3 out of 4 stars
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When I Opened My Eyes: The Dwovian Encounter by K.P. Trout is a captivating science fiction novel that takes readers on a fast-paced adventure that reveals unexpected but fascinating scientific discoveries, as well as an alien invasion and its influence on humanity.
While researching the genetic foundation for sleep, Dr Leslie McCabe makes groundbreaking discoveries about why we sleep. Before going public with a discovery that would undoubtedly impact the world, she reaches out to her astrophysicist ex-boyfriend, Cheppard Duplay, to double-check her findings. Meanwhile, aliens from a planet called Dwovy are hard at work on planet Earth. Believing that the solution to their kind’s potential extinction lies in humans, they carry out their various missions in different households. Unfortunately, during one of their missions, things go terribly wrong. Two of the aliens are discovered by Neil Reese and his pregnant wife, which results in a deadly struggle. The extraterrestrials’ claim they are only interested in solving their planet’s problem, but will the ends justify the means? Can they be trusted, or do they have hidden agendas? When the rest of the world finds out about their presence and activities on earth, will they be considered friends or foes?
After reading this novel, I couldn’t help but search for the next book in the series. I really enjoyed the storyline, and the ending left me wanting more. This book works as a standalone, but there are new dimensions to the story added towards the end that should be explored. Additionally, I appreciated the author’s writing style; the choice to shift focus between different characters’ experiences interchangeably made the narrative even more interesting and helped build suspense.
The author did a great job building the characters’ world and characterisation and vividly depicting the unfolding events. I liked feeling as though I were there witnessing the events and experiencing the excitement, anxiety, and scares alongside the characters. The main characters were well-defined, likeable, and believable. However, there were times when I thought some of the characters acted a bit naïve and divulged too much information too quickly in situations where I thought they would be more apprehensive and cautious. Nevertheless, my favourite human character was Cheppard because of his sense of humour, his consideration for others, and his love for his cat, Pumpkin. On the spacecraft, my favourite was Opie because he had the most interesting personality while still being the most sincere and forthcoming.
Even though the novel appears to be professionally edited, I did a find a number of noticeable errors, such as missing prepositions as well as mix-ups of ‘week’ and ‘weak’, ‘I’ and ‘It’, and so on. Additionally, there was a scene where a character’s name was mixed up with another, which was a little distracting. This novel could use another round of editing.
Overall, the setting, unforgettable events, and memorable characters worked well in weaving an intriguing and compelling narrative. Taking everything into consideration, I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. I would definitely recommend this novel to anyone looking for a good read and those who don’t mind elements of romance and Christian faith in their science fiction novels.
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When I Opened My Eyes
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