TRANSPARENT by Natalie Whipple

Transparent
Natalie Whipple

Rating: D
Release Date: 05/21/13
Synopsis:
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 on the book:
Transparent is not what I expected. For some reason, through no fault of the author, I thought that Fiona could turn invisible, but wasn't invisible all the time. Therefore, when I realized my mistake, I couldn't get into this book. Don't get me wrong, Whipple's writing is fine, the concept is interesting, and the plot is full of suspense, but I just could not wrap my head around a character being invisible constantly. Because I couldn't willingly suspend my disbelief, I was unable to enjoy this book. 

Fiona is a well-created character, and I wanted her to succeed. However, because of the whole invisibility thing, I never could fully connect to her. I know she can't help being invisible and all of that, but I just couldn't  relate to her at all. I felt very disconnected from both her and her mother. I vacillated between having sympathy for her mom and wanting to smack her because she's so weak sometimes. On many occasions, Fiona is much more grown-up than her mother. Her father is truly a terrifying and evil bad guy. He's complex but awful. 

The plot is full of action, suspense, and intrigue. As I stated, the concept is extremely unique. The people who can get past the invisibility thing will adore this book. The pacing is spot on, and even though I couldn't get fully into it due to the aforementioned reasons, the plot kept me reading. Whipple does an excellent job at creating a one-of-a-kind, albeit (in my opinion) unbelievable world. The rules of this world are expertly woven within the prose - there are no info dumps in this narrative. The writing is top notch, and the ending will leave you begging for more. 

Overall, I would recommend this book to people who can accept the idea of someone who is completely invisible constantly. If you can accept that, then you will enjoy this novel immensely. For those of you who, like me, can't wrap your head around the idea, I'd say skip it. 

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