Imaginative, playful, and jam packed full of fae mythology—Changeling by Delia Sherman is a middle grade book this adult is not ashamed to admit his bookshelf will always have a place for.

If you hadn’t already guessed, this was a reread for me. Changeling is actually the book that made me fall in love with reading. If you can remember the scholastic book fair days, Changeling was a random book I begged my Mom for because the cover art looked cool. I’ve read this book three times throughout my life, but this was the first time reading this book as an adult. This brought back all the nostalgia I could have hoped for and I can see why I loved it so much.

I’ve recently just read n  Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Fairiesn and n  Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlandsn (which have now become one of my new favorite book series) and I was surprised to see how many similarities there were. Changeling to me feels like the mischievous middle-grade baby of the Emily Wilde series and Night at the Museum.

In Changeling, we follow Neef, the human counterpart of a fae changeling swap, as she traverses the fae world she was stolen away to, New York-Between—a replica of the New York we know, but with a magical twist. I love traveling in this world with Neef, learning more about Fae from different cultures and mythologies. The amount of fae we are introduced to in such a short amount of time and from such a wide range of cultures without finding it confusing is an amazing feat.

I feel like there are so many fantasy books that don’t explain themselves well enough to understand how it works, so the concept isn’t given the breathing room for the reader to really take in a proper lung-full. The fae Geniuses and the domains they rule, the hierarchy of the species, and the uniqueness of each area was detailed very well. I knew where I was the entire time and I hardly ever found myself questioning the magic.

One of the coolest concepts that Sherman has created in this world are the fae creatures that come from beloved tales, books, or stories. These characters became so well known and are so loved by humans that they poof into the reality of New-York between—they literally are manifested into being from their popularity. A few examples are Stuart Little and Eloise from the book series. How cool is that?

There is a darkness to it that I love (one of the reasons I see a similarity to Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Fairies), at least a darkness that is hinted towards. Neef doesn’t beat around the bush, much like a New Yorker, whether an in-betweener or not.

There were too many grammatical mistakes to overlook. A few mistakes can be easy to look past as a reader, but there were so many mistakes here that made me pause and think too often. I was swept out of this world too often.

Sherman established Neef as a fairy changeling who was stolen from the human world and therefore doesn’t have an extensive understanding of that world. But, it felt like Sherman picked and chose too often what knowledge Neef has of the human world and what she doesn’t for convenience sake, whether it be a joke or to push the plot forward. This stripped the believability of Neef and the beautiful world has been built.

Changeling isn’t the most complicated read, but this isn’t a bad thing. If you can look past the periodic grammatical oversights and the inconsistencies of Neef’s human knowledge, this truly is a fae fantasy book worth reading. I love Sherman's world and I look forward to the next time I need my next hit of fantastical nostalgia.

3.5/5 stars, worth rounding up to 4 for Goodreads.

Would I Recommend this Book: Yes
Would I Read Other Works by the Author (Sequels or otherwise): Yes
Would I Ever Reread this Book: Yes

This book is very light. The subject is almost a subgenre, an alternate city. I read this a very long time ago and remember really liking it, this time not so much. The characters are flat and predictable and the plot to easily accomplished. A twist on an unlikely hero story suitable for younger readers. However the description of scenery and classic characters is very good. This author has a gift for scenery unlike any other. The sheer imagination of the different fabulous creatures really came to life for me. But as for depth there was none. I can clearly see why I liked it so much when I was younger, and would recommend for younger readers

Neef is a human changeling living in New York Between. She has an amazing fairy godmother, Astris, who happens to also be a white rat. Neef has lots of rules to abide by, but that's mainly to keep her safe. She knows that she's a changeling and that there is a fairy living in her place but it really makes no difference to her. She pretty much loves her life.

Except she's DYING to attend the Solstice Dance. Astris manages to use magic to keep her asleep during this bi-yearly event but this time around she's determined to stay awake and attend.

Unfortunately all those stories about curiosity killing that cat that Astris had told her proved to be true. Unknowingly, she broke a promise and must now deal with the curse. Unless she can acquire the three tokens that the Green Lady challenged her to obtain, Neef will become the food for the Wild Hunt. Using her knowledge of fairy tales, Neef journeys on this quest hoping to right the wrong.

Changeling was a pretty fun read. Neef was a likable character and although there were times when I was confused by her actions, overall the story and pacing was perfect.

I really liked that Neef meets her Changeling and together they make this journey. I thought that was an interesting twist with the changeling theme in fairy tales. Plus, using New York as the setting made it almost believable, you know. Like, the movie Toy Story...how do we know that our stuffed animals don't come alive? New York Between could quite possibly exist!

I've been waiting to read this book for a long, long time and (in the end) I was sorely disappointed. I thought it was pointed more towards adults than kiddos, but I was wrong. Also the main character feels almost no regret for any of her actions and therefore is very hard to identify with.

I'm still processing whether or not I liked this book at all. On the one hand, a somewhat sympathetic and interesting character on the spectrum is rare. On the other, making that character literally not-human and explaining away the characteristics of Aspergers as "other" and "foreign" just doesn't work for me. I can't figure out why the author made these choices, and that completely distracted me from what could have otherwise been an enjoyable romp through a clever urban fantasy.

A fun, light read. I particularly liked the biker-style mermaids, and because I finally visited New York and recognized many of the locations described enjoyed the book a lot more than I might have otherwise.

Really Cool and fun!

Fun young adult fantasy which avoids many fantasy cliches.

smiles all around... this book was amazingly fun... kind of exactly what children's literature should be... plenty of amazing characters, lots of mythological beasties, and loads of funny dialogue... kinda perfect that the important characters were girls, and not all about their appearance and "where are the cute boys??"... just a joy to read...

Neef is human who was switched at birth with a fairy and brought into New York between to become the Changeling of Central Park. She's is an overly curious child and soon becomes aware of a Solstice dance that occurs every year that she somehow always misses. Neef loves to dance and wants very badly to go. She realizes that she has been given a sleeping potion on the previous nights of the dance. She quickly finds a way around that and on the night of the dance, she sneaks down to it. There she causes a ruckous and the Green Lady of the Park states that she was forbidden to attend the dance and must be banished. If she is banished, she will be left for the Wild Hunt who waits in anticipation to get there hands (or claws) on her. She ends up making a deal (with the help of the Pooka)to go on a quest to obtain 3 objects to appease the Green Lady. On her quest she is accompanied by the fairy that was left in her place. Although they look alike, they are very different. They become close during there quest and realize each other's differences are good in their own way.
This was a great book that teaches many different morals. I recommend it highly.

While I never really warmed up to Neef, the protagonist, I thought her changeling counterpart totally, utterly rocked. I loved Changeling from the start, and she made perfect sense to me as what a fairy changeling raised in our world might be like, too.

Also, the time spent in the Metropolitan Museum of Art was worth the price of admission (so to speak) by itself.

It took me a little while to get into the book. 50 pages in and it finally got me. I just didn't connect with Neef at first. But I liked changeling. As the story went on I liked Neef a little more but Changeling is still my favorite.

I also really liked how the fairy tale creatures weren't just your traditional creatures from folklore but also creatures from your favorite literature. Like Eloise. And the idea that all of this could be squished into New York, made it seem like fairy lands weren't all flowery fields and forests.