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willow1113's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Minor: Body horror, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Transphobia, Addiction, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Confinement, Deadnaming, Ableism, Fire/Fire injury, and Medical trauma
rosieclaverton's review
4.0
A fantastical dystopia with strong queer and disability rep, particularly glorious on polyamorous relationships and families of choice.
I found myself getting lost at times, but I think that reflected the chaotic nature of the setting. On the whole, I think this book was not for me, but very good in terms of characterisation and representation.
I found myself getting lost at times, but I think that reflected the chaotic nature of the setting. On the whole, I think this book was not for me, but very good in terms of characterisation and representation.
elfington's review
3.0
A little preachy for me - but how many YA explorations of polyamory and non-binary gender expression are there that take place in a prison world perched above fire? Or that feature a relationship between two characters, one scaly and one stitched together from scavenged body parts?
puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Chameleon Moon makes for an amazing audiobook thanks to the impressive narration by Kyle Rocco East and the sound design. It even includes two in-universe songs performed by the author, RoAnna Sylver.
I love when audiobooks go the extra mile like this—the voice effects make computerised, broadcasted and ghostly voices feel more real. Aside from that, the narrator did an incredible job at giving each character a unique voice.
One thing I love about all of RoAnna Sylver’s writing is the focus on queer and disabled experiences, polyamorous families, and the inclusion of ace, aro and trans characters. Queer love is powerful and it can save the world!
Even though the characters go through a lot of very painful things, there’s always hope, always a reason to keep going and try to protect the people you love. That makes this a thrilling, emotional story that will leave you hopeful for the future.
I love when audiobooks go the extra mile like this—the voice effects make computerised, broadcasted and ghostly voices feel more real. Aside from that, the narrator did an incredible job at giving each character a unique voice.
One thing I love about all of RoAnna Sylver’s writing is the focus on queer and disabled experiences, polyamorous families, and the inclusion of ace, aro and trans characters. Queer love is powerful and it can save the world!
Even though the characters go through a lot of very painful things, there’s always hope, always a reason to keep going and try to protect the people you love. That makes this a thrilling, emotional story that will leave you hopeful for the future.
from my review on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/C1Eyrv7om4k/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Police brutality, Gore, Torture, Blood, Car accident, Death, and Violence
bonriki's review
This is a hopepunk scifi that is smothering in its earnest kindness. The level of touchy-feely found family sweetness is too much, it comes off a bit… patronizing?
jennifilm's review
4.0
This was a bit of a slow burn for me but by the time I got halfway through I was definitely hooked! The last quarter was such a good ride & I'm v excited to read #2!
jazzypizzaz's review against another edition
3.0
This book has it all-- mystery, romance, intrigue, friendship, action, puns, magic...
Have you ever felt that no matter how pleasant and cheerful you try to be, your emotions were building up inside you like explosions, waiting to burst and hurt the people you love? Have you ever met someone whose voice was so powerful it warmed you from the inside out, or seemed like it could knock down a building? Have you ever found a talent inside yourself, a talent for creating things, that feels like you're literally able to give your creations life?
Have felt like your own worst enemy was the stuff inside your own head -- anxiety, depression, and other illness -- and wished you could punch it in the face, like the mean bully on the playground?
This book takes those metaphorical ways that so much of us experience life and makes them *literal*: through magic and superheroes; through the setting of a dysptopian literal hellhole where beyond all sense, hope and compassion still bloom; through a diverse array of imaginative characters with disabilities and superpowers and demons and fierceness and, most importantly, love.
This is a heartfelt, sentimental book that culminates in a *painful* action-packed climax sequence with characters you've come to love being put through hell, but overall it's still a book that just feels *good* to read.
Have you ever felt that no matter how pleasant and cheerful you try to be, your emotions were building up inside you like explosions, waiting to burst and hurt the people you love? Have you ever met someone whose voice was so powerful it warmed you from the inside out, or seemed like it could knock down a building? Have you ever found a talent inside yourself, a talent for creating things, that feels like you're literally able to give your creations life?
Have felt like your own worst enemy was the stuff inside your own head -- anxiety, depression, and other illness -- and wished you could punch it in the face, like the mean bully on the playground?
This book takes those metaphorical ways that so much of us experience life and makes them *literal*: through magic and superheroes; through the setting of a dysptopian literal hellhole where beyond all sense, hope and compassion still bloom; through a diverse array of imaginative characters with disabilities and superpowers and demons and fierceness and, most importantly, love.
This is a heartfelt, sentimental book that culminates in a *painful* action-packed climax sequence with characters you've come to love being put through hell, but overall it's still a book that just feels *good* to read.
readalert's review
The story seems really interesting, but this needed ten more rounds of editing. The pacing is all over the place, details will change randomly, and characters will know something in one scene and not the next. Keeping track of a mystery is one thing, but keeping track of a poorly edited, constantly shifting piece is another
ohmage_resistance's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
fast-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
The plot felt a bit out of control the entire time, and there are definitely parts about the world building that don't make much sense. It's also a bit too sweet/preachy for me at times. I liked the message, though, and the anxiety representation was pretty good.
I read this book for the asexual representation (Regan is ace), and it wasn't too much of a focus so far, but I’m curious to see what will happen with it in future books.
I read this book for the asexual representation (Regan is ace), and it wasn't too much of a focus so far, but I’m curious to see what will happen with it in future books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Addiction
Minor: Transphobia
bluejayreads's review against another edition
This book has been on my TBR list for literally years. It came across my radar a long time ago and I heard it had polyamory in it, so I put it on my list. And it managed to stay through several years of sorting and culling the list because the back cover information was so sparse on details that I didn't feel like I could make a good decision. And the ideas here are really cool. There's the city itself, slowly crumbling into the cavern beneath that used to be a river and is now an eternal fire, and the violent military/paramilitary group invested in keeping everybody there. There's the people themselves, changed in strange ways by a "miracle drug" that gave fantastic powers, but often with horrible consequences. There's our protagonists, a lizard-man with the power to turn invisible who had his memories stolen by a ghost and a singer with a super-powered voice, plus other characters like the ghost, a person who's been Frankenstein's monster-ed together out of other people, and the singer's two wives, one of whom is mostly made of plants. People just are queer and are polyamorous and use they/them pronouns and nobody thinks anything of it. There's perhaps an underground rebel organization, and there's definitely weird stuff going on. There are so many good things in this book. But there's also a mental illness/trauma angle that was so overwhelmingly heavy-handed. The characters are okay, but the only aspect of them that's really developed is that they have anxiety and/or are traumatized in different ways. The singer and her family are the most "trauma informed" characters I've ever read, and somehow they became that way while still actively living through that trauma. Every few pages someone else has an anxiety attack and someone else has to talk them through it. I'm not saying that the stuff they're going through isn't traumatic, because it is. But the story keeps interrupting what could have been a truly interesting adventure to shoehorn in stuff about trauma and anxiety. It really feels like one of those thinley-veiled Morally Edifying Literature stories from like the Victorian era, except instead of promoting Modesty and Virginity it's promoting Trauma Is Real and Be Compassionate With Anxiety Attacks. These are not bad things to promote, actually. But the way they're done here is so overwhelming and heavy-handed. If you're here for a good fantasy story, it's going to yank you out of the story repeatedly to go back to preaching about anxiety and trauma. If you're actually here for a Moral and Instructive Tale on Trauma and Mental Health, you're probably going to find much of this very triggering. There were really good ideas here and I did want to read the story. I just got so, so fed up with the excessive mental illness and trauma preaching.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Torture, Gun violence, Violence, and Death
Minor: Addiction, Trafficking, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, and Murder
Unreality