Blog Tour and Review of Chameleon Assassin by B. R. Kingsolver

Libby is a mutant, one of the top burglars and assassins in the world. For a price, she caters to executives’ secret desires. Eliminate your corporate rival? Deliver a priceless art masterpiece or necklace? Hack into another corporation’s network? Libby’s your girl.

Climate change met nuclear war, and humanity lost. The corporations stepped in, stripping governments of power. Civilization didn’t end, but it became less civilized. There are few rules as corporations jockey for position and control of assets and markets.

In the year 2200, the world has barely recovered the level of technology that existed before the ice melted and the subsequent wars. Corporate elites live in their walled estates and skyscraper apartments while the majority of humanity supplies their luxuries. On the bottom level, the mutants, the poor, and the criminals scramble every day just to survive.Libby is a mutant, one of the top burglars and assassins in the world. For a price, she caters to executives’ secret desires. Eliminate your corporate rival? Deliver a priceless art masterpiece or necklace? Hack into another corporation’s network? Libby’s your girl.

Climate change met nuclear war, and humanity lost. The corporations stepped in, stripping governments of power. Civilization didn’t end, but it became less civilized. There are few rules as corporations jockey for position and control of assets and markets.

In the year 2200, the world has barely recovered the level of technology that existed before the ice melted and the subsequent wars. Corporate elites live in their walled estates and skyscraper apartments while the majority of humanity supplies their luxuries. On the bottom level, the mutants, the poor, and the criminals scramble every day just to survive.

Hello Everyone!

I was lucky enough to be able to participate in the Chameleon Assassin Blog Tour, one of the better books I have read in a long time. I will get to the review in just a second, I know you’ve all been waiting for it 🙂 But first, let me tell you about the rest of the stops on this blog tour, or rather, send you the place where you can learn about them.

Just click on the picture below and it will give you a list of stops, as well as what the content on their blogs will be!

 

And now, on to the review.
Characters

One of my favorite parts about this book were the people. Libby was amazing, an assassin, thief, hacker, and basically a jack of all trades in the criminal world. Best of all, she knew her own limits – meaning she never shied away from asking for help when she needed it.

“I’d also want my own cavalry.”

His brow furrowed. “Cavalry?”

“You know, tough guys ready to ride to my rescue. I’m pretty slippery, but I have a cogenital aversion to pain and death. If I get into something I can’t get out of, I want to know someone has my back.”

That’s not to say that Libby is a damsel in distress, quite the opposite!

“Are you all right?”

“Yeah. Why shouldn’t I be?”

“You just had a run-in with a gang and killed two people.”

“Oh, that. Jorey had it coming.”

Libby is simply the rare person who realizes that there are situations in which she might need help, as all mortals do. And she isn’t scared of asking for it.
Character Relationships

Besides a protagonist who has enough self confidence to know what she can and cannot do, this book also boasts one of the best character relationships I have seen in a while.

The one involving Libby’s mother and father. Though it is described as a one night stand that produced a baby their relationship is a tangled mess that is so fun to watch.

What truly speaks to the talent of B. R. Kingsolver is that though this relationship is so fun to watch, you don’t really see it in the novel but rather see it through Libby’s interaction with her parents and her parents interaction with her.

Setting

The setting of the novel was interesting and fun to read. I particularly liked the way that the world had changed since the apocalypse. Dallas was in the middle of the desert and had moved underground, Toronto didn’t get any snow, the air was so toxic that you couldn’t breathe in without gas masks, all of it woven in to make a place that was vibrant and alive.

Questions, Gripes, and Complaints

A few nitpicks I have with the novel, which are really small things in the grand scheme of things.

1. What was the point of the beginning? Though it was only a small point of the overall novel, it seemed like there was a lot of filler that there really was no need of. I mean, yeah Libby is a badass, but we found that out later in the novel too.
2. Some small writing mechanical type complaints. The story could have been smoother, but really, not that big a deal.

I give this book a B.

I was provided with a ARC copy of this novel by the author for the purposes of a free and unbiased review. All views expressed are my own and true to what I think.