Review by esp1975 -- Opaque by Calix Leigh-Reign

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Erin Painter Baker
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Review by esp1975 -- Opaque by Calix Leigh-Reign

Post by Erin Painter Baker »

[Following is a volunteer review of "Opaque" by Calix Leigh-Reign.]
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3 out of 4 stars
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I love young adult fantasy books, so I had been eyeing Calix Leigh-Reign’s Opaque for quite some time. And while this was not a perfect book, I was not disappointed. It provided everything I look for in young adult fantasy: a hidden world, considerable danger, adults who cannot be trusted to act, friendship, and young love.

Opaque is the story of Adam and Carly. Adam is an emotionally disturbed young man who had no real interest in the world around him until the first day of his senior year of high school when Carly enters the classroom as a new student. Something deep inside Adam reacts to Carly in a way he has never experienced before. Carly reacts to Adam as well, though she does not quite realize it at the time.

Carly and Adam quickly become a couple, and soon Adam learns that he is the descendant of one of seven Russian families who have genetic mutations that grant them special powers. Carly is also a descendant of these families. She introduces Adam to this new world and helps him explore his abilities. But there is danger. There are Russian scientists who are determined to find a way to give themselves these same powers. And they will kidnap, experiment on, and eventually kill any descendant they can get their hands on. If Adam and Carly wish to be able to live their lives in peace, instead of hiding away as all the other descendants have been doing, they must fight the scientists.

Opaque is written in the third-person, present tense. This would be my least favorite thing about the book, except that it is outweighed by not having a solid point of view. For the most part, the story is told either from Adam or Carly’s point of view, but every once in a while, it jumps to someone else. But sometimes only for a second. The constant switching between point-of-view characters sometimes felt like it was giving me whiplash. If Leigh-Reign had taken the time to instead make me feel like we had a third-person, omniscient narrator, that would have been better. (Still not my favorite point-of-view option, but better.)

I had some other minor issues with the book. The early sections were a little too long, and it would have benefited from some strategic scene cutting, but there was no scene that obviously did not belong. There were some “easy” answers to big issues that, in an adult novel, I would have preferred to be dealt with in a more complex way, but for a young adult book, the way they were handled makes a lot of sense. And there was a place where the author obviously had not done her medical research (which actually bugged me a lot), but it resulted in a convenient way to introduce an important plot point, and really only consisted of a few sentences.

For the most part, I really enjoyed this book. As I mentioned earlier, it had everything I look for in a young adult novel. I thought the character relationships were very well done. And while it had the useless adults that all young adult fiction requires, it also had some really great parent-child relationships. Carly’s relationship with her mother was probably my favorite thing about the book.

I also liked that the story talked a lot about characters making conscious choices in their actions. Especially in a book that has heroes who just happened to be born with special powers, I think emphasizing agency is really important, to remind the readers that no matter what is going on in their lives, they do have some power. They get to choose how they act.

I give Opaque by Calix Leigh-Reign three out of four stars. It was a well-written and well-edited book. Its themes are a little too dark for younger teens, but I could honestly recommend it to older teenagers (and adults) who like urban fantasy and romance.

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Post by AvidBibliophile »

Really great review! Straightforward, detailed, super insightful, and a huge help to other prospective readers. I’d been wondering about this book too. Appreciate you mentioning the not quite so perfect points as well. We’ve got to watch out for those nefarious Russian scientists! :)
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Post by ErikaP13 »

What was your take on Adam's relationship with his parents?
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Post by Wyland »

I'm glad you enjoyed this young adult fantasy book and I look forward to reading it as well. Thanks for the insightful review.
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Post by Julius_ »

I've read some books written in present tense, and I don't really like the writing style. Thanks for mentioning this.
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Post by Erin Painter Baker »

@AvidBibliophile - Thank you!

@Wyland - I hope you like it.

@Julius_ - There needs to be a reason for writing the story in the present tense. If the author can't tell you the purpose for it, then they shouldn't be doing it. (And you as the reader should be able to realize why the story is being told in the present tense.)
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Post by Erin Painter Baker »

@E@ErikaP13 - My comment about some situations that, in an adult novel, I would have liked to have seen dealt with in a more complex manner, that was referring to Adam's relationships with his parents. Part of this is that I read the forward/acknowledgments where the author thanked some of her early readers for being willing to go along with Adam's darkness, no matter how dark she got. So I was prepared for that. I was actually very unhappy that his father was painted as "deserving" of his strong dislike, and that the relationship with his mother was explained via a deus ex machina. But, this is a young adult novel, not an adult novel. And that means that these darker themes shouldn't necessarily be fully explored, and solving them this way makes more sense given the genre and intended audience.
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Post by ErikaP13 »

esp1975 wrote: 20 Jan 2020, 21:52 @E@ErikaP13 - My comment about some situations that, in an adult novel, I would have liked to have seen dealt with in a more complex manner, that was referring to Adam's relationships with his parents. Part of this is that I read the forward/acknowledgments where the author thanked some of her early readers for being willing to go along with Adam's darkness, no matter how dark she got. So I was prepared for that. I was actually very unhappy that his father was painted as "deserving" of his strong dislike, and that the relationship with his mother was explained via a deus ex machina. But, this is a young adult novel, not an adult novel. And that means that these darker themes shouldn't necessarily be fully explored, and solving them this way makes more sense given the genre and intended audience.
I like the way you approach this. It's something I'm finding difficult to deal with in the book so I might just try to push through using tour philosophy on this. Thanks
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Post by Connie Otwani »

Sounds enjoyable. Useless adults that all young adult books require? You couldn't have put that better! Great review!
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Post by Erin Painter Baker »

@Cotwani - I actually think it's one of the requirements for the genre. Because seriously, you couldn't have most young adult stories if the adults in them were competent, decent, adults.
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Post by Prisallen »

I loved reading your review. It was informative in an interesting way, and the book sounds intriguing. Great review!
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Post by Brendan Donaghy »

I've only read the Amazon sample of this one so far. I thought that bit of the book was definitely on the darkish end of the spectrum. I'm glad to hear that the characters develop a bit from that point. Enjoyed your review!
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Post by Erin Painter Baker »

@Prisallen & @Brendan Donaghy - Thank you for stopping by and the kind words.
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