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Translucent #2
Of Starlight
It has been three months since Leona Hewitt dumped the body of her crush’s younger sister in the woods, praying he would never find out who did it. It has been three hours since she led him back to her rotting corpse.
And three minutes since she showed up in Leona’s bedroom, alive.
The culprit is a living substance secreted by a meteorite that can make people invisible . . . and apparently bring them back from the dead too. But something is terribly wrong with the girl claiming to be Ashley Lacroix. She doesn’t sleep. Sometimes, when she thinks no one is listening, she talks to someone who isn’t there. She says her soul has been eaten. She says Leona must die.
Now, evading an unseen enemy, Leona must dig up the startling truth behind Ashley’s death before an insidious creature claims its next victim. Only the truth may be more chilling than she ever could have imagined. And the next victim may be herself.
And three minutes since she showed up in Leona’s bedroom, alive.
The culprit is a living substance secreted by a meteorite that can make people invisible . . . and apparently bring them back from the dead too. But something is terribly wrong with the girl claiming to be Ashley Lacroix. She doesn’t sleep. Sometimes, when she thinks no one is listening, she talks to someone who isn’t there. She says her soul has been eaten. She says Leona must die.
Now, evading an unseen enemy, Leona must dig up the startling truth behind Ashley’s death before an insidious creature claims its next victim. Only the truth may be more chilling than she ever could have imagined. And the next victim may be herself.
268 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 2015
7 people are currently reading
592 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 25, 2016
I recently read, reviewed, and thoroughly enjoyed Translucent, the first book in this series. It was a great mixture of teen angst, mystery/thriller, science fiction (with enough actual science to satisfy this physics teacher), and symbolism. There was a strong character arc—Leona’s search for a way to absolve herself from guilt—that cleverly utilized the major plot device of the meteorite containing dark matter that can make things invisible. The cliffhanger was chilling and there were enough open mysteries to entice me to read the sequel, which starts immediately following the events of the first part.
I try to keep my reviews spoiler-free, but when reviewing a sequel, I may have to mention plot elements revealed in the previous book. You have been warned.
Leona and her friend Megan had used the dark matter for a variety of reasons in the first book, and Leona was convinced that it was somehow communicating with her. But what if they weren’t the only or the first people to wrap it around themselves? What if the military who had “decontaminated” Leona’s room to contain the dark matter were instead collecting it? What if the collection of dark matter could be connected to the family of Emory Lacroix, Leona’s crush?
Emory’s supposedly dead younger sister Ashley has mysteriously returned after three months, but she’s developed odd behavior. She’s not eating, not sleeping, and not liking her brother’s would-be girlfriend Leona, going so far as to demand he stay away from her. Naturally, Leona uses the dark matter to investigate, only to see that Ashley has some dark matter of her own.
It seems that the dark matter is affecting these characters in very different ways. Leona is convinced it’s communicating with her, and the more often and longer she wears it, it causes her not only to be invisible but occasionally intangible. Meanwhile, whenever Megan removes the dark matter from her body, it leaves marks on her skin—and I deduced what the marks were before her dermatologist did. And then there’s the effect that dark matter has had on Ashley…or whoever/whatever Ashley is. Creepy.
Where Translucent was primarily driven by Leona’s internal conflict dealing with her guilt, Of Starlight is primarily driven by the external conflict between Leona and Ashley. It’s a stark contrast to the first book because it establishes a very clear villain. There’s a fight scene between them while they’re both invisible—which would never work in a visual medium such as a movie or TV show—but it works extremely well here because of Rix’s choice to tell the story in Leona’s first person. The scene is gripping and vividly described.
Along with this shift in the conflict is a slight shift in the genre of the story from science fiction towards supernatural horror, and I missed the scientific discussions about refraction and such from the first book. When the dark matter “spoke” to Leona in Translucent, it served as a symbol of Leona’s inner voice trying to make her confront her guilt. In Of Starlight, when the dark matter “speaks,” the inference is that it’s a malevolent entity.
I also found it missing some of the intertwined mysteries and symbolism of the first book. There weren’t as many twists and turns, and Leona seemed to repeat certain thoughts a few too many times.
It was still an exciting page turner, and the primary story arc is sufficiently resolved to earn its cliffhanger, which was at least as shocking as how the first book ended. I’ve already downloaded the third part, Ash and Darkness, onto my Kindle and am looking forward to starting it. As good a book as the second part was, I felt the first book was just a little more tightly wrapped, so I’m giving the sequel a rating of FOUR AND A HALF Of Starlight.
I try to keep my reviews spoiler-free, but when reviewing a sequel, I may have to mention plot elements revealed in the previous book. You have been warned.
Leona and her friend Megan had used the dark matter for a variety of reasons in the first book, and Leona was convinced that it was somehow communicating with her. But what if they weren’t the only or the first people to wrap it around themselves? What if the military who had “decontaminated” Leona’s room to contain the dark matter were instead collecting it? What if the collection of dark matter could be connected to the family of Emory Lacroix, Leona’s crush?
Emory’s supposedly dead younger sister Ashley has mysteriously returned after three months, but she’s developed odd behavior. She’s not eating, not sleeping, and not liking her brother’s would-be girlfriend Leona, going so far as to demand he stay away from her. Naturally, Leona uses the dark matter to investigate, only to see that Ashley has some dark matter of her own.
It seems that the dark matter is affecting these characters in very different ways. Leona is convinced it’s communicating with her, and the more often and longer she wears it, it causes her not only to be invisible but occasionally intangible. Meanwhile, whenever Megan removes the dark matter from her body, it leaves marks on her skin—and I deduced what the marks were before her dermatologist did. And then there’s the effect that dark matter has had on Ashley…or whoever/whatever Ashley is. Creepy.
Where Translucent was primarily driven by Leona’s internal conflict dealing with her guilt, Of Starlight is primarily driven by the external conflict between Leona and Ashley. It’s a stark contrast to the first book because it establishes a very clear villain. There’s a fight scene between them while they’re both invisible—which would never work in a visual medium such as a movie or TV show—but it works extremely well here because of Rix’s choice to tell the story in Leona’s first person. The scene is gripping and vividly described.
Along with this shift in the conflict is a slight shift in the genre of the story from science fiction towards supernatural horror, and I missed the scientific discussions about refraction and such from the first book. When the dark matter “spoke” to Leona in Translucent, it served as a symbol of Leona’s inner voice trying to make her confront her guilt. In Of Starlight, when the dark matter “speaks,” the inference is that it’s a malevolent entity.
I also found it missing some of the intertwined mysteries and symbolism of the first book. There weren’t as many twists and turns, and Leona seemed to repeat certain thoughts a few too many times.
It was still an exciting page turner, and the primary story arc is sufficiently resolved to earn its cliffhanger, which was at least as shocking as how the first book ended. I’ve already downloaded the third part, Ash and Darkness, onto my Kindle and am looking forward to starting it. As good a book as the second part was, I felt the first book was just a little more tightly wrapped, so I’m giving the sequel a rating of FOUR AND A HALF Of Starlight.
September 8, 2015
Pretty good followup, much more suspenseful than the first book; though it leaves plenty to be answered and solved in the final installment. Definitely different the supernatural genre and worth the read.
May 26, 2015
I loved this book. I so far have loved all of Dan Rix's books. They keep me on my toes and guessing a lot of the time. I can't wait to find out what happens next
March 14, 2016
Actual rating 2.5 stars.
I still enjoyed all the elements in ‘Of Starlight’ that I had from the debut of the series, ‘Translucent,’ but there was a whole arena of problems that affected ‘Of Starlight’ which had me shaking my head. Still, a fun science fiction romp with lots of potential.
Some aspects of story that were introduced did not make sense and did not flow. I felt like this installment was missing the touch of a content editor. There were so many illogical happenings I was practically growling with frustration. Simple obvious solutions to many situations our protagonist and her best friend, Leona and Megan faced were overlooked.
Additionally, Leona and Megan felt immature. I wanted the experience to age them, they were after all, dealing with life and death situations, so some seriousness was called for. Though I did like the moments of comedy dispersed throughout – like their puns and a few slapstick moments – it broke the tension when it was needed. I would have loved to have like to gotten more of this, in context.
The relationship between Leona and Emory did not feel real, unlike the previous book, Leona’s behavior fell into insta-love or stalkery territory. It was making me cringe a little.
Dan Rix did a great job in creating tension and his action scenes are fantastic to read, I just wish the story wasn’t so disjointed and the plot better thought-out. This read like a first draft. There were so many storytelling devices that could have been improved.
I’m also at a loss at what this book was supposed to achieve – it didn’t drive the plot forward too much and I got a sense we were treading water until some really good stuff is going to happen (we can only hope) in books 3 & 4.
The potential for this to be an outstanding book was there, it just fell so, so short of the mark. We need an intelligent read and challenging plot lines in science fiction, otherwise it reads like really bad fan fiction.
I’m hoping this trend doesn’t continue in the following books, ‘Ash and Darkness’ and ‘Slaying Shadows’ because Leona is a bold, sassy and intelligent heroine; and the set up of her and Emory’s relationship lends itself to some great tension and possibility of a redemption story.
Stay tuned to see whether I feel if this series delivers on all my hopes.
I still enjoyed all the elements in ‘Of Starlight’ that I had from the debut of the series, ‘Translucent,’ but there was a whole arena of problems that affected ‘Of Starlight’ which had me shaking my head. Still, a fun science fiction romp with lots of potential.
Some aspects of story that were introduced did not make sense and did not flow. I felt like this installment was missing the touch of a content editor. There were so many illogical happenings I was practically growling with frustration. Simple obvious solutions to many situations our protagonist and her best friend, Leona and Megan faced were overlooked.
Additionally, Leona and Megan felt immature. I wanted the experience to age them, they were after all, dealing with life and death situations, so some seriousness was called for. Though I did like the moments of comedy dispersed throughout – like their puns and a few slapstick moments – it broke the tension when it was needed. I would have loved to have like to gotten more of this, in context.
The relationship between Leona and Emory did not feel real, unlike the previous book, Leona’s behavior fell into insta-love or stalkery territory. It was making me cringe a little.
Dan Rix did a great job in creating tension and his action scenes are fantastic to read, I just wish the story wasn’t so disjointed and the plot better thought-out. This read like a first draft. There were so many storytelling devices that could have been improved.
I’m also at a loss at what this book was supposed to achieve – it didn’t drive the plot forward too much and I got a sense we were treading water until some really good stuff is going to happen (we can only hope) in books 3 & 4.
The potential for this to be an outstanding book was there, it just fell so, so short of the mark. We need an intelligent read and challenging plot lines in science fiction, otherwise it reads like really bad fan fiction.
I’m hoping this trend doesn’t continue in the following books, ‘Ash and Darkness’ and ‘Slaying Shadows’ because Leona is a bold, sassy and intelligent heroine; and the set up of her and Emory’s relationship lends itself to some great tension and possibility of a redemption story.
Stay tuned to see whether I feel if this series delivers on all my hopes.
November 18, 2015
A very good series. The book opens up where the first book left off, and the intensity just ratchets up. We learn more about the dark secrets the girls are hiding, plus the asteroid as one of its own. I highly recommend this series. Warning: if you are one of those people who get all uppity about cliff-hanger endings, you have two choices: don't read the first book or buy the whole series at once. I'd recommend the second action.
August 17, 2015
Addictive book series by an up-and-coming author. Love the thrill ride! Great Sci-Fi series, would be really cool as a movie :) Love all of Mr. Rix's titles, and this one is no different. I couldn't read it fast enough, but once you get to the end...you don't want it to really end,...nooooo... I MUST know what happens next!!. Couldn't WAIT for book 3 Ash & Darkness!
July 27, 2015
This is the 2nd book in the "Translucent" series. I liked the first book & I LOVED this 2nd book! Things get crazy creepy. It was a very quick read for me as it was too good to put down. Can't wait for the next!
June 14, 2017
Amazing!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews