Review of Chameleons

[grayh]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Chameleons" by Onyx Gold.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Ambitious but picky literary agent Zia Lennox finds herself surprisingly lucky when she receives a promising manuscript for a book called Chiseled Bone by the mysterious British author, Baxter Leopold. At the same time, she finds herself intrigued and swept off her feet by the romantic and affluent new lawyer in her office building, Bryce Fink. After a brief misunderstanding, she and Bryce explore their relationship, as Zia finds herself more engrossed by both the Chiseled Bone manuscript, and the man who wrote it.

Chameleons by Onyx Gold is a book that demonstrates a brilliant usage of morally grey characters. While I rooted for Zia’s happiness throughout the entire book, there are plenty of decisions to criticize and ways in which she presented as being morally ambiguous, which made her feel like a real person, rather than a flat character whose only purpose is to advance the narrative. Some of the conversations between Zia and her best friend Jazz convey an interesting dynamic regarding Zia’s position in a tumultuous love triangle, and help to further show Zia’s status as a morally grey character. I enjoyed that this book included very powerful and intelligent women, who were the primary focus of the novel. This book was also very well-edited - I didn’t find any errors in the text.

One thing that I struggled with while reading this book was that the pacing felt really off at times. The buildup to the climax was long and appropriately-paced, but the resolution in the ending was a bit unsatisfying in how abrupt it was. I also felt like some of the worldbuilding and explanation of the way that various plot threads connected was a bit lacking, which meant that some of the reveals were unclear and difficult to follow.

Overall, considering both the positives and negatives of this book, I rate this 3 out of 4 stars , because, while I did find some of the negative aspects to be frustrating, there is a very intriguing story to be told, and I believe that people can overlook the negatives to understand and enjoy the broader narrative.

This is a book I would recommend to people who are interested in both thrillers and erotic romance, as this book is a great balance of both elements. People who are sensitive to gore or who are bothered by extremely misogynistic content should be aware that this book relies heavily on these elements to portray the crime thriller aspect.

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Chameleons
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