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Content snapshot
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Violence
A lot
Extreme violence including harm to an infant; horror violence throughout the mythological sections
Language
Some
Some strong language in a contemporary New York register
Sexual Content
Barely any
Adult relationships; nothing explicit
Substance Use
Barely any
Some drinking
Emotional Intensity
Very heavy
The horror of a parent doing the unthinkable; grief compounded by incomprehension; a world in which ancient evil operates through modern technology
What this book is about
Apollo Kagwa has built a decent life: a rare book dealer in New York, a wife named Emma, and a newborn son named Brian. Then Emma does something unthinkable and disappears. Apollo's search for her takes him through the hidden mythology of New York — into a community of women on a forest island, a troll-haunted park, and the kind of ancient evil that the internet makes worse. Victor LaValle's novel is a fairy tale for the present moment, drawing on Grimm and Scandinavian tradition to explore parenthood, grief, and the violence that mothers and fathers will do to protect their children — or destroy them.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
infanticide as a plot point — handled with weight, not exploitation
horror violence throughout
fairy tale darkness
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