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Use this forum to discuss the February 2020 Book of the month, "Opaque" by Calix Leigh-Reign
Jocelyn Eastman
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Re: father

Post by Jocelyn Eastman »

Howlan wrote: 11 Feb 2020, 09:19
Nym182 wrote: 07 Feb 2020, 13:55
ciecheesemeister wrote: 06 Feb 2020, 19:39 Mark seemed like a weak character (his cheating and gaslighting his wife) but I thought his death was a bit harsh. Perhaps it was supposed to illustrate that Adam had gained the ability to feel remorse, even about the death of a person whom he had a contentious relationship with.
I also felt that his death/character was treated very harshly... Especially considering he wasn't involved with the bond between Jo and Adam... That really could have made him feel left out, (which Adams distaste for him didn't help) which could have lead to his cheating... (obviously I am not condoning what he did) I just kinda felt his character was created just for adam to hate and that's it... his character could have been developed a bit more... I think it would have been interesting if Adam had a decent relationship with him That would have caused more turmoil within adam after finding out that he cheating on his mom. Instead, his cheating just proved Adam right.
Yes, when finally Adam came to his senses and thought that he needs to deal properly with his father, he was killed off. The author wasted a huge subplot to carelessly killing Adam's father.
I think the author took the easy way out with this one instead of finding a way to develop Mark and Adam’s relationship.

On the one hand Dauma says he was worth saving and then suddenly she’s out of control and kills him? I don’t think that happened at all. I think she saw they were losing and felt there was no other choice.
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Post by nfdoughe »

In the book, Carly did say something about her mother not having to use that much energy or whatnot. Dauma's line is something like "Your mother is not a dumb woman", so we're left to believe there is some reason for it all. At the same time, it was said that if Adam's father hadn't been standing, he would have survived. So it's his fault? I don't know, I wasn't thrilled with the whole situation. It seems off.
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Post by mama_ash »

It does seem like a bit of a selfish move - she's so powerful that I think she could have saved him and still completed her mission. But, maybe his death was something the author wanted to incorporate in such a way.
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Post by Cristina Chifane »

In a twisted way, I guess Adam's father's death was a form of punishment for the fact that he cheated on Jo. However, it came out of nowhere and was not in accordance with what we knew of Dauma's great power.
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Post by Howlan »

Jocelyn Eastman wrote: 13 Feb 2020, 10:06
Howlan wrote: 11 Feb 2020, 09:19
Nym182 wrote: 07 Feb 2020, 13:55

I also felt that his death/character was treated very harshly... Especially considering he wasn't involved with the bond between Jo and Adam... That really could have made him feel left out, (which Adams distaste for him didn't help) which could have lead to his cheating... (obviously I am not condoning what he did) I just kinda felt his character was created just for adam to hate and that's it... his character could have been developed a bit more... I think it would have been interesting if Adam had a decent relationship with him That would have caused more turmoil within adam after finding out that he cheating on his mom. Instead, his cheating just proved Adam right.
Yes, when finally Adam came to his senses and thought that he needs to deal properly with his father, he was killed off. The author wasted a huge subplot to carelessly killing Adam's father.
I think the author took the easy way out with this one instead of finding a way to develop Mark and Adam’s relationship.

On the one hand Dauma says he was worth saving and then suddenly she’s out of control and kills him? I don’t think that happened at all. I think she saw they were losing and felt there was no other choice.
Yes, considering the fact that their next meeting could force some great questions for Adam, it was a waste of a character.
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Post by Howlan »

cristinaro wrote: 15 Feb 2020, 05:16 In a twisted way, I guess Adam's father's death was a form of punishment for the fact that he cheated on Jo. However, it came out of nowhere and was not in accordance with what we knew of Dauma's great power.
I think that was too harsh a punishment for adultry. And from what it looked like, he loved his son even if Adam did not love him back.
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Post by Howlan »

nfdoughe wrote: 14 Feb 2020, 11:29 In the book, Carly did say something about her mother not having to use that much energy or whatnot. Dauma's line is something like "Your mother is not a dumb woman", so we're left to believe there is some reason for it all. At the same time, it was said that if Adam's father hadn't been standing, he would have survived. So it's his fault? I don't know, I wasn't thrilled with the whole situation. It seems off.
Yes, "Your mother is not a dumb woman" is a kind of tagline for Dauma, and she lived maintaining that for most of the time except at the end when the loss of her mother hits her emotionally and she makes some bad judgements.
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Post by freshbook »

I don't believe Dauma was selfish. I think it could have been stopped, but in the chaos of war, Dauma might have lost control of her powers. With Dauma seemingly having the most experience with using and controlling her abilities, I found that a bit odd, but it wasn't a selfish move.
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Post by Howlan »

rbrochhausen wrote: 20 Feb 2020, 17:26 I don't believe Dauma was selfish. I think it could have been stopped, but in the chaos of war, Dauma might have lost control of her powers. With Dauma seemingly having the most experience with using and controlling her abilities, I found that a bit odd, but it wasn't a selfish move.
I get your point, I don't think that she did it with her full consciousness. She was laden with grief and the actions she took was totally not in her right state of mind.
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Post by kdstrack »

I am wondering at what point Dauma realized that the captive was Adam's father?? Everyone just accepted her word (that the captive was Adam's father) when the only evidence was a skeleton on the truck.
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Post by Nym182 »

kdstrack wrote: 24 Feb 2020, 23:39 I am wondering at what point Dauma realized that the captive was Adam's father?? Everyone just accepted her word (that the captive was Adam's father) when the only evidence was a skeleton on the truck.
That's a really interesting point!
Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!” HST
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Post by kdstrack »

It was actually Jocelyn (Eastman's) comment about the author "taking the easy way out," that made me consider this possibility. After all, most of the characters seem to have some kind of power. Jo was "given" a special ability. Is there something we don't know - yet - about Adam's father?? (Thank you Jocelyn for that insight!!)
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Post by gilliansisley »

Nym182 wrote: 06 Feb 2020, 16:00 I thought that her lack of control made her a more interesting character - it's nice to know that someone perceived as being so powerful and being a leader could have flaws too!
I agree with this. Dauma was a badass, that's for sure. And her lack of control added a bit of dimension to her character.
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Post by gilliansisley »

ciecheesemeister wrote: 06 Feb 2020, 19:39 Mark seemed like a weak character (his cheating and gaslighting his wife) but I thought his death was a bit harsh. Perhaps it was supposed to illustrate that Adam had gained the ability to feel remorse, even about the death of a person whom he had a contentious relationship with.
Man, with all of the sh*t that was going on in the book, I entirely forgot that Adam's dad cheated on his mom. There was a lot of crazy sh*t going on in that book.
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Post by gilliansisley »

Howlan wrote: 11 Feb 2020, 09:19
Nym182 wrote: 07 Feb 2020, 13:55
ciecheesemeister wrote: 06 Feb 2020, 19:39 Mark seemed like a weak character (his cheating and gaslighting his wife) but I thought his death was a bit harsh. Perhaps it was supposed to illustrate that Adam had gained the ability to feel remorse, even about the death of a person whom he had a contentious relationship with.
I also felt that his death/character was treated very harshly... Especially considering he wasn't involved with the bond between Jo and Adam... That really could have made him feel left out, (which Adams distaste for him didn't help) which could have lead to his cheating... (obviously I am not condoning what he did) I just kinda felt his character was created just for adam to hate and that's it... his character could have been developed a bit more... I think it would have been interesting if Adam had a decent relationship with him That would have caused more turmoil within adam after finding out that he cheating on his mom. Instead, his cheating just proved Adam right.
Yes, when finally Adam came to his senses and thought that he needs to deal properly with his father, he was killed off. The author wasted a huge subplot to carelessly killing Adam's father.
That's a good point. There was a chance for Adam to develop as a character, and that opportunity was essentially stolen from him.
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