Overall rating and opinion of "Opaque" by Calix Leigh-Reign

Jacktone Ogada · Post by **Jacktone Ogada** » 28 Feb 2020, 23:42

Wow... Nearly into the midst of the book and I'm loving it. I totally agree with the review and can't wait to finish the book and submit my own review

a-b-c- · Post by **a-b-c-** » 29 Feb 2020, 11:27

I like the book and yes I would tell others to read this book.

shish_by_design · Post by **shish_by_design** » 01 Mar 2020, 04:59

The reviews this book got are what enticed me into reading it and am glad I did cause the complexity and multidimensionality of these characters is just simply outstanding!

DameCelete · Post by **DameCelete** » 01 Mar 2020, 05:01

While the writing was fantastic, I found this book to be extremely twisted. With the current love of shows like Dexter and Hannibal, I understand why others might like it, but Adam didn't develop enough as a character for me to earn any sort of level of slack from me for what he did in the beginning of the book, and a lot of his later 'mercy' hinges on aspects of wish-fulfillment or genetic self-preservation (i.e. leniency toward family / those who need to survive out of reproductive desire (or to prevent a desired mate from rejecting him)) rather than empathy or even sympathy.

I work in forensics, so I see this kind of personality too often to enraptured no matter how well-edited or interesting some of the secondary characters and world-building were.

Motolani · Post by **Motolani** » 01 Mar 2020, 14:43

It's not a genre I will usually read but I absolutely loved it. I love the evolution of Adam's character and the mystique of their super powers. I love the poetic ring that could be seen from the beginning of the book. I will recommend.

gschauer · Post by **gschauer** » 01 Mar 2020, 20:24

I really enjoyed this book. Science fiction is not always my favorite, but the author did a great job tying in all the pieces. By the end of the book I felt very close to all the characters in the story. My favorite part was that all the Descendants had powers and had to learn more about their powers as they grew. My least favorite part was the oddity of the beginning where Adam liked his mother in a very unnatural way. As the story progresses, it becomes clear why this happened, but in first reading it, it was very unsettling.
I will definitely recommend this book to others. It was a great read with lots of turns and twists. I look forward to reading the sequels.

Njkinny · Post by **Njkinny** » 02 Mar 2020, 07:57

I rated it 2 out of 4 stars. This book had so much potential but I didn't connect with it. I wanted a better understanding of Adam and his issues, but they were too little and too late in coming. With his mental health issues, the author had a great option of exploring these to bring better clarity and shine to her protagonist but his issues were sort of brushed aside.
There are so many scenes and dialogues that made me think that this book would have been better as a sci-fi and adult fiction. Though there are no explicit scenes but the actions and scenarios make this book unfit for easily influenced young adult readers.
The plot idea is great but it wasn't planned well. Almost half the book went by without the Iksha making an appearance and even after, everything was wrapped hurriedly.

I recommend this book to mature readers. For YA lovers, there are better books out there and this can be skipped.

Kelli Dawson · Post by **Kelli Dawson** » 02 Mar 2020, 10:15

I enjoyed this story more than I thought I would. I did think it was a little on the dark side, especially with Adam and some of his issues. I am trying to not put in any spoilers, but Adam has some issues that are covered up. It fits well with the storyline, but I thought it was a little on the dark side for teenagers. It turned out to not be what I expected at all.

I do like the way his and Jo's relationship is evolving, and the way he has gone from being a total jerk to actually engaging with people since he met Carly. Adam is really coming along as a person with a heart. I have started on the 2nd book to see where this leads.

RStriker1 · Post by **RStriker1** » 02 Mar 2020, 12:50

I honestly did not think this book was phenomenal. I enjoyed reading about the special powers that these teenagers have. I disliked the ending because it felt rushed and unnatural. It seemed to me that the entire book came to a very abrupt ending in the last chapter. All in all I would say it's an average 2 star book.

[SNicolle] · Post by **[SNicolle]** » 02 Mar 2020, 20:58

I thought this was a very good book. I gave it 4 stars! The weirdest part was when he seems to be in love with his mom. I wasn't too sure where on earth this book was going to go. Best part I would say was when Carly goes "full power". I would definitely recommend this book to others.

Erin Dydek · Post by **Erin Dydek** » 02 Mar 2020, 21:29

DKURYGA wrote: ↑24 Feb 2020, 21:27 The story was so hard to track keep of and the comments from the character referring to subjects or something that the reader hasn't been told. That makes it really hard to follow. The writing could use a little more organization and less inflation, the over description leaves nothing for the reader.
The suicidal thoughts, and scoffing of mental illness is not really appropriate for YA genre. With the issues of bullying and ostracizing people with mental health issue, I don't think readers ages 12-18 need the bias and division, some may argue the mental illness aspect may make it relatable to some, it seems to trivialize serious mental illnesses in my opinion. I didn't find Adam's oedipus issues necessarily character building, on the contrary I found it rather repulsive.
It is very disturbing to me that Adam has romantic feelings for his mother. I could not bring myself to care for Adam or the storyline beyond his immoral desires.
I don't believe it adds much to the storyline or the character development, or lack thereof.
Adam is mentally ill and I didn't want inside of his disgusting feelings for his mother. I wouldn't recommend this for a young adult, maybe a twisted mind, but not an impressionable person.
The story wasn't what I was expecting, based on the book's summary.

I give Opaque 1of 4 stars.
Only because I believe some readers could enjoy it beyond it's short comings.

The really strange thing about his feelings for his mom was that it was explained away by the youth serum she took. Vikki had the same serum but her was repulsed by her. That’s some pretty selective serum...Anyway, my point is, his mom could have used the serum and the romantic feelings could have been completely left out of the book. A healthy mother-son relationship would have made a much less disturbing start to the book.

Moray_001 · Post by **Moray_001** » 03 Mar 2020, 02:38

Rayasaurus wrote: ↑01 Feb 2020, 13:00 I really liked this book overall, especially Adam's character development. His relationship with Carly (at least looking at it from Carly's perspective) wasn't my favorite, but it still made sense for the story. I rated it a 3 star book, but I would definitely recommend it to teenagers and young adults.

I’m curious, why did you feel that their relationship wasn’t a good aspect?

Rayasaurus · Post by **Rayasaurus** » 03 Mar 2020, 15:57

Moray_001 wrote: ↑03 Mar 2020, 02:38
Rayasaurus wrote: ↑01 Feb 2020, 13:00 I really liked this book overall, especially Adam's character development. His relationship with Carly (at least looking at it from Carly's perspective) wasn't my favorite, but it still made sense for the story. I rated it a 3 star book, but I would definitely recommend it to teenagers and young adults.
I’m curious, why did you feel that their relationship wasn’t a good aspect?

I’ve never been fond of the sort of woman saves man from his own darkness through a romantic relationship trope because of the way it seems to never really work out in real life, but it’s just my personal preference. Adam is quite unstable and dangerous at the beginning of the novel, so I feel like it was a bad decision for Carly to get involved with him romantically at that time.

leareiler · Post by **leareiler** » 03 Mar 2020, 17:52

Overall, I thought it was entertaining, but not perfect. I probably wouldn't recommend this to many people because it got very confusing multiple times throughout. I also just can't see past Adam's attraction to his mother and the whole "Terry" situation. They were both very unsettling storylines, both of which do not belong in a Young Adult book. Yes, the world the author created was interesting and I was entertained enough to finish the book, but it should overall not be advertised as a Young Adult novel in my opinion.

GatugiM · Post by **GatugiM** » 05 Mar 2020, 00:09

I rated the book 4 out of 4 stars. I loved the character development and Jo was my favorite character. I was troubled by Terry's death though. I would recommend this book to people. Its quite q riveting read.