Book Review-Transparent by Natalie Whipple

Title: Transparent

 Author: Natalie Whipple

Series:  N/A

Published:  16 May 2013 by Hot Key Books

Length: 352 pages

Source: publisher

Summary : High school is hard when you're invisible.
Fiona McClean hates her family, has had to move to a new school and seems to be completely invisible to the boy she likes. So far so normal, right? But Fiona really is invisible. She doesn't even know what colour her own hair is.
Born into a world where Cold War anti-radiation pills have caused genetic mutations, Fiona is forced to work for her mind-controlling mobster father as the world's most effective thief. When her father announces she must become a murdering assassin, Fiona and her telekinetic mother make a break for freedom. Running to a small Arizonian town, Fiona finds that playing at 'normal life' with a mother on the edge, a brother she can't trust, and a boy who drives her crazy is as impossible as escaping her father.

Review:Fiona has never seen herself. This is because in this world, people are born with differing abilities and Fiona’s is that she is invisible. Her father, a crime lord, orders her to use this for his own means, having her spy on people and steal things and such. One day, they decide they have had enough. Fiona  and her mother move to a small town, and for the first time ever, she goes to school. But then she gets sent to a tutor, a boy called Seth, whose mutation allows him to do something no-one else can. Hiding from her father on someone else’s turf, Fiona discovers how useful it is to be invisible.

 I first saw this on someone’s Waiting on Wednesday with the US cover which made it seem very urban, very contemporary and such. I then went to the Hot Key Books thing and the UK cover makes it seem so different, almost childish. In the end, I’d have covered it with a slight mixture of the two.

The idea of an invisible girl is very intriguing. It’s definitely original and I was excited to see what way it would be taken. It starts off quite quickly, and you easily get to understand the way Fiona’s life had worked for ages.

Fiona does what she can, after being used so much. She does make quick judgements about people, which can be quite wrong. My favourite character was Bea, the friend, who’s really really nice. The  broken family dynamic is clear, with Fiona and her mum sticking together and Fiona and her brother using random one time emails to communicate, while her other brother and her father are out to get them.

The world building is infodumped, explaining how the mutations came about fairly early on, and we get to know Fiona’s situation quite quickly too. I think it would be quite nice to have some more info about how the Radiasure pills did what they did.

The romance switches randomly. Seth’s a good match for Fiona and this is made clearer when he reveals his mutation.

The best  thing about the book is the opening, when you’re looking forwards to the world building and the learning about everything.

Overall: Strength 3 to a book that’s a little childish and annoying in places, totally different to what was promised, and a bit disappointing.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads | Author website |