Audiobook Review: Opposites by T.M. Smith

In the year 2081 our planet survived global warming of an apocalyptic scale. When the dust settled and the water receded Dr. Anthony Smith, one of only a few hundred survivors of GWI, started society anew. Having come to the conclusion that injudicious breeding played a huge role in the destruction of Earth as we knew it in the twenty first century, he worked closely with other survivors to isolate the Dionysus gene. This gene has the ability to manipulate human DNA to ensure that all male children be born gay, and all female children be born lesbians. A new society is born.

In the year 2300 Dr. Smith’s descendants are ushering in the twenty fourth century having maintained control of the government that still rules society. Twins Aiya and Aiyan are preparing to meet their matches and take control of House Gaeland, the current ruling House. But not everything is as it seems.

Love is Love.. it knows no gender and doesn’t conform to restrictions and boundaries. Aiyan has found his soul mate in Kaden, the prince of House Devi that he is matched with and eventually marries. But when the person Aiya falls in love with tests the boundaries put in place after GWI, all hell breaks loose. And in the midst of one secret unraveling, another will emerge. There is a growing anomaly that threatens to destroy over two hundred years of progression. This anomaly is known as Opposites.

*WARNING* Opposites is a majorly M/M New Adult novel that contains explicit sexual content and relationships between gay, lesbian and straight couples.

Listening Length: 6 hours and 16 minutes
Narrator: Greg Boudreaux

There is a lot going on in this story, and I felt it difficult to follow the sudden change in point of view between a lot of characters. While a scene played out, it switched to each character pov as the story moved around the scene. Almost like a movie panning to each character and then going inside their mind. It took a few chapters to get used to this type of story telling, and was a bit disconcerting. This follows eight characters during their visit to House Gaeland, so once the names of each character is familiar, it is easier to follow. It is not my preference in point of view in storytelling, but I made the effort to enjoy the story anyway.

This world, as described in the blurb, is a same-sex pairing world. Women and men procreate through contracts, and each family has four parents in two same sex pairings. As this was a character based story, and not a lot of worldbuilding outside of character relationships, there is a thorough culture built around the ideals of gay relationships within this high bred society, and why these relationships are considered the norm. I’m not too clear on whether the couples have to go through heavy screening in order to conceive, or whether the DNA is altered in any way.

The society works on a base level of Eugenics, and gene manipulation, which of course is problematic. Being royalty, there is no mention of how the general world deals with the way this society procreates, and whether money is involved in the process, so it was difficult to gauge how well this world worked in full.

The relationships were swift between a few people, and I found it very fluffy and mushy. Again, not my favourite thing to read/listen to. I like a build up, and while there was a decent amount of tension with the potential straight couple, Aiyan and Kaden seemed to have sex at every opportunity, and I didn’t find their relationship development strong enough.

Opposites - the title of the story is pretty indicative of the direction of main plot point. The couple who are Opposites have to sneak around, fear persecution, and feel abnormal. Generally I enjoyed the story and found it interesting for the role reversal of society. It just wasn’t complete. It’s an interesting perspective, if a bit black and white. I prefer more diversity in my stories as a general rule, and there was no mention of sexuality as a spectrum, but this is only the beginning of the series so this may change as the series progresses.

Greg Boudreaux is a pretty solid narrator, with a very pleasing cadence, and can do some decent accents. His performance in this audiobook is pretty great, but then he is one of my preferred narrators, so clearly I am bias.

While the story is set in a futuristic time period, it has a very medieval feel to it, with the royal Houses. It also felt quite isolated and there was barely any contact with the general population. Some more attention to the wider world details would have made the story richer.

Recommended for those who enjoy stories set in a futuristic setting with an old world feel to it. There is explicit content between MM, FF, and MF couples.

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