I don’t even know how to start this review for The Changeling by Victor LaValle. It’s just so, so good. And so unexpected. I mean, I didn’t know what to expect going in. Or even when I was in it! Also I saw that this book is nominated for a Goodreads Choice Award in the horror category. I’m not quite sure that’s the category it should fit in. Fairy or folk tale retelling maybe, but not of the Disney variety. Of the scary but still not horror variety? I don’t know. This book has me all jumbled!

The Changeling is about Apollo Kagwa, an antique book dealer living in New York City. After he and his wife, Emma, have a baby, Brian, Emma starts acting strange. Not your regular post-partum depression strange, but, eerie strange. Disturbing strange. It goes on until she commits an unthinkable act and vanishes.

Crippled with grief, stunned, and confused, Apollo searches for Emma. His search takes him from a mysterious island in the East River to a haunted forest in Queens. It feels weird to have to point out a character’s race, but Apollo and Emma are black, and this novel paints a picture of their lives as a black couple in New York City. Race simultaneously isn’t and is a big part of the book. It’s easy to not even think about their race while you’re reading, until Apollo has to think about things like walking alone at night on a dark suburban street, and how that looks.

I don’t even know what to say about the writing. It’s so good! It’s so well done! I don’t know how to describe it. You can completely lose yourself in LaValle’s words and world. The imagery LaValle creates is deft and vivid.

This book is mesmerizing, enchanting, creepy, heartbreaking, and stunningly beautiful all at the same time. The characters feel like real people. The love stories - both romantic and father/son - are compelling. The story about modern parenting and relationships and friendships and family is smart and powerful. The fairy tail elements even felt real.

I can’t say enough good things about this book. I recommend this to, well, everyone.