Review: Another Love Triangle Gone Wrong. :(
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 05 27, 2014
Actual Rating: 2.5 STARSI quite enjoy and find intriguing the prophecy deciding destiny tropes in books, so when Kelly Oram’s, Chameleon, proved to be little less mesmerizing and a lot more frustrating, I was not a satisfied reader, to say the least.The backdrop of Chameleon – full of supernaturals of every race; warlocks, witches, vampires, werewolves, seers and demons – is much the same as any other paranormal read. And yet, there is a unique charm to its familiarity that I enjoyed very much. The beginning starts off promising enough, with Dani, our heroine, turning sixteen and finding out that not only is her best friend, Russ, a warlock but she is a supernatural as well, with her own special ability. This, coupled with the straight-forward, not overly complicated romance between Dani and Russ set-up the perfect, entertaining storyline. Initially, this is the sort of book that is easy to get absorbed in, however, it is the latter more-than half of the book, after Dani gets kidnapped by the Council of supernaturals, that provided a steady decline in the amusing factor.With all its familiar ideas, it comes as no surprise that there would be something off about the story, despite the homey feelings stirred with the paranormal creatures that inhabit its world. The world-building is, really, nothing special. It’s a little bit of modern-lifestyle thrown together with a (very) subtle historic feeling when the Council of supernaturals is introduced. There is a lot of room for future development, which I think the story could benefit from for the rest of the series. Other than that, the world is neither interesting nor worth remembering, perhaps somewhere in between.The plot isn’t much better off. After the kidnapping, the story picks up quite rapidly in its emerging events, and not in a good way. We have too much happening in the span of what feels like all of ten minutes. Dani gets kidnapped, the council is introduced, the Seer is introduced, the prophecy told, all with the love triangle at the center of attention. The storyline soon becomes overcrowded, with unexpected plot twists and turns – which if they had been in another story, presented a different way, I would have jumped at the chance to talk about, but not with this – too much unnecessary angst, and the endless descriptions, and over-complications of every decision Dani makes. The epic and mysterious plot that the description offers is, unfortunately, reduced to a tedious banality.More than the plot being dull, it is the love triangle that made this read so frustrating for me, and perhaps the only book where I whole-heartedly favour the second guy over the first. Russ did it for me with his easy goingdemeanor and his loyalty towards Dani, to the point, where his character is the only character that garnered both sympathy and affection from me. I loved Dani and Russ, and the best-friends-to-lovers romance is a favourite of mine, which is why when Gabriel, the Seer, is brought into the picture I lost all semblance of having an open mind about this book. The love triangle’s failing played in part to all the extreme changes in the story. Dani goes from being a snarky, intelligent girl to a helpless, blind-by-love fool. The romance is cheesy, confusing, and definitely not worth rooting for. I couldn’t wrap my head around the “Gabriel-Dani” couple. Above all, I did not come to appreciate Gabriel's character. He has no spunk, no allure, rather he comes across as meek, not a character that gets my immediate attention. By the middle-end of the story, I found it difficult to invest in any of the characters, and ultimately, gave up trying to find a final redeeming quality. There is a lot more that could be said for the impossibility that this love triangle is, but to sum it up, it is beyond frustrating.With that said, I believe Chameleon is the type of read that will work only for people who have the right mind-set and patience for a love triangle, and all the conflicting emotions that it brings. If not for that addition to the storyline, this could have been a worthwhile read. Nonetheless, despite my reservations, I am still hoping that Ungifted will prove to be what its predecessor is not – memorable with no (I wish!) or as little as possible mention of the love triangle. Keeping my fingers crossed.***A copy was provided by the author for review.***