Review by Lucille27 -- Opaque by Calix Leigh-Reign
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Lucille27
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Review by Lucille27 -- Opaque by Calix Leigh-Reign
[Following is a volunteer review of "Opaque" by Calix Leigh-Reign.]
Opaque, by Calix Leigh-Reign, is a Young-Adult Science-Fiction Novel. It follows the story of Adam, a sixteen-year-old boy, who seems to be a bit of a sociopath. At the beginning of the story, he is presented as an angsty and edgy teenager. He despises everyone around him, except for his mother. This changes when a new student comes to town: Carly Whit. Adam feels his world changes when he meets her because he does not feel disgusted by her presence. Unexpectedly, they start dating and Adam starts a change in his behavior. When Adam suffers an accident, he finds out that a lot of what he believed about his life is not as how he thought. He discovers he posses a kind of telekinetic power, something he shares with his girlfriend, Carly. She will introduce him to a whole unknown world, where he can understand more about this biokenretic change, as she names it, but he will have to face new challenges if he wants to belong to this world. Will he have to leave his existence behind to be with Carly and dominate his power? What else does this imply for him?
What I like about this book is the character development. I think this was my favorite part of it. Adam starts being a very despicable character. When I was reading the first chapters, I really despised him and felt very irritated about his personality. However, there is a positive change throughout the book. I am not sure if it was always very coherent or clear, or if it was believable, because at points it seemed very quick. Nevertheless, I appreciate a lot the positive message the book has. Adam relies on Carly and his mother, female figures, to change his personality, yet I do not think this representation is stereotypical. The book addresses this situation as conflicting. At some point, while reading Carly’s perspective, she mentions that she does not think it is good for Adam to rely so heavily on her, but that she is there for him. I think this is a very important thing to do in books. Also, I liked the pace of the story and the world-building creation. It shows that there is a lot of hard work and time behind the writing of this book. The level of detail is incredible. The characters come from Russia, and the book includes Russian fragments. It was very good to see the investigation behind it. Overall, the reading was very enjoyable.
What I dislike about this book is its coherence or lack of it. I think there are some fragments where the story does not feel completely coherent. For example, the beginning seems like the story of normal teenagers. It is not until the middle of the book, or a bit farther on, that we learn about the superpower abilities. However, this did not cause a rushed ending, at least in my perspective. Despite this strange rhythm, I considered the book kept me very interested. Also, I believe it was probably needed to present and establish the world-building and complex relationships between characters, so, overall, I think it was not entirely bad.
The book was well-edited, and I found only a couple of minor typos. I also liked the format a lot. The book includes drawings and documents to complement the reading. I think the book does not go against anyone's religious beliefs, since it presents a fantasy world. It contains minor profanity and cursing, but very few. There are some descriptions of teenage romance and love, but I do not think they are sexually explicit. I would consider this very light. However, I would consider this book more oriented towards a teenage audience.
I would rate this book 4 out of 4 stars because I enjoyed the reading a lot, and it captivated me. The story has a lot of work behind and it shows. The premise is very innovative. I really enjoyed it and highlighted a lot of passages. I would recommend this book for romance readers, but also for those who like superheroes and fantasy stories.
******
Opaque
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes | on Smashwords
Opaque, by Calix Leigh-Reign, is a Young-Adult Science-Fiction Novel. It follows the story of Adam, a sixteen-year-old boy, who seems to be a bit of a sociopath. At the beginning of the story, he is presented as an angsty and edgy teenager. He despises everyone around him, except for his mother. This changes when a new student comes to town: Carly Whit. Adam feels his world changes when he meets her because he does not feel disgusted by her presence. Unexpectedly, they start dating and Adam starts a change in his behavior. When Adam suffers an accident, he finds out that a lot of what he believed about his life is not as how he thought. He discovers he posses a kind of telekinetic power, something he shares with his girlfriend, Carly. She will introduce him to a whole unknown world, where he can understand more about this biokenretic change, as she names it, but he will have to face new challenges if he wants to belong to this world. Will he have to leave his existence behind to be with Carly and dominate his power? What else does this imply for him?
What I like about this book is the character development. I think this was my favorite part of it. Adam starts being a very despicable character. When I was reading the first chapters, I really despised him and felt very irritated about his personality. However, there is a positive change throughout the book. I am not sure if it was always very coherent or clear, or if it was believable, because at points it seemed very quick. Nevertheless, I appreciate a lot the positive message the book has. Adam relies on Carly and his mother, female figures, to change his personality, yet I do not think this representation is stereotypical. The book addresses this situation as conflicting. At some point, while reading Carly’s perspective, she mentions that she does not think it is good for Adam to rely so heavily on her, but that she is there for him. I think this is a very important thing to do in books. Also, I liked the pace of the story and the world-building creation. It shows that there is a lot of hard work and time behind the writing of this book. The level of detail is incredible. The characters come from Russia, and the book includes Russian fragments. It was very good to see the investigation behind it. Overall, the reading was very enjoyable.
What I dislike about this book is its coherence or lack of it. I think there are some fragments where the story does not feel completely coherent. For example, the beginning seems like the story of normal teenagers. It is not until the middle of the book, or a bit farther on, that we learn about the superpower abilities. However, this did not cause a rushed ending, at least in my perspective. Despite this strange rhythm, I considered the book kept me very interested. Also, I believe it was probably needed to present and establish the world-building and complex relationships between characters, so, overall, I think it was not entirely bad.
The book was well-edited, and I found only a couple of minor typos. I also liked the format a lot. The book includes drawings and documents to complement the reading. I think the book does not go against anyone's religious beliefs, since it presents a fantasy world. It contains minor profanity and cursing, but very few. There are some descriptions of teenage romance and love, but I do not think they are sexually explicit. I would consider this very light. However, I would consider this book more oriented towards a teenage audience.
I would rate this book 4 out of 4 stars because I enjoyed the reading a lot, and it captivated me. The story has a lot of work behind and it shows. The premise is very innovative. I really enjoyed it and highlighted a lot of passages. I would recommend this book for romance readers, but also for those who like superheroes and fantasy stories.
******
Opaque
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes | on Smashwords
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Mariana Figueira
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Thanks for the informative and lovely review!
"No two persons ever read the same book" Edmund Wilson
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