Nikki from Fiction Freak Guest Reviews Transparent by Natalie Whipple
I’m SO excited to have Nikki from Fiction Freak over at the blog today. We’ve had her on here in the past. I absolutely adore this girl. I hope you all love her review of Transparent by Natalie Whipple. And I’m SURE that she will kill me when she learns that I have not read this book *bows head in shame.*
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.
Nikki’s Review
Well well well, Transparent. I really didn’t expect…you.
So going straight into the review, I had a few issues with Fiona. She seemed a bit cynical and paranoid, but that’s understandable considering her background. While I do feel like her character wasn’t as developed as I’d hoped, she did grow on me throughout the book and I came to love her. She’s on the run from the only life she’s known and that made my heart hurt a little, every time she flinched away because of how she’d grown up. But she stayed strong and wouldn’t really let anything get to her.
Our side characters, though, were pretty awesome. Bea was an amazing best friend and I loved how she was always there for Fiona-she’s definitely someone you want to have behind your back! Seth and Brady were complete opposites, but I adored them in their own way. Of course Brady, with his sweet personality and his protectiveness was cute, but I’ve always been a fan of love/hate relationships, so I was almost immediately a fan of Seth! I will admit, Seth sometimes went a little overboard with his jokes/insults, but he had Fiona’s best interests at heart and he was definitely a hilarious character.
The plot was definitely amazing too! While Transparent has the feel of a light read to it, the plot is anything but. It’s a thrilling chase that had me on edge the entire read, wondering what would happen next. While a few things were predictable, there were still a number of twists I didn’t expect! Natalie Whipple cleverly uses her characters’ powers to enhance the plot and make it unique and completely surprising.
The romance was a bit iffy for me-though I did love who she ended up with, the romance between them seemed a bit rushed and sudden. Epiphany!
There was a huge crush going on, and suddenly she’s in love with another guy? It seemed weird to me, but their relationship was just
so cute and adorable and fun and and and…well, I loved it! So of course I let it go. The way they acted around each other made me squeal so many times, and seeing how much they cared for each other just…well, it’s a pretty perfect romance.
Transparent’s world was unique to say the least! The way that all these powers evolved were new and seeing what kind of powers each of these kids had was super fun and I loved seeing how they would contribute to the story! At first, I was a bit confused, since I had no idea that the whole world had supernatural traits, but it really did make the book stand out more!
Natalie Whipple’s debut is really the perfect book for anyone looking for a light read with a splash of thrilling mixed in! It feels like a fluffy read at times, but the plot twists and on-the-chase storyline keeps you in your seat, pushing for more. (It doesn’t hurt that the cover is pretty kickass too!)
Pages: 350
Publication Date: May 21st, 2013
Publisher: Harper Teen
Rating: : 
