to go seriously and horribly wrong. As the title would suggest, the focus of this darkness revolves around the baby Brian. The supernatural aspects of this story are a combination of those of several cultures, strangely different yet similar. Interestingly, these are set in the very modern world, and in an intensely urban environment. This all seems to add up to more than the sum of its parts. As the plot builds, it carries the reader on to the stunning conclusion.

I read the book after watching the first couple episodes of the TV show. The book is good not great. While it is an easy read it just wasn’t quite what I was expecting. A good book but I can’t say it’s something I would read twice.

If first 48 and Tales from the Crypt had a baby, it’d be the Changeling. This book was really well written but left a bit for me in terms of tying threads together. The pace was great up until the end where it just seems like there was more yet to be be explained. If you’re OK with that, I think you’d like this book. There were a few transitions that were rocky for me and the end just seemed rushed by comparison but overall a great read.

This was a beautiful book and I enjoyed every moment reading this work of fiction!

Truly Exceptional!

This is a very strange book. I liked the characters but the story rambled too much. I got lost several times but finished it. There are a lot of threads to draw out into interesting tales but it was a little confusing altogether.