Quick Facts
- Release Date: October 22, 2016
- Page Count: 274
- Publisher: Cayelle Publishing/Surge
- Kindle Unlimited? No
Although I found the concept of this book intriguing, the poor writing style and confusing narrative clouded my overall enjoyment. Some readers may enjoy the creative plotline and important messages
Synopsis
Adam Caspian, a 16-year-old boy from Piure, California, secretly struggles with sociopathic and destructive tendencies. When Carly, the new girl at school, enters his class, they share an instant connection he cannot explain.
Carly is the only one who is able to see beneath Adam’s concerning behavior to what he truly is: a Descendent of a biologically evolved group of humans that exhibit powerful abilities and characteristics. She explains Adam’s genealogy and physical attributes, including the mutated Limbal Rings in his eyes. Carly shows him that his Descendent pedigree is what is causing his unwelcome and undesirable thoughts.
Adam is forcefully thrown into this new world when they are threatened by the Iksha, a group of Russian scientists that kidnap and perform fatal experiments on Descendents. Carly and Adam team up with their newfound Descendent friends to prepare to fight for their existence.
Review
Opaque is the first book in Calix Leigh-Reign’s Scion Saga and is a science-fiction novel that targets a young adult audience. I felt one of the more enjoyable aspects of the book was that Leigh-Reign emphasized important lessons on personal growth and morality. Adam grows immensely as a character, especially considering where he started at the beginning of the book. He learns that each decision affects what kind of person you are; while everyone is filled with both good and bad, if you continue to make good choices you can eventually change. This is a lesson that would resonate particularly well for the intended audience.
Despite this, I felt some of the content was very inappropriate for young adults. Adam begins the book as a truly deplorable character, introducing incestual and sociopathic themes to potentially impressionable readers. Additionally, Adam’s possessive behavior towards Carly in their relationship was rarely portrayed as unhealthy, which I fear could give readers the wrong impression.
One of the primary issues I had with this book was the overall writing style. The perspective of the narration seemed to bounce between characters which made the story difficult to follow. I had trouble identifying when information came from the character versus the omniscient narrator. The book read more like a screenplay. It seemed the narrator had a picture in their mind of how the scene should unfold, but only provided a summary. The plot was portrayed as a highlight reel of character emotions and plot points, where readers were given the facts before they could draw their own conclusions. Going back to the basics of writing, the story was told rather than shown.
I also felt the book was crammed with important plot points that were not given the detail nor explanation needed to be properly concluded. There were several times throughout the book I found myself wondering why a certain event or character was glossed over when it seemed to carry some level of importance to the story.
Summary
I am giving Opaque 2 out of 5 stars. Although I found the concept of the book intriguing, the poor writing style and confusing narrative clouded my overall enjoyment. Though this book did not resonate with me personally, some readers will likely enjoy the creative plotline and important messages. I will be not continuing with the series, but others might.
Readers should be warned that this book includes themes that are potentially inappropriate for the intended young adult audience.
Link to Author’s website: https://caliximplied.wordpress.com/
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