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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
People with superpowers are kept in quarantine in the city of Parole. When an assassination goes wrong, Regan is left with amnesia, and it might have something to do with the larger issues of the city.
It's debatable in an ensemble cast whether anyone is a main character. I'm loosely saying they're Regan and Evelyn, as a lot of the plot and scenes revolve around their stories, even if they're from someone else's perspective. But other characters also have large roles, so it's open to interpretation. This is the second edition of the book.
Regan ends up with amnesia early in the story. It's a good handling of amnesia in general, such as Regan processing how he feels about not remembering anything, and the way the memories trickle back. If he did have his memories, the plot wouldn't be solved in five seconds, so it's not used in that way. The personal impact of not remembering things like his family is the primary focus.
What I wasn't fond of was the reason for the amnesia, because it's caused by Hans. I disliked the scenes he was in and hoped they'd be over quickly, which unfortunately, they never were. One issue is that Hans has mind powers which mean he can give people amnesia, control their minds, and is generally unstoppable. Which makes it hard for other characters to stand up to him. Hence when he's in a scene, it's all about him, and it's not going to end quickly.
Part of Regan's struggle to remember his past reveals he may be asexual, as he realises he doesn't find others sexually attractive. He's also a lizard person with PTSD and anxiety.
Evelyn is a superhero with singing powers. She's a trans woman and is in a poly relationship with two other women. I'm assuming she's non-white as her skin is described as brown. One of the things she has to face is her past. She left her birth family behind, but ends up having to return. Evelyn is misgendered by one of her family, though these scenes are brief.
There's a lot of diversity in the cast, including a non-binary person with they pronouns, someone with a double leg amputation, and multiple non-white people (though I was uncertain of exact races). PTSD is common, along with anxiety and depression. There are some references to suicide as part of this. It's not clear whether the characters in relationships view themselves as gay, lesbian, bi, pan and so forth. Regan's sexuality is the only one explicitly discussed. However, the relationships tend towards same gender or binary gender with non-binary.
Some of the books I've had recommended to me as lighter queer reads have turned out to have a constant threat of sexual violence. This one was noted to be somewhat darker, but it managed to avoid that particular issue. It has general violence, but that violence doesn't focus around sexual violence.
On the issue of darkness, the characters may be living in a disaster zone, but the end tends towards the hopeful rather than the tragic. Named characters have a very good chance of survival. Unnamed characters may not be so lucky.
I enjoyed a lot of things about the book. Parole is an interesting setting and it was good to find out more about the mysteries surrounding it. There's a lot of character time, as the characters talk and figure things out. I did feel it got confusing towards the end, in terms of exactly what was happening, and everyone's locations. I also really didn't like Hans, particularly because his powers made it hard for anyone to resist him. But my criticisms are minor, and for the most part, I'd be interested in seeing where it goes next.
Review from: http://blog.polenthblake.com/2017/06/chameleon-moon/
It's debatable in an ensemble cast whether anyone is a main character. I'm loosely saying they're Regan and Evelyn, as a lot of the plot and scenes revolve around their stories, even if they're from someone else's perspective. But other characters also have large roles, so it's open to interpretation. This is the second edition of the book.
Regan ends up with amnesia early in the story. It's a good handling of amnesia in general, such as Regan processing how he feels about not remembering anything, and the way the memories trickle back. If he did have his memories, the plot wouldn't be solved in five seconds, so it's not used in that way. The personal impact of not remembering things like his family is the primary focus.
What I wasn't fond of was the reason for the amnesia, because it's caused by Hans. I disliked the scenes he was in and hoped they'd be over quickly, which unfortunately, they never were. One issue is that Hans has mind powers which mean he can give people amnesia, control their minds, and is generally unstoppable. Which makes it hard for other characters to stand up to him. Hence when he's in a scene, it's all about him, and it's not going to end quickly.
Part of Regan's struggle to remember his past reveals he may be asexual, as he realises he doesn't find others sexually attractive. He's also a lizard person with PTSD and anxiety.
Evelyn is a superhero with singing powers. She's a trans woman and is in a poly relationship with two other women. I'm assuming she's non-white as her skin is described as brown. One of the things she has to face is her past. She left her birth family behind, but ends up having to return. Evelyn is misgendered by one of her family, though these scenes are brief.
There's a lot of diversity in the cast, including a non-binary person with they pronouns, someone with a double leg amputation, and multiple non-white people (though I was uncertain of exact races). PTSD is common, along with anxiety and depression. There are some references to suicide as part of this. It's not clear whether the characters in relationships view themselves as gay, lesbian, bi, pan and so forth. Regan's sexuality is the only one explicitly discussed. However, the relationships tend towards same gender or binary gender with non-binary.
Some of the books I've had recommended to me as lighter queer reads have turned out to have a constant threat of sexual violence. This one was noted to be somewhat darker, but it managed to avoid that particular issue. It has general violence, but that violence doesn't focus around sexual violence.
On the issue of darkness, the characters may be living in a disaster zone, but the end tends towards the hopeful rather than the tragic. Named characters have a very good chance of survival. Unnamed characters may not be so lucky.
I enjoyed a lot of things about the book. Parole is an interesting setting and it was good to find out more about the mysteries surrounding it. There's a lot of character time, as the characters talk and figure things out. I did feel it got confusing towards the end, in terms of exactly what was happening, and everyone's locations. I also really didn't like Hans, particularly because his powers made it hard for anyone to resist him. But my criticisms are minor, and for the most part, I'd be interested in seeing where it goes next.
Review from: http://blog.polenthblake.com/2017/06/chameleon-moon/
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
TW/CW: violence, PTSD, loss of loved ones, fire, anxiety, torture, trauma
This is just the kind of sweet, diverse and hopeful dystopia that the world needs more of. Chameleon Moon wasn’t without its flaws, sure, but it was such a lovely novel.
First off, this is easily one of the most diverse novels I’ve read in a long time – we’ve got a polyamorous family at front and center, an asexual MC, a trans woman MC, several nonbinary characters, several Black characters, and several characters with anxiety and PTSD. So a big thank you to RoAnna Sylver for making an effort to make a novel with all that representation!
The characters were the best aspect of the novel for me – they all had such distinct personalities and quirks, and I loved all of the different superpowers they sported. Danae was easily my favorite – I loved all of her little metal creations, and she had such a spirited personality. (Kind of imagined her like Jessie Buckley, for no particular reason.) Hans was also great – he reminded me a lot of Klaus from The Umbrella Academy, if he were a bit more unhinged.
What was really special about Chameleon Moon for me, though, was that even though it was clearly a dystopia, there was a consistent message of hope. Even in the midst of unimaginable horrors, there was still love, still families caring for each other, still listening to everybody’s traumas, and still persisting no matter the odds. It’s an uncommon sight in dystopia, and in times like these, it’s just the kind of novel we need.
All in all, a queer and hopeful dystopia that sets itself apart with no shortage of representation and a powerful message. 4 stars!
This is just the kind of sweet, diverse and hopeful dystopia that the world needs more of. Chameleon Moon wasn’t without its flaws, sure, but it was such a lovely novel.
First off, this is easily one of the most diverse novels I’ve read in a long time – we’ve got a polyamorous family at front and center, an asexual MC, a trans woman MC, several nonbinary characters, several Black characters, and several characters with anxiety and PTSD. So a big thank you to RoAnna Sylver for making an effort to make a novel with all that representation!
The characters were the best aspect of the novel for me – they all had such distinct personalities and quirks, and I loved all of the different superpowers they sported. Danae was easily my favorite – I loved all of her little metal creations, and she had such a spirited personality. (Kind of imagined her like Jessie Buckley, for no particular reason.) Hans was also great – he reminded me a lot of Klaus from The Umbrella Academy, if he were a bit more unhinged.
What was really special about Chameleon Moon for me, though, was that even though it was clearly a dystopia, there was a consistent message of hope. Even in the midst of unimaginable horrors, there was still love, still families caring for each other, still listening to everybody’s traumas, and still persisting no matter the odds. It’s an uncommon sight in dystopia, and in times like these, it’s just the kind of novel we need.
All in all, a queer and hopeful dystopia that sets itself apart with no shortage of representation and a powerful message. 4 stars!
THIS WAS SUCH A WEIRD BOOK AND I LOVED IT
No, honestly, I had heard so much good about Chameleon Moon and was kinda worried to start it because what if I didn't like it?? Especially since it took me a little while to get into it. But once I got into it, it was really damn amazing, what a ride.
It is not your typical dystopian novel, it's original and hopeful and far from grim even if there is some violence. It's also all you could ask for from a diverse book, it's so queer, so many disabled characters, characters of colour, good mental health/trauma rep I'm IN LOVE
It's super character-driven which is 100% my jam and I loved all the characters so so much. Zilch the zombie enby got a special place in my heart, but Regan and Evelyn were amazing MCs that I'd die for and honestly I'm just kind of... wow at the worldbuilding and the characters and everything.
I had such a great time reading this and can't wait to read the sequel (and before that, all the damn short stories!! I'm so happy there's so much content in this universe and with these characters because I love them so so much!!)
TW: obviously a lot of fires and fiery stuff, torture, death, violence, guns, poisoning, panick attacks, and other things I can't really remember right now.
No, honestly, I had heard so much good about Chameleon Moon and was kinda worried to start it because what if I didn't like it?? Especially since it took me a little while to get into it. But once I got into it, it was really damn amazing, what a ride.
It is not your typical dystopian novel, it's original and hopeful and far from grim even if there is some violence. It's also all you could ask for from a diverse book, it's so queer, so many disabled characters, characters of colour, good mental health/trauma rep I'm IN LOVE
It's super character-driven which is 100% my jam and I loved all the characters so so much. Zilch the zombie enby got a special place in my heart, but Regan and Evelyn were amazing MCs that I'd die for and honestly I'm just kind of... wow at the worldbuilding and the characters and everything.
I had such a great time reading this and can't wait to read the sequel (and before that, all the damn short stories!! I'm so happy there's so much content in this universe and with these characters because I love them so so much!!)
TW:
DNF @ 25%
actual rating: 2.5
I liked the idea of this book and also that there were so many great queer characters just casually populating the world, but I just could not get into the actual plot and at over 100k it was just waaay too long for me to put any more time and effort into it. Honestly I think the character interactions were just too cutesy for what I've been wanting to read lately.Genre fiction that has a diverse cast AND a grimdark plotline when?! I hate that I always have to choose between one or the other I'm sure this will be great for a lot of people and I have enjoyed some of this author's shorter works but this one just wasn't for me.
actual rating: 2.5
I liked the idea of this book and also that there were so many great queer characters just casually populating the world, but I just could not get into the actual plot and at over 100k it was just waaay too long for me to put any more time and effort into it. Honestly I think the character interactions were just too cutesy for what I've been wanting to read lately.
This is the kind of diverse, queer, fleshed out representation that makes my gay little heart swell with joy. There's a staggering amount of character development and worldbuilding and plot somehow crammed into what felt like a very short book, and yet it never feels like elements were added in to be token representation. This is the first novel I've read that felt like a description of my social/cultural life, and was clearly written by someone who exists in those same spaces.
I don't like the amnesia trope, and after it was revealed, I just couldn't get back into it.
The characters and their arcs are all great, such good representation, Evelyn in particular was really well portrayed. The world building had clearly been done but I think sometimes the author struggled to bring that through into the writing. The ending was weak. It didn't resolve any of the major plot points, separated the majority of the characters (when the whole book had been about working together) and introduced new plot at the last minute. Overall I enjoyed the book a lot but I found the ending quite jarring.
The first time I read this, I bounced off of it, and I'm still not sure why. (Maybe it was because it was the first edition. Who knows.) This time I made it through in something like three sittings. I love the characters; I love the way that everyone is traumatized but can still be a hero. I love the way everyone helps each other. The pacing isn't perfect and there are typos, and some parts of the plot seem like they're setting up something later on that I have yet to read (there's a book 2 and some short stories), but it's really so very . . . It's pretty much what I wanted to read right now.
I mean, I've found other versions of demi rep that are pretty solid but this one was just oh hi there.
Spoiler
And Regan's experience of his particular form of gray-asexuality/demisexuality, oh man. Paraphrased: How can I have any idea if I find you sexually attractive if you won't give me the time to get to know you?! It me.I mean, I've found other versions of demi rep that are pretty solid but this one was just oh hi there.