Supernaturally (Paranormalcy #2)

Kiersten White’s Paranormalcy series is completely unlike anything I’ve ever read before. It’s funny, light, cute, and surprisingly heartwarming. The pace is fast and the narrative voice is wholly engaging. Except for a few slight issues, this series is as close to perfection as I’ve seen in the paranormal genre, though I do admit that it has multiple glaring issues and zero literary value (I overlook those, though, based on overall impression).

So this book starts out with Evie, our main character, enjoying her “normal” high school life. Except her roomate is a vampire, her boyfriend is a shapeshifter, and she works partime at the local supernatural creatures’ watering hole. So not really all that normal.

And then all of a sudden in pops this really psychotic boy, Jack, who’s basically awesome. Jack is a human raised by faeries, and he’s pretty…weird. In the beginning stages of this novel, I was seriously laughing out loud every time he made an appearance, especially in the scene where Jack finds Evie in the locker room and compares her gym teacher to Aphrodite. Very funny stuff, and great comedic relief.

But of course, Evie’s personality is comedic relief in and of itself. And while I totally admit that she’s not the most three-dimensional of characters, she’s so funny and girly and sassy that I couldn’t care less.

All that humor was good, though, because Jack’s appearance sets off this whole wave of craziness that has to do with faeries and the prophecy about Evie and suchlike. And also some drama with Evie’s awesome boyfriend Lend, since Evie doesn’t think their relationship will work out due to the fact that he’s immortal and she has a very short lifespan.

Overall, Supernaturally’s plot was probably a bit more “serious” than Paranormalcy, and I didn’t really mind that, because it felt a lot more fitting, given the circumstances. And between the hilariousness that was Jack and the mushiness that was Evie/Lend, White seemed to find a really good balance in her narrative. The big reveal of the “mystery antagonist” was slightly disappointing, but it matched the rest of the book so I have no huge issues.

My only other complaints would be that at times the plot seemed a bit rushed—but I’m a fan of long books so that’s just me. And also that White doesn’t do her secondary characters as much justice as her primary. Raquel, for instance, is Evie’s second mother, but I can never tell if White wants the reader to like her or not. Not a lot of depth there.

Verdict: If you were a fan of Paranormalcy, you’ll most likely love Supernaturally. There’s definitely no sign of “second book sydrome” here, and Evie is just as funny and endearing as ever, and the plot is just as fast-paced and cute.

I was very happy that this was just as good as the first book! Sometimes sequels can let you down, but this isn’t one of them. It was just as awesome as the first.

This book is mainly focused around Evie and her awesome shape shifter of a boyfriend Lend. You learn more and more about not only Lend’s past, but who Evie is as a person. You get to find out what makes her be able to see through glamours.

The background for these characters is just…wow, and I mean wow. It’s the kind of thing that makes you go ‘how didn’t I think of that?’ once you read it.

In this story you also get a cool look into the fairy realm, and Evie and Reth’s relationship—both before they split up, and now. Along with the fairy realm, you also get a look at this little town that Evie and Lend are staying in—it’s a town full of creatures; it goes farther than just Vampires and shape shifters and into Nymphs and Gnomes. I know—I love gnomes too; who could hate a gnome?

If you loved the first book, there is no doubt you’ll love this. And if you didn’t love the first book… than I think you’d still really like this one. It met all my expectations and then some. I really need to get my hands on the third book!

Oh, Evie, how I missed you. She has such an awesome voice. She's not afraid to be herself, that is, her vampire butt-kicking, caring self. I love that she'll just sit down and have conversations with vampires and trolls instead of running the other way and screaming or automatically pulling out Tasey. For all Evie's awesomeness, though, she is quite insecure. That's a perfectly good flaw for a sixteen-almost-seventeen-year-old though! She's not running around being moody like most paranormal girls, she's genuinely worried people won't/don't like her. Sometimes I wanted to shake her and say "you are seriously awesome!" but I completely understand.

White has created such a fantastically unique paranormal world. I love learning about all the paranormal creatures from this new point of view and it's quite funny when some of the things just aren't quite as magical as I (or Evie) thought. I found Supernaturally to be a bit darker than Paranormalcy, but it's not a bad thing. It actually works completely since Evie is growing up and learning things she didn't know before, so we are as well.

I was sad that Lend and Evie were having relationship problems, especially since that seems to be what happens in every second book with a relationship. That being said, I thought this one completely worked. The problems were understandable and didn't feel like they were just brought out of thin air. I hurt for both Lend and Evie in all their problems together, but I really felt for Lend knowing what everything looked like from his POV. They're such a cute and cuddly couple that I just wanted to reach in and give them both a hug when they were fighting.

Jack was quite the interesting character. He just kind of popped out of nowhere and then snuck up on me. I was torn most of the time. On the one hand, I felt I shouldn't like him because he was causing Evie and Lend problems, but on the other hand, he was quite likable.

Final thoughts: This is a great followup to Paranormalcy. White creates such a refreshing paranormal world with a lead girl harboring a personality far more sparkly than any other I've encountered. If you love paranormal romance, but could go for a little less "damsel in distress" vibe, this is definitely your book.

Supernaturally definitely fulfilled expectations as a sequel to Paranormalcy. Like its predecessor, it is silly, funny and enjoyable. White does something that too few other paranormal romance teen authors are afraid or unwilling to do: laughs at the whole thing. She doesn't take all of the drama too seriously most of the time. Evie laughs at some conventions, but is laughable herself, as well, which I believe is intended.

The drama is still totally present, though, in the form of Evie deciding to endanger her healthy relationship in classic style by not telling the truth/keeping secrets from her true love. Oops. Let me give you all some love advice: be honest. People don't like being lied to, especially if they expect you to trust them. The fun of the novel outweighed this needless drama for me, thankfully.

A new character is added, in the form of Jack, a cherubic boy, a year or so younger than Evie. Jack can open gates and navigate the faerie paths, because he was kidnapped and raised by the fey. As you might have guessed, he's a little bit crazy. I am not a fan of Jack; he's just too strange to be likable. Even though I tend to want to ship an underdog character with the heroine (if only to subvert expectations), I just could not warm to this guy.

We get some more explanations of how the paranormals came about in this one, too, which is both cool and a bit confusing. For example, there was one creature created by a male fairy impregnating a human woman. Wouldn't there be more of these creatures around? This doesn't sound like a difficult thing to have happen. Do the fairies have trouble reproducing? (I wonder this same thing every time I read LOTR...haha)

I still recommend this series to people who like a humorous, light read. It's perfect for vacation, the beach or a break from heavy study materials. Also, I love that it looks like they may have used the same model on both covers. I hate when it's obviously the heroine on multiple covers in a series but she looks wildly different every time.

I loved this book!! I had recently read Paranormalcy and I found Kiersten White's humor, very entertaining. I have recently been looking at all her blog posts and vlogs, and you could hear her humor throughout the whole book.
The plot was interesting. She changed it up from Paranormalcy which was a good thing. The book kept me entertained throughout the whole story and kept me immersed in the story.
Okay, lets start with Evie. She's the same Evie as in Paranormalcy, but a little more scatter brained. With Raquel coming back into her life, and new paranormals around town, who all seem to be watching her, she's a little paranoid. Plus she has an annoying little pest bothering her the whole time and making things difficult with Lend. She's still obsessed with lockers though!! That made my day!!
Then there's Lend, he's not really around a whole lot. Though when he is around, he's usually jealous. He feels very protective of Evie and doesn't like the fact that she is working with Raquel again, and blowing off her friends to work. Plus the fact that the person who is moving her around to all the bag and tag's is a teenage boy around Evie's again who can show up wherever and whenever he wanted.
This menace I keep mentioning is named Jack. He is new to the agency and is a human who can open faerie doors! What?! I know! That's unheard of!!! He is a menace to society, or well Evie's life. He is a little scatter brained and tends to do whatever the heck he wants!! That makes Lend a little jealous!!
I loved this book!! Kiersten White's writing is amazingly amazing!! (Yes that is my thing!!) I give it 59 out of 59 Tacos!! Yes a 100% liking!! It is worth it to read the first book and then continue on to Supernaturally!!!
~~ Sam :)

Supernaturally was an incredible sequel to Paranormalcy. I fell in love with Evie's world in Paranormalcy and fell even more in love with it in Supernaturally.

Evie is the perfect female main character in a novel, because not only is she written so perfectly, she's so easy to relate to. All she wants is a normal life in the paranormal world she lives in, but as we all learned in Paranormalcy, Evie just can't find normal.

The romance in this novel is superb, giving just enough to satisfy, but not too much to overwhelm. Evie and Lend's relationship is that perfect, adorable relationship you kind of wish you had with your boyfriend. He's so sweet and caring and not to mention absolutely HOT.

I absolutely loved Supernaturally and couldn't get enough of it. I loved reading about all the different paranormals such as selkies, sylphs, kelpies, vampires, faeries etc. that Evie’s world has to offer and loved how everything was connected in Supernaturally. I missed Evie and all her butt-kicking glory and was happily absorbed into her world for a second time. If you loved the first novel, certainly go pick this one up, you won't be sorry. If you haven't read either novel, what are you waiting for!?

I definitely can't wait to read more of Evie's life and world in Endlessly.