Chameleon Moon is fantastic. The characters are warm and queer and caring. Reading Chameleon Moon was like a pep talk just for me--it's okay not to be okay, and there are people who love you just for being who you are. I am so thankful this exists! It was like an affirming hug, but with extra adventure thrown in.

I immediately bought a copy for a friend. I may buy copies for everyone I know--we'll see. ( )

really enjoyed it, great complex characters who struggle and aren't always good. an interesting new world to discover, I feel I might enjoy the next book even more especially if it involves parole interacting with the rest of the world ( )

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)

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“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."

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“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: ★★★★★ ( )

I loved this book so much.

I've been attempting to read more indie books and authors, and as I follow Sylver on Twitter I thought this would be a good place to start and I'm so glad I took the chance. I love this book, I love it in so many ways that it's hard to describe. But I'll try!

I love that this book is fearless.

When you read a lot of genre (like I do) you get used to a set of tropes and borders in stories. There are certain things you know that different genres will do--whether it's SciFi or Fantasy--you know the edges, the general outline. But "Chameleon Moon" is so much different. It's so BRAVE, like...I suppose you could classify it as a SciFi or dystopian story but it's more. There are elements of fantasy, of superhero fiction, romance, even a healthy dose of gothic imagery and storytelling. And you'd think it'd be a mess, right? But it's not! Sylver doesn't seem to believe in borders or genre outlines and it's so amazing to read a book that isn't afraid to tell its story with whatever tools are available.

I love that this book is soft.

By that I mean, I love that the characters in this book speak gently to one another. Even when things are bad, or scary, or hopeless, the characters are never cruel. They're never snappy or snarky just for the hell of it, they're never needlessly morose or macabre. They're people and they love one another so strongly and it actually comes across that way. Sylver is unafraid to show her characters deeply and gently caring about each other--whether romantically, platonically, or as family (or all three!). I love that I could read this book without wincing once at something a character says to another character. I love that I felt safe with the people Sylver creates.

I love this book because it's diverse. Of course. I love how many different types of love are portrayed. I adore the various ways sacrifices are presented, how love is at once selfish and selfless, personal and universal. I love that the relationships don't exist to cause drama, or that plot is unnecessarily propelled along by hatred or intolerance. I love that this book exists as a model for the many ways we can fall in love or be with other people. It's amazing and natural and wonderful.

I could probably go on forever tbh but I'll leave it at this: read this book. It has everything I wanted and things I didn't even know I wanted but I'm so glad to have. I want more books like this immediately. I'm so happy that it exists. ( )

I loved Chameleon Moon so much, and I think it would hold a strong appeal for fans of Welcome to Night Vale.

Patrol is a true dystopian – a city where the sky is chocked with smoke and ash and the ground is just one step away from crumbling into the fires below. And above everything the helicopters of Eye in the Sky survey the super powered citizens, making sure no one can escape. But within this hellhole, the citizens of Patrol have found love, families, and the will to resist. Among them is Evelyn Calliope, a singer with a sonic voice who is the heroine that Patrol needs.

But in the beginning of Chameleon Moon, our main window into the world of Patrol is Regan, a lizard like man with the power to become invisible. Regan’s looking for an escape from Patrol, and a ghostly boy named Hans claims to be able to provide it. But when Regan balks at Hans’s stipulation – murder – Hans takes his memory, leaving Regan with no idea who he is or how Patrol functions. Luckily for him, it isn’t long before he finds help from Evelyn.

Chameleon Moon is wonderfully, fabulously diverse, with a cast that’s particularly impressive from a queer representation stand point. A large part of the cast is people of color, many of them have disabilities, and I’d say the vast majority are queer. Like, our protagonists are an asexual man with anxiety issues and a transgender superheroine in a polyamorus marriage with two other women. You have no idea how excited I was that Regan is asexual. And it’s even discussed on page! And it’s asexual representation from an ace spectrum author. This makes me so so happy. Oh, and it took me an embarrassing length of time to realize that Regan’s an asexual character with invisibility powers. The invisible asexual. How did I not get this sooner?

I honestly love these characters so much. I can’t chose a favorite, it’s just too hard. I relate to Regan in a way that I usually don’t. He’s asexual and has anxiety issues, aspects of myself that I rarely see reflected in the fiction I read, much less in the protagonists. But Evelyn is so awesome and badass but kind and caring too… And how can I forget Zilch, the nonbinary zombie who’s a total sweetie? I love them so much too. Don’t you see why I can’t choose a favorite? It’s impossible. This cast is just way too lovable.

The greatest strength of Chameleon Moon is the characters. Patrol is one of the most oppressive, depressing dystopians I’ve ever read about, but Chameleon Moon is yet weirdly optimistic. As terrible as everything is, this is a series about love, friendship, and family. It’s about people working together to make their lives better without throwing anyone else under the bus to do so.

“There’s always another way besides death, Hans.” Rose shook her head. “There’s hope, there’s love, and maybe you’ve given up on those things, but we haven’t.”

But even beyond the characters, there’s so much to love about Chameleon Moon. For one thing, the setting is just so original and inventive. Patrol is a cipher, and while I gradually got to know more and more about it over the course of the story, I think there’s still a lot more to be explored. But I won’t say too much, because the unfolding mystery of Patrol and it’s supernatural residents is not to be missed. Oh, and the super powers also felt incredibly imaginative. In particular, I loved Rose’s control over plants and how she found such a wide variety of uses for it. And Danae’s ability to bring metal to life was also pretty awesome, particularly how she used it to make prosthetics.

Chameleon Moon is more character focused than plot focused, and I think that led to it having a slower pace than you might normally find for dystopian or superhero books. I liked this book a lot, but it actually took me a while to read, longer than I would have expected based on its length. While I don’t want to give to much away plot wise, I do want to say that I loved how amnesia is used. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book where the character gets amnesia during the story. Although it came fairly soon into the book, it had the result of me knowing more about Regan than he did about himself, which had some delicious results.

Chameleon Moon is a well written, imaginative book filled with characters I adore. Is it any surprise that I can’t wait for book two?

Originally posted on The Illustrated Page. ( )