Saturday, June 8, 2013

Review: Transparent By: Natalie Whipple




Title: Transparent
Author: Natalie Whipple
Published: May 21st, 2013
Source: E- Galley from publisher
My Rating: 4  out of 5 stars
Goodreads Summary:

Plenty of teenagers feel invisible. Fiona McClean actually is.

An invisible girl is a priceless weapon. Fiona’s own father has been forcing her to do his dirty work for years—everything from spying on people to stealing cars to breaking into bank vaults.

After sixteen years, Fiona’s had enough. She and her mother flee to a small town, and for the first time in her life, Fiona feels like a normal life is within reach. But Fiona’s father isn’t giving up that easily.

Of course, he should know better than anyone: never underestimate an invisible girl.

My Thoughts:

Ok, so I have to say that I was hesitant to read this one only because I read a few mixed reviews on it but, I just had to see if I would enjoy this one myself. I really enjoyed Transparent, I am a big fan of the television show Heroes and this book definitely gave me the vibe of that show with the people with so many different powers although it was different in so many ways from the show. Natalie Whipple's debut was fun and interesting and I cannot wait to read more from her!

Fiona is an invisible girl in a family full of unique gifts, in the past people began taking a medication to prevent radiation from nuclear fallout, what they didn't know was that their children and their future children when be born with different abilities as a side effect of this medication. Still today, this medication is highly sought after because it enhances the abilities of anyone who takes it. Fiona's father is the leader of a syndicate, a crime family of sorts that wants to control this medication and wants to be the top family out there and he will stop at nothing to get there. Fiona, her two brothers, and her mother have been stuck under her father's thumb for as long as she can remember. Her father's ability is to be able to seduce and convince women to do anything he wants because he gives off a smell that entrances them. Everything finally changes for Fiona when her and her mother decide to finally run and leave her father for good. For Fiona's mom it's hard, she goes through withdraw whenever she leaves her father and they never seem to be able  to stay away for long but, this time they have the help of her two brother's Miles and Graham, to see that their new life in Madison,  Arizona sticks.

Fiona was a character that I really enjoyed reading, I really felt for her and as awesome as being invisible sounds like it could be, she wasn't just invisible to the world but, she was invisible to herself. She didn't know what her face looked like or what color her hair was and I couldn't imagine not knowing what you looked like and not being able to see herself in the mirror. Fiona began her new life in Madison with a great group of friends that made me smile and laugh throughout the book.  She was hesitant to become close to anyone and she couldn't believe that anyone would want to be friends with her at all, she always felt like they were only friends with her because of who her father was, that they were using her just like he did. 

Fiona's brothers were very important for her and her mom to stay away from their dad and they were both  completely different in so many ways. Her oldest brother, Graham could fly and he was her dad's right hand man. Fiona didn't trust him at all, each time him and his mother ran away he was always the one who brought them back . He definitely did give me the evil vibe and I could see why Fiona didn't trust him, he was mean and wanted to be in control of everything. He promised them he was helping them and going to keep them  away from him their father but, he didn't feel trustworthy at all. Her brother Miles on the other hand was by far my favorite character in the  book, he brought lightness and humor to the story and I looked forward to reading about him and I couldn't wait for more scenes where he was involved. Miles had an ability that made him worthless to his father, he could create and copy smells, which seems pointless but he has a huge role in the ending and his ability became a lot more useful than you would have expected.

The romance was a little bit iffy for me and I didn't completely believe it, Fiona is torn between two brothers who also have abilities. Fiona went back and forth between the two and she  couldn't even believe her own choice when she finally did choose, so how are we supposed to believe it ourselves when she didn't believe it either. 

Overall, I enjoyed Transparent although it wasn't without its faults and in the end I enjoyed the story with a few things that bothered me but as a debut I  enjoyed it and am definitely curious to see more writing from Whipple. 

Want some more thoughts on Transparent? Check out the links below!

5 comments:

  1. Great review. Thanks for the push to read it.

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  2. I liked Fiona and her story as well, great review Kristin

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  3. I was one of the people who gave this a mixed reviews-it just didn't spark for me although as I gain some distance from it, I feel more charitable.

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  4. I haven't read this one yet either because of all the mixed reviews. But I'm glad to see that you enjoyed it. Maybe I'll give it a try once I get caught up again. :)

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  5. Such a fun book. I could read it again and again. Definitely a keeper for the bookshelf. And all her books are good.

    Luzia
    Click Here

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