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3.7

This was decent. I really liked this book, but I can't pinpoint what exactly made me like it, so I'm giving it as close to four stars as I can without giving it four stars.

The explanation for the world is pretty good, it made enough sense to satisfy me and support the world.

The premise is sort of cliche. Mutant/superpowered people are all obviously either criminals of crimefighters. But I like that sort of premise, so it's cool.

The characters: Fiona was a decent character. Not the best I've ever read, not the worst.

I'm going to liken this book to Mind Games, which I read earlier the week. The writing style was similar and so were the characters of Annie and Fiona. Sort of. Let me explain. Annie from Mind Games is blind. So we weren't getting tons of physical description from her. Fiona from Transparent is invisible. So there's not much physical description available on her.

Anyways, back to talking about Fiona as a character. from her point of view, there were TONS of telegraphic descriptions going on. Rolling her eyes, squinting, pouting, smiling. All normal sorts of things, right? Well, early on in the book, Fiona pointed out that it was hard for people to understand her inflections when she was talking because they didn't have any visual, facial cues to go off of. So every time she rolled her eyes and smiled or scowled, I wondered why. Not why she was doing, but why it was necessary for that to be narrated.

It was obvious to me quite early on that Seth would be the love interest rather than Brady, but it was cool because I liked Seth better anyway. Also, I so did not see that twist with him. (See what I did there? with the see?) (Also, how is that power any sort of useful?)

Then we have Fiona's brothers, Miles and Graham. I believe I have made my views on brothers in fiction fairly obvious. My Brothers in real life are very important to me. After my own survival and happiness, they are the MOST IMPORTANT to me, and I'd like to think the reverse is also true. So I wasn't a big fan of Graham, though I loved Miles.
And, towards the end, when Graham explained himself I forgave him a little bit. Though he really should have explained himself sooner. if he had, than Fiona wouldn't have had such a huge problem.

Again, I stress communication. Most writers seem to think Teenagers are incapable of it. I believe you can have a plot in YA not spurred on by a total lack of communication between the protag those around her/him.
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I enjoyed this story well enough to listen to it in one day, despite the complete improbability of a person's body (and bodily fluids) being entirely invisible. But I was actually kind of disappointed near the end, when I realized that the story was basically a variation on the theme of a teenager falling in love with someone because that person can "see" who they "really" are.

Yes, it's sweet that Seth is into Fiona even though he can "see" her as she really is, without any of the trappings of appearance she would've bothered with if she had been visible (like shaving her armpits or covering pimples with makeup). But the fact that she's apparently "smoking hot" kind of mitigates the sweetness a bit. Plus there's the fact that there are so many MORE interesting things that could happen to a person who is entirely transparent. But maybe that's to come in a followup novel.

I don't yet know how interested I'd be in a second installment. It depends on how long the story of the first novel sticks with me. ( )

I really enjoyed this book, like complete awesome read. Once I started I didn’t want to stop. I wanted to keep going… I wanted all my questions that was stirring in my head to be answered and I couldn’t sleep til I got those answers. With the sleep thing: having a 5-year-old, and an infant the sleep thing means a lot, haha!
Fiona’s honesty was so blunt, and her dry humor reminded me a lot of my mother, haha! She was definitely a likely character in this book. I loved watching her character grow as the book went deeper into the storyline. Fiona has never seen herself due to being born with differing ability of invisibility. People could see her clothes, but not her body. I thought that was different from other “invisibility” characters from what I have read before.
I loved how Fiona got to meet people her age, and got to see how her transformation started to take place. All the characters in this book were so great, and I can’t imagine how they will develop more into the series, but I will definitely have to keep my eyes open for the next book. ( )

Originally Reviewed At:Mother/Gamer/Writer
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Controllers
Review Source: Audiobook purchase
Reviewer: Me

From the moment the audio began I was HOOKED on Transparent. The world Whipple crafted from Fiona’s mobster family to the strange and curious abilities of its people left me in awe on this wonderful mystery set in a modern day Metropolis. Pitched as a YA smashup of The Godfather and X-Men, Transparent is captivating, original, and almost received 5 Controllers from me – the epic science fiction nerd. However, as the plot progressed there were several things that started to go awry.


Fiona is an invisible girl raised with a ruthless womanizing father who controls every aspect of her life. Born into a life of crime, all she’s ever known is what she was told. Heck the poor girl doesn’t even know what her own facial features look like or the color of her hair. She’s cynical and snarky and only wants to please her father. Radiasure, a drug issued after the Cold War had unforeseen effects on the population and gave some people superhuman abilities. As the author intended, you immediately are intrigued by the sympathetic Fiona and the world she inhabits. Wanting to know why some people have silly powers and others have powerful abilities that makes them targets. In the beginning I loved learning about her, the mother who could never leave her father, and the two brothers who are on opposite ends of the crime family spectrum. However, after the turning point in Fiona’s life and she’s thrust into a new city by a mother who is trying to redeem herself, Fiona slowly began to change.


Once in her new setting, Fiona starts to become very self-centered. Maybe it’s because she’s never been around “normal” kids her age or tried to attend a real school, but I just found some of the things she said to be off. One minute she’s running for her life and extra-suspicious of everyone she comes in contact with, and the next she is day dreaming about a certain boy and worried about if she’s shaved. Her thoughts were a little all over the place for me and I just wanted her to focus. She is also bitter – which I kind of liked in the beginning but then once she started to become “too nice” I didn’t enjoy her anymore. Yes, I know she was probably supposed to be unlikable in the beginning so her character could grow/develop over the course of the novel. However, I’m not entirely sure that happened. Instead of growing to accept herself I think she became paranoid about little things and too concerned with other people’s opinions. At one point there was a big reveal that someone (I won’t say who) could see her. And Fiona literally freaked out. Now to me, I think if I was invisible and someone could finally see me I would be thrilled. Yes, it would make you feel exposed but it should also make you feel special and excited. Maybe my perception is wrong, but I just feel that her reactions to certain situations were odd.


Overall, I don’t actually dislike Transparent and as I said earlier I loved it in the beginning. The ending was not too shabby and I really enjoyed the villain even though I wish we’d gotten to see more of him. The middle of the book lacked some character development and seemed to just jump from one plot point to the next without any substance in between. If you like Dystopian’s with a hint of mystery and mobsters, then definitely check out Transparent. ( )