Friday, July 27, 2012

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White


I have been meaning to read this one for so long! I picked up an ARC of the sequel (Supernaturally) over a year ago at ALA New Orleans. And normally I wouldn’t pick up an ARC sequel when I haven’t even read book 1. I made an exception for this series because it sounded just too good! I have read so many good reviews for these books. And I know it will only be a matter of time before I go buy book 3 which just came out this week.
This was my plane book for my trip to the east coast. I almost finished the whole thing on the plane (it was that good), and probably read the last little bit on the beach! What a perfect beach book!
The books is all about Evie. She might only be a teenager, but she already has a full-time job neutralizing paranormals for the International Paranormal Containment Agency. Technically, she lives at the agency and has been brought up among vampires, werewolves, fairies, hags, and all sorts of monsters. Why is someone so young being used to help “neutralize” paranormals? Well, she’s the only person in the world known to be able to see through all supernatural glamour. For instance, instead of being super attracted to all the sexy vampires who hit on her, like most women would, Evie is actually repulsed be vampires because she sees past their gorgeous bodies; she actually sees their rotting corpses!
Evie is trained to fight. She knows how to use weapons and how to apply ankle trackers. She also has a tutor teach her normal high school type things (between all the vampire jobs and whatnot). The story really kicks off when a shape-shifter gets into the agency by pretending to be Raquel (Evie’s boss and almost adoptive mom). Evie can see who he really is, a teen boy, searching for answers. IPCA (International Paranormal Containment Agency) catches the teen boy/shape-shifter: Lend, and locks him up.
Is there a connection between Lend invading IPCA and all the random paranormals that are being found murdered? No one at IPCA seems able to get answers from Lend except for Evie. And between the evil fairy ex-boyfriend, the murder investigations, the regular jobs, some very creepy IPCA takeovers, a girl who Evie sees as being on fire, mermaid best friends, and fashion montage-type shopping trips, Evie begins to fall hard for Lend.
There’s romance, murder, fairy transports, gyms full of werewolves, disturbing dreams, a creepy prophecy, a pink/sparkly taser named Tasey, prom, and oh so much awesome! My favorite thing about it all would have to be Evie! She has so much attitude! She’s rather girly and definitely loves her pink, but she is also so strong! And she is so sassy! I love how she sticks up for herself. Even when no one believes her stories about fairies, she never just gives up. She does what she thinks is right and will give you lip if you think otherwise.
I loved the world-building! I loved IPCA. I loved Lend’s “normal” lifestyle. I loved how obsessed Evie was with typical teenage things like lockers and prom. The fairies were so creepy! The paranormal deaths were so sad. And there were even some dystopia type elements to the story that all involved Evie questioning everything she was ever taught and not knowing who to believe and who to stand by.
The only thing I wish this book did a better job of was the building of the other side characters. I was mixing up Evie’s boss and her mermaid best friend a lot in the beginning. And I kind of wish I got to know some of the vampires and werewolves she teams up with better. But, all in all, this book was nothing but utter fun! I loved it. It gets a 10/10 from me, and I’m so looking forward to the next two in this series.

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