Wow! This book is not what I expected, and I’m angry about that because the publisher did the author, Tomi Oyemakinde, dirty. The book blurb does not accurately portray what this book is about. You know how we say, even complain, that we saw the whole movie in the trailer? There’s a reason for this. There are studies indicating that people want to know exactly what a movie is about before they see it, yet they’re not going to remember all the details from the trailer when they watch the movie. I believe this applies to books, as well. I don’t want to invest hours reading a book only to find out I’ve been misled by the description into reading something that’s not appealing to me. What I find deceptive is that I was led to believe The Changing Man is a YA thriller mystery, yet it took a sudden hard turn and is actually middle-grade-esque sci-fi fantasy horror. Perhaps the publishers are trying to preserve a perceived shock value of the plot twist, but I think that’s possible while still accurately describing the book. For example, the book flap says “As more questions arise, Ife has no choice but to team up with Ben and Bijal to investigate.” It could simply say “…to investigate mysterious and otherworldly forces.” Something! Anything!
Now that I’m done ranting, what I liked about The Changing Man is Oyemakinde’s fresh voice. The storyline is very creative and will easily appeal to a young audience. He combines a mysterious and haunting tone with a playfulness that keeps the book from being too dark. The second half of the book very much felt like I was watching a movie. I enjoyed the final page of the book and the hint at more to come.
Now that I’m done ranting, what I liked about The Changing Man is Oyemakinde’s fresh voice. The storyline is very creative and will easily appeal to a young audience. He combines a mysterious and haunting tone with a playfulness that keeps the book from being too dark. The second half of the book very much felt like I was watching a movie. I enjoyed the final page of the book and the hint at more to come.