Review by FelDee -- Opaque by Calix Leigh-Reign

[FelDee]

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

---

3 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

For as long as Adam can remember, he has felt estranged from the world. Plagued by dark thoughts, the teenage boy finds himself constantly disgusted with the people around him. That is until the new girl, Carly Wit, captures his eye and flips his whole life upside down. From the moment they meet, an irresistible force draws them to one another. As their bond strengthens and grows, Adam comes to find out what he thought was real isn’t reality at all. He is brought into a world with secret agents lurking in the shadows, and superhumans he never knew existed. This book tells the story of youthful love, family and a fight to survive. Most of all, it is about the true struggle to overcome the corruption that is within oneself.

Opaque is the first in the Scion Saga series written by Cālix Leigh-Reign. It is advertised as a Young Adult novel, however, there are a few scenes I found to be too mature for a young teenager. For example; the subjects of incest and sexual assault were brought up in the beginning. In my opinion, the book seems much better suited for an adult reader that likes books from a teenager’s perspective. It is written in the present tense; some people might not enjoy that style of writing. I, however, didn’t find it to be very difficult to read, but you probably won't enjoy this book if you don't like the present tense style.

The beginning of this book intrigued me exceedingly. The dark and gritty nature of the main character, Adam, gave me chills. The author creatively brought to life the sinister thoughts of Adam and truly held my attention. It was something altogether different from what I typically read. It felt like I was looking through the eyes of a sociopath and hearing their thoughts. My honest hope would have been for Adam, to have been the antagonist and the story would switch back and forth from his perspective to the protagonist. That would have made a much more fascinating story, in my own opinion.

Unfortunately, as the book progressed, many elements became cliché and too rushed. For example; Carly and Adam's relationship lacked true tension. It never felt like a struggle for them to get together or even stay with each other. Their relationship was just too easy, and when something did go wrong it was resolved too quickly. Carly also seemed way too perfect and generic. In my personal opinion, I felt her character could have been simply described as a “smart, strong and sexy female lead” with no other description needed. Adam was much more authentic. He had some serious faults, but we got to see how he worked through them and even overcame many problems. In the end there was a distinct difference in Adam's character compared to the beginning. In contrast, Carly more or less stayed the same, probably because she never had any real faults to overcome in the first place.

The style of the author's writing was decent. The book contained a few typos, but nothing too noticeable. I think the author made a bold choice by writing in the present tense and, for the most part, it was professionally executed. It was predominantly written in Adam and Carly's point of view. Although sometimes the perspective would randomly shift for a short time to the viewpoint of a side character, and then back again to one of the lead characters. The perspective shifts weren't easy to identify; with the point of view sometimes switching back and forth in a single scene. This frequently caused unnecessary confusion, which caused me to guess who was speaking at that moment. This made it hard to be immersed in the story.

Something that was quite disappointing for me, was the pacing. The action was extremely difficult to visualize. It seemed to be overly rushed and jarring. It was challenging for me to follow what was happening and who was where sometimes. On top of that, there was a lack of suspense during the times that should have been the most suspenseful. When the characters were in a life or death situation, their dialogue, feelings or thoughts didn't always reflect the danger that they were in. However, I did enjoy the overall arch of the plot; it was quite well balanced and would make a good series if some of these kinks were worked out.

With all that being said, I felt Opaque deserved a rating of 3 out of 4 stars. The beginning was interesting and truly gripped me, the middle didn't progress the way I would have liked, but it was still pretty good. And as for the ending it was a bit rushed but good. The book does have a genuinely appealing storyline and if you can ignore the faults that I mentioned, I think you will enjoy Opaque by Cālix Leigh-Reign.

Until next time,
Thank you and keep reading my Fellow Bookworms!

******
Opaque
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes | on Smashwords

[Adina Lutinger]

Seems like Adam went through a dramatic change. I'm curious to read the book. Thanks for the grrat review!

[Laura Lee]

Good analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the book. I enjoyed reading your review. Just out of curiosity, did Adam's character turn you off, or were you able to get past that and enjoy the story anyway?

[FelDee]

Good analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the book. I enjoyed reading your review. Just out of curiosity, did Adam's character turn you off, or were you able to get past that and enjoy the story anyway?

I enjoy reading different perspectives of thought and seeing how people tick, even the creepy ones. So no, quite the contrary, I found Adam in the beginning to the most interesting part of the entire book.

[[Danielle]]

I often really enjoy young adult novels and this one has some aspects that make it seem a little more mature, so this could be a good quick read for me! Thanks for the review, I'll have to check this book out!