Liz Ferro knows how to write a book. This is such a good read I would read it over and over again. You can never run from your past. LOVE IT!!

“I’ve lived my entire life feeling anxious and worried about being seen, and I guess I never thought about it before, but we’re all chameleons in our own ways. We all have our shit, we just have to learn how to face, embrace, understand, and deal with it.

Chameleon Girl follows the life of Nora Horvath, a firefighter who, having lived through a childhood full of pain, now lives life like a chameleon: blending in and only caring about meeting her needs. Nora has a few friends, avoids romantic relationships, and has a cat she adores. Her life seems to be enough for her, but a car accident changes that and ignites a fire within her that Nora had extinguished long ago.

While working the scene of a horrible car accident, Nora ends up being the firefighter who rescues a baby from a car moments before the car explodes. This moment changes everything for Nora. Saving the baby reignites a fire that once raged inside her, a fire built upon the ashes of her past and flamed by its painful memories, ashes that until now were hidden but became exposed the moment the explosion cracked the foundation Nora built on top of them. Norah, now forced to face the painful memories of her past one flame at a time, is led down a dark path of introspection that, more often than not, leaves her feeling lost, confused, and full of self-doubt. Engulfed by the fear that this may be too big a fire to put out, Norah comes face-to-face with a part of herself she never knew existed and now must decide between extinguishing the flames of her past and going back to living her life as a chameleon or allow the fire to burn and become a snake, a snake that sheds it’s past as it slithers down a new trail she sets ablaze.

“Stunning, powerful, and complex, Chameleon Girl is a novel so big it occupies dual worlds. Igniting passion and intrigue, this psychological thriller transcends the genre as a champion of emotional intelligence and feminist narrative.”

Although this novel had already been published for quite some time it didn’t stop me from requesting it on NetGalley. The synopsis alone draws you in right away, the beauty of its words enticing you and making you want to read about Nora’s journey. I’ll admit, going into this book, I expected this to be like your typical, everyday psychological thriller. I was ready for twists, for a fast-paced read, for a left in shock and saying “I didn’t see that coming” ending but that is the complete opposite of what Chameleon Girl delivers. Chameleon Girls make you question rather or not this book is actually a memoir. It grips onto your emotions and sends you on an emotional rollercoaster that will take a few days to recover from. I felt like the buildup was really slow and, if I’m being honest, it made me want to get off the ride very early on. I started to feel like the climb was either leading nowhere or that it wasn’t going to be worth the effort in the end. Something told me to stick it out and what followed was definitely worth the effort it took to get there. The writing style is that of pure genius and the reason why this book excels in taking you on an emotional rollercoaster that will make you laugh, cry, want to punch someone or something, scream, and more. You start to feel and learn that this wasn’t just Nora’s story, it was that of every child who lived their life as a chameleon and about their desperate attempt to blend in to their environment and protect themselves from those who sought to hurt them. This is the story of those who are currently fighting fires that are too big for one person to fight alone. A story that will have you digging deep within yourself and working to uncover parts that need to be fixed. It’s transformative, powerful, and beautiful.

I have rated Chameleon Girl a solid 4.5 stars out of 5 and highly recommend it to those who are able to handle tough topics such as child abuse. This book contains a lot of potential triggers and includes very descriptive scenes of child abuse that may be hard for some to read.

This is an honest review of Chameleon Girl by Liz Ferro. I would like to thank Library Tale Publishing, Liz Ferro, and NetGalley for a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

A monster mother Omzi aka Momzilla and mad-shit mentally volatile daughter Nora and and secret-filled yellow-painted dirty house that is filthier than you can imagine in any of your horrible dreams and shit-load of abuse the daughter Nora underwent during her childhood days.

These are all the some of the essential story arc in this mind-numbing and heart-crunching novel that is not at all advised for anybody with weak heart.

Nothing happens good in this novel, except for the exceptional writing of the author that kept me glued to read more of that suffocating, dreamy, and psychedelic of prose that is gripping, funny, crazy, sexy, masochistic, voyeuristic, and achingly beautiful to say the least.

My favourite characters in this novel are Chaos the cat and Roger the dog.

This novel is highly recommended by my side if you love to read hard-hitting dark real-life kinda stuff.

Wow- This book really disarmed me. It was not at all what I expected, but it was a really powerful read. The non-linear flow to the book was a little hard to follow at first, but I feel like that enhanced the overall immersion as the novel progressed.

This is a very psychologically complex character study delving into living with mental illness and attempting to process childhood trauma. It's heavy, but it is a fast read. Written in first person with very modern language, I read it in just a few hours.

Content warnings for this are child abuse and neglect, mental health, and substance abuse. There is some sexual content, but not a ton. This is used to show certain behavioral tendencies of the lead rather than being gratuitous or even a focal point of the narrative.

Thank you to Library Tales Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to the publisher for my review copy. I did not enjoy this title. I just felt like it was not the title for me. The writing was not what I needed at all.

Fast-paced at points, but overall slow for me to read. It is however a great and inspiring story about our FMC Nora, learning how to grow and move on from her past traumas and abuse.

This book was a slow read for me as I had trouble concentrating while reading it. Its a story about a girl that was abused as a child and her will of survival while learning about herself.

I didn't enjoy this book unfortunately. It was really difficult to connect with any of the characters and I felt like I was constantly checking the page count to check when I'd finally be complete.

It felt a bit slow and a little repetitive in places, as well as predictable unfortunately.

This is a well written story about the horrid childhood of Nora and how she learned to cope on move on from her childhood. I found the story to be captivating and fast paced.

Defiantly not the book I expected but a sad tale about a woman learning to finally see the truth about the abuse she has suffered and her attitude around her body and sex.

This is a dark story of survival. It is a heavy read - I kept waiting for hope to be infused, and it got there, but not until the end. It was a little hard to follow at times - I wish there was a caption on each chapter explaining "then" or "now" but that is probably my individual reader's preference.

Excellent story of strength in a character. I’m sure everyone can see a little bit of Nora in themselves, but she was definitely a character that we need in more books. Phenomenal!

Thank you to @netgalley and author #LizFerro for the eARC of #ChameleonGirl in exchange for an honest review. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

What I enjoyed the most about this book was all the pop culture references.

This is a greatly written story about the hellish childhood of Nora and how she learned to cope & eventually escape her horrible life.

All I could think while reading this was “th is heart rending”

Overall I very much enjoyed the book, it was a quick and fast paced read and I deeply felt for Nora (our FMC).

#TriggerWarning ⚠️⚠️
It’s should be noted that this book contains triggers for the following
• Neglect
• Child Abuse
• Rape
• Torture
• Mental Health
• Drugs