Review: Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

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

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