Review by bettysaurus -- Opaque by Calix Leigh-Reign

bettysaurus · Post by **bettysaurus** » 02 Jan 2021, 13:15

[Following is a volunteer review of "Opaque" by Calix Leigh-Reign.]

4 out of 4 stars

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When I first read the book summary for Opaque by Calix Leigh – Reign, I was expecting to jump immediately into a story about Russian kids with superpowers. What I began reading took place in the fictitious, sunny, and mild Piure, California. The narration follows Adam, a teenager, who views the other students as animals at his high school with incredible distaste. We follow the perverse perceptions and thoughts Adam has from a Stephen King-like point of view. Initially, empathizing with the protagonist is difficult. His twisted desires are off-putting but set an excellent basis for his later development as a character.

Carly, the new girl at Piure High School, connects with Adam on some different level he does not quite grasp. As the two of them spend more time together, Carly becomes concerned for this inner darkness she senses in Adam. Although it seems like Adam could straighten out his life, he has more questions than answers, which could easily jeopardize his developing moral compass.

My favorite aspect of the book was the stream of consciousness Leigh-Reign uses. The characters develop throughout the telling of the story, adding depth to their situations. Leigh-Reign understands the high school student mentality, and she illustrates flawed, insecure teenagers. They are still learning to communicate their feelings, secrets, and hopes remain locked in each character's thoughts, weaving tension throughout their interactions.

The aspect I disliked the most was, surprisingly, the use of Russian words. While I love languages, I had a hard time enjoying the Russian in this story. A phonetic-English depiction would have allowed the conversations to flow more easily while reading. The Russian alphabet adequately represented the names, but italics and a romanized script would be considerably more effective for the average English speaker regarding the dialogue. The language switch into the Russian alphabet made sections appear choppy. In real life, you can hear someone when he speaks another language, but to write in another language creates a void of understanding, even in the mental audio dialogue we have while reading.

Leigh-Reign introduces a solid cast of characters, but she mass-introduced them by their physical characteristics. She alluded that Carly came from an isolated background without many friends, yet she doesn't seem to have much trouble balancing her new boyfriend with her male friend, Kane. The relationship balances additionally with the few girlfriends she makes instantaneously at this new high school as well. This sudden skill at balancing new relationships was odd for a character with supposed limited social interactions in her history. As the story unfolds, Carly forgets about her girlfriends in high school, and we never hear of them again. Leight-Reign then quickly introduces the next group of side characters, where they immediately become close friends with the protagonists.

I would rate the story a 4 out of 4 because it was well-written with hardly any grammatical errors. The ending scenes seemed rushed and unlike the introduction's lengthy style. While the beginning of the story holds a Nacerima-like viewpoint, it quickly develops into more relatable characters. I would recommend this book for people who enjoy Rick Riordan and Stephen King, rolled together into one young adult adventure.

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Opaque
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