"I'm invisible. I can be whoever I want. Why in the world would I want to be myself?"
The back story of Transparent is actually more interesting than the book. This drug was developed that had a strange side effect on the children of those who took it: they developed powers. Now, the drug is an illegal substance, sold by illegal organizations to those hoping to strengthen their powers.
One unlucky benefactor of the powers is Fiona. She was born invisible, so nobody, not even her, knows what she looks like. Her father is the head of a large crime syndicate and uses her as a weapon. He has super-woman-attraction powers, which he uses to compel his many wives and daughters into doing his bidding. Fiona's mother ran away with her many times in the past. After she is assigned to kill a rival drug lord's young daughters, Fiona's mother tries again. After so many half-hearted attempts, Fiona doubts that they will be gone for long.
The pair flee to a small town in the rival's territory, predicting that her father would never look for them there. They actually buy a house, and Fiona even enrolls in school. Most of the kids treat her as a freak, but she ends up making friends with other kids with powers. For the first time, the invisible girl has an actual life.
Transparent was a pretty good story. It made me think of invisibility in a new light, like how Fiona couldn't shave her legs or underarms because she couldn't see them. (Now that I'm thinking about it, she probably had a unibrow as well.) She could seriously annoy me a lot, but I understand where she is coming from. Fiona was naturally suspicious of people, especially her mother and brother. Given what has happened to her in the past, I understand why. Basically, it had potential, but I thought it was just okay.
I received my copy of Transparent from Edelweiss, courtesy of HarperTeen. It's available for purchase now.
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