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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
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
Unrealitysimonlorden's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Love yourself, love the people around you, and never give up. If you need help, reach out. If you’re drowning, make some noise. There are people who love you, who will throw you a life preserver. That’s what it all comes down to, love. That’s how we’re gonna get through this. And we are gonna get through this.
Second read edit, 2018. 01. 10: I still adore this book, and everything it stands for. I adore the descriptions, but most of all I adore the characters and the messages. You're not alone, we're here, we'll make it through this together, everything is going to be okay.
My only complains that the pacing felt really weird both times - it's like the last 40% of the book is just one big action scene. And don't get me wrong, it's an amazing action scene, but all the action and the plot twists and the new information without any breaks gets a little exhausting.
(Original review below)
--
“Words are important. They let you know it’s real, you’re fine, more people like you exist. They let you know you’re not alone."
--
“Holy crap…” Regan whispered, awed and sick and proud at the same time. “She punched it in the face.”
--
Let me tell you how absolutely wonderful this book is.
The Cast
Chameleon Moon's strongest aspect is its characters. Wonderful, colourful, diverse cast of characters. There is indeed a polyamorous marriage between three women, a main character who is a trans woman, a character who uses 'they' pronouns through the entire novel, disabled characters, representation of anxiety, and lots and lots of validation for mental illnesses such as anxiety, depression, or PTSD. And many more, that my tags on this book can't even cover.
I am so incredibly excited about a certain relationship other than the polymarriage, but I feel like that would be a huge spoiler, so I'm just going to put this here for anyone who's already read it: I LOVE THEM SO MUCH.
The Plot
I have to admit, it took me a while to get into this book. The prologue pulled me in, but then the first half of the book felt... slow. It was mostly about getting to know the characters for me, and hinting at the big mystery without any real answers. Not that getting to know the characters is bad - as I said, they are the greatest thing about this book -, but the first half often felt a little boring to me, and there were a lot of conversations that went on too long, or infodumps that were a little too much at once.
The second half, though? I read pretty much the entire second half in one sitting. The twists just kept coming and the secrets kept pouring out. And plenty of questions remaining for the sequel.
Trigger warnings
Suicide mention/description (specifically hanging), anxiety, panic attacks.
My rating: ★★★★★
Second read edit, 2018. 01. 10: I still adore this book, and everything it stands for. I adore the descriptions, but most of all I adore the characters and the messages. You're not alone, we're here, we'll make it through this together, everything is going to be okay.
My only complains that the pacing felt really weird both times - it's like the last 40% of the book is just one big action scene. And don't get me wrong, it's an amazing action scene, but all the action and the plot twists and the new information without any breaks gets a little exhausting.
(Original review below)
--
“Words are important. They let you know it’s real, you’re fine, more people like you exist. They let you know you’re not alone."
--
“Holy crap…” Regan whispered, awed and sick and proud at the same time. “She punched it in the face.”
--
Let me tell you how absolutely wonderful this book is.
The Cast
Chameleon Moon's strongest aspect is its characters. Wonderful, colourful, diverse cast of characters. There is indeed a polyamorous marriage between three women, a main character who is a trans woman, a character who uses 'they' pronouns through the entire novel, disabled characters, representation of anxiety, and lots and lots of validation for mental illnesses such as anxiety, depression, or PTSD. And many more, that my tags on this book can't even cover.
I am so incredibly excited about a certain relationship other than the polymarriage, but I feel like that would be a huge spoiler, so I'm just going to put this here for anyone who's already read it: I LOVE THEM SO MUCH.
The Plot
I have to admit, it took me a while to get into this book. The prologue pulled me in, but then the first half of the book felt... slow. It was mostly about getting to know the characters for me, and hinting at the big mystery without any real answers. Not that getting to know the characters is bad - as I said, they are the greatest thing about this book -, but the first half often felt a little boring to me, and there were a lot of conversations that went on too long, or infodumps that were a little too much at once.
The second half, though? I read pretty much the entire second half in one sitting. The twists just kept coming and the secrets kept pouring out. And plenty of questions remaining for the sequel.
Trigger warnings
Suicide mention/description (specifically hanging), anxiety, panic attacks.
My rating: ★★★★★
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Torture, Death, and Suicide
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