Review: Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Monday, September 19, 2011


Book: Paranormalcy
Author: Kiersten White
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release date: August 31, 2010
Source: Borrowed ebook from library
Series: Paranormalcy #1

Summary: (from Goodreads) Weird as it is working for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, Evie’s always thought of herself as normal. Sure, her best friend is a mermaid, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she's falling for a shape-shifter, and she's the only person who can see through paranormals' glamours, but still. Normal.

Only now paranormals are dying, and Evie's dreams are filled with haunting voices and mysterious prophecies. She soon realizes that there may be a link between her abilities and the sudden rash of deaths. Not only that, but she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures.

So much for normal.

First impressions: I have to admit that with the number of people hoisting accolades upon Evie, I didn't want to like her. Or this book. Evie is like the super-popular girl at your new school that everyone says is so nice, but you don't believe them because anyone that popular, and pretty, and cool, cannot possibly also be nice.

But I can admit when I'm wrong. Evie is amazing.

Lasting impressions: The plot may be forgettable, but Evie and Reth and Lend are not. Or Lish. Or Raquel. Or David. Let's be real - the characters are what make this one.

Conflicting impressions: What happened in this book? I read it a week ago. This shouldn't be hard.

*thinks*

Hm. Evie wears pink boots? She meets a boy? A girl is on fire?

That's all I got.

Overall impressions: Despite the fact that my brain has turned to mush and I can't recall how this one ended (or, maybe, much of what happened in the middle), I do know that I liked it.

Evie is a force to be reckoned with, but not in the butt-kicking way you would normally associate with strong heroines. No, in Evie's case, it is entirely based around her strong personality. I dare you to read 5 sentences of this book and NOT be able to tell me everything about her. Trust me when I say that you know who she is immediately, and that is always a great thing.

Kiersten White's gift is writing strong characters. Each one of them, though colored by Evie's perceptions, is full and vibrant. In fact, even the ones that Evie likes (Reth) can still be so forceful that I can make independent judgments about them. (RETH.) This may be Evie's world, but we can still tell who is bad news. (Reth. RETH. RETH!!)

Ahem. So let's talk about Reth, shall we? It's not like I have strong feelings about him. Or feel the need to beat him to death with his own shoes.

Okay, I lied. I do have both of those things. I hate Reth, AND I want to beat him with his shoes. He is cocky, obnoxious, creepy, inconsiderate, rude, and a severe violator of Evie's freedoms and personal space. He carts her off to his house and traps her there, touches and kisses her when she doesn't want him to do so, and somehow the simple fact that he is an ex-boyfriend is supposed to make this okay? He's a fairy, which earns him negative bonus points, and I wish he was not in this book.

I hope I'm being clear as to how I feel.

Even with Grossy McStabintheeye, the book is still enjoyable. I'd rather have strong feelings about a book than no feelings at all. Evie is delightful, even with her tacky style (hot pink boots and zebra print, I'm looking at you), and I adored her main love interest, Lend. Their relationship moved at a snail's pace, which I thought made it that much more authentic. Throw in charming side characters and a unique setting, and this is one cute book.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Click the stars for a description of my rating system



Amazingly beautiful and painstakingly crafted signature courtesy of Small Review

9 comments:

Jess (Gone with the Words) said...

I agree that the characters make this series. I love Evie & Lend! And I (sorta) hate Reth, lol. He's a walking contradiction in book two. Great review, Logan! :D

Small Review said...

I love Reth! But not in the book boyfriend sense. NOooooo. He's BAD NEWS. I just think he's interesting to read about (and WHY couldn't Evie have tased him? Just once??)

Plus, he's a fairy and I love that you gave you negative bonus points for that because fairies = evil satan spawn. THEY ARE BAD


And I kinda love Evie's hot pink boots and zebra print dress (even if it is tacky as hell and screams 80s music video.)

Missie, The Unread Reader said...

Jeez. This Reth dude doesn't sounds appealing at all. Him aside, I'm glad to know there are other things to look forward to, pink boots to boot! LOL! :)

I'm a dork.

Amanda @ On a Book Bender said...

I'm glad you liked this book! I definitely think that you're right and the characters are written fantastically. :) I also realized that I don't remember a lot of what happens in the book, but I do remember Evie. Ha.

Jenny said...

"Even with Grossy McStabintheeye, the book is still enjoyable."

HAHAHAHAHA! I adore you Logan! Grossy McStabintheeye. *dies* Best name for a character ever, your review has completely made my day.

Steph (Poetry to Prose) said...

Bahaha, I'm with Small on this one; Reth is definitely a creeper, and it's awful how uncomfortable he makes Evie, but I thought he was intriguing. It's been a while since I read Paranormalcy, and I haven't read Supernaturally yet, but I do remember wanting to read more about him. WHAT CAN I SAY. :P

This was a fun book, but I agree that there's not a lot memorable about it except for the characters.

Great review!

Belle said...

Haha this review is awesome! I haven't read this book but the characters sound worth getting to know!

Smash Attack Ash said...

Dang. Another great review of this book! I've had this book for a while and I don't know why I haven't read it. Oh wait, yes I do...TOO MANY BOOKS!

Karen said...

Ha! Great review. I was surprised by how much I liked it too. It's original and fun.
I like Reth as a bad guy but I'm not sure why there is a Team Reth contingency out there....he's evil. And Fae - DOUBLE evil....lol Never trust the Fey.
I'll be interested to see what you think of Paranormalcy. I didn't enjoy it as much as Supernaturally.

Post a Comment

I love to hear from my readers, so please don't hesitate to comment. Good or bad, inspired reflection or spontaneous babble - I love them all!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
 
Blog Design by Use Your Imagination Designs all images from the Poet's Keepsakes kit by Lorie Davison
Related Posts with Thumbnails