Review of Opaque
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Veleno
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- Latest Review: Opaque by Calix Leigh-Reign
Review of Opaque
[Following is a volunteer review of "Opaque" by Calix Leigh-Reign.]
What would you do if you found out your whole life up until now has been a lie?
At first, Adam Caspian appears to be a budding sociopath with a strong Oedipus complex, residing in the town of Piure. He harbors an unnatural love for his mother, JoAnn, and an inexplicable hatred for his father, Mark. He is a smart, charming loner who resents the world around him, which he perceives as filled with people like Vikki, a girl from his class who doesn’t take no for an answer. However, after a mysterious girl enrolls in his school, Adam’s life is changed forever.
Life hasn’t been easy for Carly Wit; always on the move, always looking over her shoulder. Fear brings her all the way from Silver Springs into Piure, an ordinary tiny town where her aunt, Vera, lives alone with her cat. Separated from her parents, Carly makes do as best as she can while attempting to keep a low profile. But when one day fate hits her in the head in the shape of a football, she discovers laying low won’t be as easy as she had hoped.
Thrust together in a whirlpool of secrets and lies, awakening magical powers and dangerous headhunters, Carly and Adam will have to learn to trust one another. Simultaneously, they navigate their scholastic obligations, as well as Carly’s Russian heritage that, for some reason, haunts Adam as well.
Opaque by Calix Leigh-Reign is a young adult science-fiction thriller with elements of romance. It is divided into 25 chapters plus an epilogue. Being the first book in the Scion Saga, it requires a sequel as the story has an open ending. Opaque is told in third person, encompassing both Adam and Carly’s points of view. Besides the main characters, readers are also given insight into secondary characters’ thoughts, bringing the reader up to speed without unnecessary descriptions and distractions. The plot is well-rounded, with every piece falling into place satisfactorily in the end. It is fast-paced, but readers are still given enough time to process what happened. I especially loved how Carly was portrayed as a strong, independent young woman capable of far more than she was initially led to believe. I enjoyed Adam’s development from a brooding and dangerous teenager to a reasonable young man capable of forgiveness and penance. For me, the most enjoyable aspect of this novel was the detailed, gradual development of close bonds between characters. Whether those bonds were familial in nature, like JoAnn and Adam’s or Carly and her mother’s; romantic, for instance Adam and Carly’s; or friendly like Carly and Kane’s and Adam and Valentina’s, they were realistic and heartwarming, though not without obstacles.
The only thing I couldn’t get used to was the cold, analytical voice of the narrator. At times, it prevented me from completely immersing myself in the plot or empathizing with certain characters. Though I enjoyed the author’s writing style and thought it suited Adam’s character, it lacked warmth when portraying other, more emotionally developed characters.
I found only a few typographical errors, which led me to believe this book has been professionally edited. Since there was virtually nothing I disliked about the book, I rate it four out of four stars. Opaque contains graphic scenes of violence as well as erotic scenes, sometimes described in great detail, which may make this book unsuited for younger audiences. I would rather recommend it to older adolescents or to be read with adult supervision.
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Opaque
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes | on Smashwords
What would you do if you found out your whole life up until now has been a lie?
At first, Adam Caspian appears to be a budding sociopath with a strong Oedipus complex, residing in the town of Piure. He harbors an unnatural love for his mother, JoAnn, and an inexplicable hatred for his father, Mark. He is a smart, charming loner who resents the world around him, which he perceives as filled with people like Vikki, a girl from his class who doesn’t take no for an answer. However, after a mysterious girl enrolls in his school, Adam’s life is changed forever.
Life hasn’t been easy for Carly Wit; always on the move, always looking over her shoulder. Fear brings her all the way from Silver Springs into Piure, an ordinary tiny town where her aunt, Vera, lives alone with her cat. Separated from her parents, Carly makes do as best as she can while attempting to keep a low profile. But when one day fate hits her in the head in the shape of a football, she discovers laying low won’t be as easy as she had hoped.
Thrust together in a whirlpool of secrets and lies, awakening magical powers and dangerous headhunters, Carly and Adam will have to learn to trust one another. Simultaneously, they navigate their scholastic obligations, as well as Carly’s Russian heritage that, for some reason, haunts Adam as well.
Opaque by Calix Leigh-Reign is a young adult science-fiction thriller with elements of romance. It is divided into 25 chapters plus an epilogue. Being the first book in the Scion Saga, it requires a sequel as the story has an open ending. Opaque is told in third person, encompassing both Adam and Carly’s points of view. Besides the main characters, readers are also given insight into secondary characters’ thoughts, bringing the reader up to speed without unnecessary descriptions and distractions. The plot is well-rounded, with every piece falling into place satisfactorily in the end. It is fast-paced, but readers are still given enough time to process what happened. I especially loved how Carly was portrayed as a strong, independent young woman capable of far more than she was initially led to believe. I enjoyed Adam’s development from a brooding and dangerous teenager to a reasonable young man capable of forgiveness and penance. For me, the most enjoyable aspect of this novel was the detailed, gradual development of close bonds between characters. Whether those bonds were familial in nature, like JoAnn and Adam’s or Carly and her mother’s; romantic, for instance Adam and Carly’s; or friendly like Carly and Kane’s and Adam and Valentina’s, they were realistic and heartwarming, though not without obstacles.
The only thing I couldn’t get used to was the cold, analytical voice of the narrator. At times, it prevented me from completely immersing myself in the plot or empathizing with certain characters. Though I enjoyed the author’s writing style and thought it suited Adam’s character, it lacked warmth when portraying other, more emotionally developed characters.
I found only a few typographical errors, which led me to believe this book has been professionally edited. Since there was virtually nothing I disliked about the book, I rate it four out of four stars. Opaque contains graphic scenes of violence as well as erotic scenes, sometimes described in great detail, which may make this book unsuited for younger audiences. I would rather recommend it to older adolescents or to be read with adult supervision.
******
Opaque
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes | on Smashwords
Latest Review: Opaque by Calix Leigh-Reign
