Paranormalcy (Paranormalcy #1)

You know those books that you can’t put down? This was absolutely one of them! I staid up until three in the morning because I couldn’t bring myself to put this thing down.

So the main character Evie works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency (or IPCA for short) because she can see through glamours. She works around a lot of different creatures, and knows how to handle them all. And by a lot of different types, I do mean a lot—vampires, werewolves, fairies, even a mermaid (who happens to be one of my favorite characters ever!)

There’s a lot of different things going on with this plot—from a boy who they can’t figure out what his species it, to a lot of other things happening that I can’t give away without spoiling some pretty big plot events…well let’s just say that they’re all awesomely written. They all play off each other, and are paced beautifully.

Evie is a spectacular character—her back story is nice, her opinion of the IPCA is very logical, and she’s just… fun. She’s the kind of person you’d like to hand out with. And she carries a bedazzled taser—bonus!

I would highly recommend this story to anyone who likes the Paranormal genre, because it’s so well written with so many different types of characters without it feeling cluttered. It’s a wonderful story, no matter how you spin it.

I really loved this book. It was such a change from your typical paranormal romance. I've been finding it hard to sit down and give my full attention to a book lately, but this totally drew me in from the beginning. I found Evie's character to be such a wonderful change of pace. Instead of a mopey teenager, this girl actually had normal teenage girl interests. I mean, how many paranormal girls love pink and zebra print these days?

The love interest wasn't dark and brooding but, instead, had a sense of humor and acted as a teenager normally does when approaching romance. I don't want to delve too far into that and ruin it for anyone though. Let's suffice it to say he's the type of guy we'd all want to date instead of ride around on the back of a motorcycle with.

In short, this book was like a tall glass of ice water in the middle of the desert that is paranormal romance. Don't get me wrong - I love paranormal romance books, but this one set a new standard by blazing its own trail.

Sidenote: Every time the book said "communicator" I couldn't help thinking "Kimmunicator" from Kim Possible

Anyone who has met me in real life probably thinks I'm fairly sane. That is until they really get to know me and learn about my obsession with a little show called Buffy The Vampire Slayer. The extent of my love for this show goes far beyond casual viewership and into the "dangerously crazed" category of fandom. So much so that I injured myself on more than one occasion when I was in grade school trying to do kickboxing in my room (i'm not very coordinated). I have spent countless hours lamenting the fact that I will never be The Chosen One and that I don't get cool weapons (or athleticism for that matter). Buffy ended awhile ago but I still tend to compare most paranormal-esque things to it. I picked up Paranormalcy expecting a pretty good read based on the reviews I had read, but I was shocked by the amount of awesome in this book! It was spooky, quirky and funny. So why the Buffy intro to this post? I'll tell you, Evie's witticisms and attitude remind me so much of Buffy! I think that's why I loved this book so much. By page 3 I was thinking "why isn't this a show on the CW yet?!". I am in love with this book! Let me give you an example of why I fell for this read:

“Tasers are a one-size-fits-all paranormal butt-kicking option. Mine’s pink withrhinestones.” - Evie, Paranormalcy

Yes, ladies and gents, that's correct, she has a pink, bedazzled taser. Oh, how I want one. And in case you are wondering, yes, they do in fact exist (naturally I looked this up immediately). There is actually quite a selection of pink tasers. I happen to think the Hello Kitty one is pretty sweet.



Anyway, adorable anti-rape devices aside, this story had lots of things going for it. First of all there is Evie. I've already told you how I love her spunk, but she also has real depth and vulnerability without getting all weepy every time she breaks a nail. She is strong and capable while still being feminine. All of the characters that White creates here are realistic (strangely enough) and their motives are relateable. This includes the bad guys and even the background characters. I also really enjoyed Lend. He is a paranormal who is captured while breaking in to the agency where Evie works. He can change into almost any person and only Evie can see his real face. Of course they grow to love each other but this is not a case of insta-love. They form a friendship first and out of that loyalty and admiration comes love. This is always admirable in YA literature where the model for successful book says that the girl needs to instantly fall in love with the brooding male lead. That's another thing! Lend doesn't brood! He is funny and charming and just a little awkward. Yes! I don't know about you but Lend is just my type. The two of them together are hilarious and entirely believable. The third character I want to get into is the villain. I won't get into too much detail because, for the most part, this character isn't revealed until about half way through the book, but I will tell you that White does an excellent job of making sure that we understand the villain and even feel sympathy for their plight.

Another thing I like about this story was that it wasn't one-sided. I didn't feel like one person or organization was all bad or all good. This is something that Evie comes to realize as well as the book goes on. I think this is an important theme for a YA book. I know that as a teenager it was easy for me to feel like the people who didn't always treat me well, or who didn't agree with me were awful people who were just plain wrong, all the time, about everything. But that's not real life. In reality we all have our moments of good and bad and White illustrates this with not only the monsters in her book, but the humans as well.

As far as negatives go I really wasn't able to think of anything I would have changed about the story. It just worked for me. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for something both spook and heartfelt with a lot of snark. Giles would be proud.


Make sure to check out my blog for more reviews!
catiesmoviesinmyhead.blogspot.com

Right now I'm kicking myself for waiting so long to read to this book. I've had it in my "To Read" stack for 6 months and I'm really mad I left it there so long. This book was wonderful. Very rarely do I find a book that can make me (both) laugh and cry; but, this was one of those pieces of work.

Kiersten White is wonderful at making you understand the true emotions that her characters feel. The love that Evie feels for Lish (her best friend who is also a mermaid), the loathing she feels for Reth (a faerie that seems to stalk her), and the confusion that Lend (an unknown paranormal creature who can steal the appearance of others), brings into her life. Plus, I admire any author that can bring a young adult book to life without any cursing. Instead you get Lish's hilarious monotone voice "bleep"ing.

If you're looking for a book to read to in small intervals, this is NOT the book for you. This book sucks you in and leaves you wanting more.

What made me keep turning the page?
Evie’s wit and sense of humor
Discovering all the different paranormals
The mystery that surrounds Evie and what she is
Discovering what the prophecy means
Lend and his wonderfulness

Any complaints?
Nope!

Recommendation:
Fans of YA paranormal romance

Final Thoughts…
Paranormalcy was just a fun enjoyable read. I loved Evie and her innocence combined with her quirky sense of humor. There was just enough mystery, action, and romance to make me want to know what was going to happen next. I will definitely be picking up Supernaturally (the 2nd book) sometime soon!

Reader reviewed by Epic Book Nerd

Reader reviewed by Courtney

Reader reviewed by Meghan

Reader reviewed by Courtney Rae

Paranormalcy by
Kiersten White is everything we all expected it to be. I knew I would
love it from all that I had heard about it, but never did I realize how
much I would LOVE it! Does that make any sense to you? No probably not.
My mind is going a million miles per hour trying to put together
complete sentences about how amazing this book is. Okay. Breathe,
Courtney. *deep breath*



Alright, I think I'm good to go on, now.



[The best way to describe this book is like this: (A tweet I sent to @NovelistLauren) A teen girl, Evie, works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency. She thought she was normal, but she isn't. Throw in a faerie prophecy and a hot shape shifter. Stir it together with some trouble... And you have the awesomeness that is Paranormalcy! :) ]







The storyline is different. It holds its own in this vast sea of copy cat books. 

The
writing flows. You are constantly moving from one scene to another. No
where, do I believe, you were stuck thinking "When is this going to
end!?" Which wins a lot of awesome points in my book. If there isn't
rhythm in a story, I quickly lose interest. That was not the case here. 

You
follow Evie. A teen who helps bag and tag paranorms for IPCA. Now, why
would she be doing that job? Well, Evie can see through a paranormal's
glamour. She can pick out vampires, faeries, hags just by looking at
them. Major asset to the Agency. But why does she have this ability?



The
characters keep you on your toes. Evie is fun and lively, but she is
contained to this one place and is getting to be antsy. She starts to
question why she is there when someone new enters IPCA. There is a
shapeshifter, he is hot, and he is turning around Evies life. Lend. His
background intrigues me. I loved learning about him and hope we can
learn more in the sequel.

There is a faerie vying for Evies heart, too. Reth. But don't let his beautiful face deceive you. I'm just saying.

My
favorite character of all, is Evies best friend, Lish, who is a
mermaid. She is a great friend to Evie. And she cusses by saying
"BLEEP". 



The
ending throws you for a loop. A very good loop! I saw it coming, I had
an idea being conjured up by my imagination. But the real thing beats
out what I thought by miles!



If you love paranormals. If you love young love. If you love kick ass teen girls with pink tasers. READ THIS BOOK!  

Reader reviewed by Khadija









Teaser: Evies always thought of herself as a normal teenager, even though she works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, shes falling for a shape-shifter, and shes the only person who can see through paranormals glamours.

But Evies about to realize that she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures.

So much for normal.

My Review: Paranormalcy is a debut novel by Kiersten White that will be released August of this year. I got this book for review from a blog tour.


This was one of my four most anticipated releases this year, the other three being Nightshade by Andrea Cremer , The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff and The Thirteenth Chime by Emma Michaels. So I was obviously very excited to read and review this book.

OK so let me just start by saying that in all the time Ive been waiting for my chance to read this book (and Ive been waiting a while now), I was not at all disappointed.

While reading this I finally felt like Id found an author who knew a bleep about fairies. All of the mythology and legend references were well bleepin awesome.

I think the greatest thing about this book, is everyone is so different. Sure people can act normal, think they are but are they really? There is something extraordinary in everyone you just have to scratch the surface and see past the glamours.

The characters where the kind you just about instantly fall in love with and then puzzle over, who are complex yet easy to relate to.

Evie was obsessively addicting. In fact I was able to see past her minor pink obsession. Im proud to say it didnt annoy me even a little, though it did make me laugh quite a bit.

And Im going to say this now, Lish is my favorite character, ya just gotta love a gal who can rock the scales =)

And although I am a big fan of the fang I really loved how Kiersten shows vampires as a bit overrated instead of over-glamorized.

This was a 9.5 on the 10 point scale of make me clap, grin, and go into a fit of giggly hysterics.

This goes out to all my fellow paranormal lovers when I say You really need to read this book!

The book was even more awesome then the dress =) no I will not elaborate youll just have to wait and see.

You can pre-order Paranormalcy on Amazon

And if you want to learn even more about Paranormalcy and the author check out Kierten Whites website