Opaque
Year: 2016
Author: Calix Leigh-Reign
Length: 254 pages
***THIS BOOK WAS RECEIVED FROM A GOODREADS GIVEAWAY***
While I eventually liked this book, it took a little getting used to. When you start a story with a deplorable main character, it makes you not want to continue reading. Honestly, I think the plot probably could have started closer to the halfway part, and reveal everything important after the fact or merely hint at it. You know, via a “show don’t tell” method. There’s a lot of “telling” in the first half of this book. Despite this, there is plenty of excellent character development in the second half to redeem the first half.
What strikes me odd about this book is its classification as “Young Adult.” I usually consider early teens to be this genre’s demographic, given the main characters are generally in that age range. Considering the graphic violence, excessive swearing, and questionable sexual content in the first section of this book, I wouldn’t let teenagers read it. I understand the need to show a drastic change in the main character, but there are other ways to go about this. I felt uncomfortable reading about a sixteen-year old’s sexual desires (especially the straight up Oedipal complex), as it felt more like child pornography to me.
Now, I will grant this book can explain away quite a bit of some of these plot choices, including the two main characters almost inexplicably and immediately fall in love in a “first sight” scenario. Some people might not get far enough into it to receive these expertly crafted explanations, which is unfortunate. Once the big reveal happens, the plot accelerates to a blinding and exciting pace right up to the end. Aside from some odd indenting practices and the occasional, almost negligible proofreading errors, the majority of this book was easy, and exciting, to read.
A young adult novel that I wouldn’t let young adults read, I give Opaque 3.5 stars out of 5.
