09 November 2010

Paranormalcy: Kiersten White

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. - Goodreads



Okay, so I finally got around to posting my review :) I hope you enjoy! 



Before I begin, I want you all to look to the left of the page. See the cover? Now take a good, long look. Really take it in. *waits*. Now, tell me. You want the book don’t you? I know you’re interested… 


Anyway, moving on from the gorgeousness that is the Paranormalcy book cover, I just wanted to say that I loved reading this book. For starters, the plot was a great one. Evie is a unique paranormal hunter who can see past the paranormal creatures’ glamours. Meaning, they cannot disguise themselves from her. Of course, being as unique as Evie is, IPCA had to sweep in an employ her. IPCA is the International Paranormal Containment Agency, which hires both humans and paranormals to bag and tag rogue paranormals. There is a huge variety of creatures in this book, ranging from vampires to hags, and their mythology is explained very well, even though their kind is not among the main characters of the book. Everything seems to be running smoothly until there’s a break in in the IPCA headquarters, and then of course Evie has to get caught in the middle of the trouble with a certain shape shifter named Lend. 


There’s also a romantic subplot to this story which does not take over from the main storyline which I LOVE. I love that the focus is on the paranormal side of things rather than the main character’s love interest(s).


This leads me nicely onto talking about the characters. Evie, our main protagonist, is a good choice for the lead role of this novel. She is headstrong, brave, witty and sarcastic - which, for me, adds a lot to her character - but she is also girly and she has a big interest in the normal human world. She is not content with her life in IPCA and she wants to go to a normal high school like what is shown on her favourite TV show. She even is interested in the lockers!


Lend, the shape shifter Evie befriends, is a lovely character. I won’t say too much about him in case I spoil anything, he is witty and has some very sarcastic comebacks but he is very sweet and, at times, comes across as quite innocent. This just proves that you do not need a bad boy character to love a book. 


The faerie, Reth, on the other hand, is one creepy SOB and I did not like him at all. However, he was a good character to have as one of the antagonists. He is a character that you’ll love to hate. 


Kiersten White has made Paranormalcy a very interesting read. The writing flows well which makes the book very easy to read. The descriptions of the paranormal creatures and also of Evie’s job is excellent, and I really do love it. However, I did find that the descriptions were lacking at times, when talking about certain places in the book. This didn’t take much away from the book for me, because Evie’s voice and dialogue more than made up for it.


Overall, I loved this book and definitely think you should buy it! I'll leave links below :)



Rating: 4/5

You can buy Paranormalcy from Amazon UK, Amazon US and The Book Depository (which ships FREE worldwide).

8 comments:

  1. Great review! You made me want the book even more :) it sounds absolutely fab, I can't wit until I get my hands on it!

    Alice

    Www.thereaderroom.blogspot.com

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  2. Thank you, Alice! :D I'm glad you enjoyed it, and I hope it was worth the wait :)

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  3. Good review and discussion of the characters. I loved Paranormalcy. One of the best books of the year. Like you, I love Lend - I love how he was with the IPCA people but then sweet with his fam and Evie.

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  4. Great review! I definitely agree with the qualities you listed for Evie. I forgot about her and the lockers! Maybe we take our lockers for granted. I was unimpressed by mine. Though in high school, mine was in a great location!

    Another thing I liked about this book was how clean it was. Most YA books coming out kind of teeter the line, but I can say that this one was really clean!

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  5. Hi there!

    I just found your blog and wanted to stop by to say hi. :)

    As for Paranormalcy, I really loved it too. It was so unique and the tone was sarcastic and fun. I think it'll appeal to most everyone. Evie's voice was my favorite part of the whole book though. Do you read Kiersten White's blog? I did an interview with her and she talks the way she writes--so funny! :D

    Anyways, this is kind of long... Er, sorry about that.

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  6. Thank you everyone! :)

    Peep: I don't have lockers at my school! haha. But I still doubt I'd be as impressed as Evie was.

    Maggie: Hi! Thanks for stopping by :) I do read Kiersten's blog, I think she's hilarious! I agree, the writing would appeal to a whole range of people, which I love.
    And don't worry about the length of comments, I love reading them at any length. And mine usually take up the whole page anyway. Haha.

    Thanks again!

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  7. Hi Amber!

    I really liked this book too, but I have to say that I really liked Reth! Maybe that's just because I'm a sucker for bad boys, but I just loved how creepy he was! I'm looking forward to the next book in the series, will you be reviewing that too?

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  8. Lauren! *waves*

    Of course I will be reviewing Supernaturally :D I haven't read it yet, but I am determined to get to it soon. It'll take a while though, seeing as I'm going on a book buying ban again.

    Ew, Reth. Just thinking about him creeps me out.

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