Kiersten White

Paranormalcy

Monicap

This book was actually pretty dang good.
Okay, so the main character, Evie, is pretty shallow. You know, just the things she thinks about. But most of that was the way she was raised. Also, I think it's party like she's using shallowness as a defense mechanism, because she doesn't know where she came form, who her parents are, and she's pretty much alone in the world. If her character was deeper, she'd have to FEEL that, and it would be so much BIGGER. 
(I have used shallowness as a defense mechanism before, so I kind of know what I'm talking about.)

Now, lets get to all the things that make this book awesome.

1. Evie has a bedazzled, pink, Taser. Yes, you heard me correctly. It's name is Tasey.

2. Evie's best friend is a Mermaid. A different kind of mermaid.

3. Reth. GRRRR. I usually like Faeries, but this one is an absolute jerk-face. (view spoiler)[Even so, I never thought he was Unseelie. I was, in fact, pretty certain he was Seelie. (hide spoiler)]

4. LEND!!!!!!

Okay, so this book begins with us meeting Evie and being intorduced to her world. almost immediately, we start the action when Lend gets captured. Plot twists and secrets galore, evil person who goes around killing paranormals, and creepy faerie stalker ex-boyfriend, and it's a pretty cool book.
I can not wait to get a hold of the next one (which i have on hold from the library).

Note: I did consider buying this book when it first came out. it sounded really interesting. the reason I didn't was the cover. I don't like it.
Well, that's not exactly true. I DO like the cover, I like the movement, the color scheme, and everything. but her face ruins it. I mean, what is that expression? Dead fish?
If her face had some sort of emotion on it, i would probably think that this cover was amazing. 
Ah, well.

Sarah Sammis

Evie is a teen who both works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency and is in a weird way a ward of the IPCA. She can see through paranormal glamours and that gives her an advantage but she still sees herself as normal. A recent set of deaths among the paranormals, though, forces Evie to rethink her place in life.

I can't remember who recommended Paranormalcy by Kiersten White to me but I resisted for a long time. I was put off by the pretty girl in the flowing dress on the cover. Turns out the cover has nothing to do with the plot. Evie is a strong, modern and independent teen. She is probably less girly than Buffy and she's not wasting her time with love triangles.

My favorite part of the book was how clearly White outlined the rules of dealing with Faeries. While the IPAC thinks they have everything sorted out and can safely take advantage of Faerie powers, Evie knows otherwise. Her wariness makes her interesting and helps build suspense as she is forced from time to time to work with Faeries.

The plot itself is a good mix of mystery and fantasy. The mystery part of it had me guessing in some parts. The fantasy was blended well with the contemporary elements to not be jarring or tacked on.

I have the second book, Supernaturally on my wishlist. There's also a third book, Endlessly which came out this year.

Barbara Kovács

This book is the awesomeness!
When I started to read this, I could not put it down. You know, the feeling, when you're sleepy, but you rather read. 
I really enjoyed everything about this book.
I liked Evie, and I'm a bit jealous..she has Lend.
Oh yeah, I fell in love with Lend.
When I read the romantic things, I felt everything like Evie. It was like, I was Evie.
This is one good thing about books, and reading: it doesn't matter how lonely are you, books, and fictional love stories are always there for you.
And it's the reason, why am I Going to re-read Paranormalcy.

Tameka Young

Engaging and delightful debut! I absolutely loved this book, and I'm usually not that into paranormal. I loved the main character Evie's voice and her irrepressible humor despite everything she was going through. Definitely a great start to what will be an awesome series.

Alexandra Mellas

Could White have made her main character, Evie, anymore pink and sparkly in her new paranormal novel for YAs, Paranormalcy? For a girl separated from other teens, brought up surrounded by vampires, mermaids and other scary supernatural critters, she is the stereotype of a teenage girl. If she were a comic character her speech bubbles would be pink and glittery.

What I Liked: White produced an interesting view of paranormal creatures and methods for their containment. For example, Vampires are tagged with a leg tracker that will dose them with a lethal amount of holy water if they feast on human blood.
The International Paranormal Containment Agency is the ruthless guiding hand of the world's paranormals, determined to keep them under control by any means necessary.

What I Didn't Like: Evie was Vampire Hunter Barbie. The girl took down a vampire (cool, right?) with a pink rhinestone covered taser. Shouldn't there be some kind of OH&S rule about impairing the quality of your weapon? You know, maintain the dignity and usability of your weapon?
Her taser - cleverly and creatively named Tasie - is the perfect example of her creepy Barbie ways (what with matching her knee high high heeled boots and zebra print dress...)
But mostly the problem with Evie is a a problem that thrives in YA literature. A few morons once said, "OMG, like, OMG, seriously?" a few too many times and have tainted an entire generation. I'm not sure if its an American thing but I've been there, I have friends who live there and no one seemed to be a completely hollow headed moron with a speech impediment.
So here's a call out to all YA authors, please stop portraying all teenagers as mindless chimps in pink pumps.

#RantOver

Read More: http://raidingbookshelves.blogspot.co...

ashley hopkins

I'm totally loving this right now. I like Lends Character.
I'll put up a full review later tonight

Olivera Mitić

Huh...

 

*sigh*

Paranormalcy, where should I even start? You were everything I needed after such a stressful week at school, and yet again, you were another YA paranormal that let me down. 

People say it's the humor that does it for them in this book and I came to the conclusion that I am a creature that doesn't understand where the 'lol' factor went. I suppose it was because of the translation, but the highest I got was a small chuckle. 

 The Characters 

Evie was an okay narrator. In the beginning of this novel she was just a nice and refreshing protagonist that you don't encounter all the time. But then again, somewhere from the middle I had the feeling like she lost that 'refreshing' part of her personality. I understand that that came from (view spoiler)[ the loss of the life she used to have AND the death of her best friend, but on the other hand in some parts I didn't feel like the loss bothered her at all. Since the moment she turned into a real teen, Lish's death didn't look important anymore (hide spoiler)]. It bothered me way too much, because that isn't how you react after something like that happens. There wasn't any emotional depth in Evie, and this is the reason that I took 1 star off the rating. Plus she was a Mary Sue which annoyed me waaaay more than it should have.

Lend was your typical cute, paranormal love interest every book like this should have. He was sweet, he was kind, he was there for you, he holds your hand and you talk and you forget the fact that you (view spoiler)[ hit him with your taser... (hide spoiler)]. I liked him a whole lot. Not gonna lie. 

I won't talk about the other characters too much because I really didn't care about them a lot. Reth was really...an asshole #sorrynotsorry. Vivian was just sad if you ask me (and I suppose you do because you are reading about my thoughts about this novel). She was a big stereotype. 

 The Romance 

NO INSTA LOVE! PRAISE THE LORD! 

 The Plot  

It wasn't too predictable, but I didn't feel the story after I got over 50%. I liked the light-hearted first half of the story so much more. One more star less because of this. Bonus points for no cliffhanger. 

I had big expectations because of all the positive reviews this book had and I am honestly feeling so bad that I didn't like it as much as I thought I am going to.
I suppose I will continue with the series, but that won't be soon. 
That's it.
Bye guys!

Dina

I liked it, but not enough to give it more than 3 stars.

There are many different "paranormals", so unless you're okay with a book with vampires, werewolves, mermaids, faeries, soul sucking people and other weird "beings", then this is not the book for you.

I think the story developed well, but I guess I kind of expected more of it.

I found myself wanting to slap the main character at times, but her obsession with that teen show and her eagerness to know what it feels like to be "normal" was kinda cute.

Lend was a nice character as well. I can't decide on my feelings about Reth, though.

Anyway, I decided I probably won't continue reading this series, even though part of me feels curious about whatever happens next, but I think it's best if I just stop here.

Tijana Kovac

This a great book! It was very mysterious to begin with,which can get annoying at times, because you're just like oh my gosh I want to know what the devil is going on here all ready! But everything comes together quite nicely and it makes the book more addictive. I can't wait to see what Kiersten has in store for Evie in Supernaturally!

Simona Andrijauskiene

One thing that hold me back from 5 stars was pink color.. Who read that book should understand me. Blond girl and lots of pink color sounds like from a bad comedy :)

Danielle H.

I'm going to start off by saying this book was fantastic! Much better than I ever dreamed it would be, and I have been beating myself up wondering why I waited so long to read it. 

The characters, Evie espeicially, were quirky, unique and lovable though I cannot understand her extreme obsession with the color pink :/ Evie's voice was funny, sassy, and endearing. Lend was absolutely one of the greatest boyfriends in the world. He was an incredibly original character (thank you Kiersten White for not making him a vampire or something cliche!). I was suspicious of Reth throughout the whole book, but my favorite character was Lish. I was so crushed at the end. I loved hher relationship with Evie; how Evie would rehash episodes of Easton Heights for her, and how Lish couldn't curse and when she tried too, all that would come out was "Bleep". It definitely made the story more entertaining whenever Evie picked up on Lish's habit.

This book was unlike any other YA novel I have come across yet. It had me hooked from page one with this quote:
I sighed. I hated vamp jobs. They think they're so suave. It's not enough for them to slaughter and eat you like a zombie would. No, they want it to be all sexy, too. And, trust me: vampires? Not. Sexy. I mean, sure, their glamours can be pretty hot, but the dry-as-bone corpse bodies shimmering underneath? Nothing attractive there. Not that anyone else can see them though.
What it was about this line that caught my attention is still a mystery to me. Perhaps it was the fact that I'm quite tired of vampires even though I do like them. Or maybe it was the little shimmering jab which automatically makes my brain think Twilight. But regardless, I was hooked by that first page and I never expected to be thrown on this wild ride of Evie's.

The plot was highly orginal, and throughout the book, th echaracters never lost appeal to me. Evie remained sassy and bad-ass, and Lend just adorably sweet (more so in the next book). I liked how series doesn't just revolve around one sole paranormal species. It's full of pretty much anything paranormal creature you've ever heard of, and even some you haven't. 

Paranormalcy was a captivating first installment to a great series and I could not wait to read the second book once I finally finished. Since writing this review, I have fiished the second book so I will be putting up a review for that one soon as well. Now I' am dying for the third book!

Samantha Seney

SO freaking good can't wait for the next book

Lynn Braden

Evie works for International Paranormal Containment Agency or IPCA. Because of her ability to see beyond the glamours of paranormals, her job is to find, identify, and tag them. Even though she is only 15, she has been at this for several years under the tutelage of Raquel who is also human. Evie longs to be a normal teenager, but she does not want to go back into the foster system where Raquel found her. She has a decent life here and even has a best friend named Lish who is a mermaid, but as more and more paranormals turn up dead, Evie finds herself in seclusion and the cold and loneliness she has always felt becomes more pronounced. When Lend, who is different from other paranormals, is captured and imprisoned at IPCA, Evie finds out that she may not be as human as she thinks. Evie can't seem to stay away from Lend who can make himself look like anyone. Raquel thinks he may be behind the paranormal deaths, but Evie believes he may hold the answer to their problem. 
Paranormalcy is an interesting take on the human/paranormal romance, bringing together several different kinds of paranormal beings and giving them a place in modern society. There are lots of explanations in the building of this world, but overall, this is a unique story with a mild but enjoyable twist.

Jessica Nottingham

Perhaps it is the feminism that is deeply rooted somewhere in my subconscious, but it always makes me smile when a female protagonist can handle herself! Is she in need of a rugged male figure to save her? Certainly not. Armed with her wits and her charm, she kicks some behind solo and still has time to look lovely doing it.

Thus, when I opened Paranormalcy and met Evie for the first time, I was instantly smitten. Oh Evie, how I love you. Her personality radiated off each page. Honestly her very presence in the book made the story a joy to read! There were moments where I found myself laughing out loud at Evie's outbursts and actions. From her obsession with the color pink and sparkles right down to her "bring it on" attitude, Evie takes her rightful place among my five favorite female protagonists of all time! 

Now that I've adequately professed my love for Evie, let me move on to the story itself. In just two words, completely fabulous! Even if I wanted to, and I don't, there is not one thing negative that I could find to say about Paranormalcy. Evie's story is perfectly paced and engrossing. Kiersten White writes in a way that makes you feel invested in the characters and in their battles. Original, funny and filled with little jokes that you'll want to utter out loud despite the fact that no one else will bleeping get them. (Yes, I said bleeping.) This book is just a delight to read!

Of course my review wouldn't be complete if I didn't address the romance aspect now would it? No spoilers here, but yes there is a romance present. However it fits so seamlessly and stealthily into the story line that you don't feel like it takes over. Never have I minded romance in a book, quite the opposite. I find though that when it takes over, sometimes it is hard to believe in as a reader. Kiersten weaves her romance so expertly in that you'll find yourself falling in love too, but still on the edge of your seat about the action going on! Did I mention that this book is amazingly written? It is.

As I'm sure you can tell from my gushing and likely rambling words above, I loved this book. Mermaids, faeries, shape-shifters, romance, action, it's all there and more! After reading quite a few books that I appreciated but didn't love, it was such a pleasure to find this gem. I highly recommend this book my dear readers. If you were on the fence about buying it, get off that fence (as I can't imagine it's too comfortable perching there) and go buy a copy of this book!

Bridget Howard

Where to start this was a really fun, Light Paranormal read. Most paranormal books are really deep and have so much going on that sometimes I get a little lost, and it is refreshing to read a lighter book. 
Evie is our heroine in this book and she is very likable. She is grew up in the IPCA center where she basically "bags and tags" paranormal beings for the government. She is a fun loving young girl who just wants to be normal, but with her special abilities she just can't be. I felt that I could really connect to Evie because I feel that a lot of the things that she experiences are what normal everyday teenagers experience (excluding the paranomralcy of her life of course)!!! 
Lish is the best friend in this book and she is actually a mermaid. She lives in a tank at the IPCA center and she basically runs the logistics of the missions from the center. I really like her she is a good friend to Evie and she has some really funny lines in the book. Her voice is electronic because she lives underwater so when she tries to swear the computer doesn't recognize it just says "bleep, bleep, bleep"!!!! 
Lend is the love interesting in the book. Can I just say that he is totally dreamy!!! He is a paranormal that change change to look however he wants, I mean what more could you want in a guy he can look like a different hot boy everyday you would never get bored :)!!! On top of being a total hottie he is a really sweet character and I love seeing him and Evie fall in love for the first time!!! Young love and all the awkwardness that comes with it is something that everyone gets to experience in life. 
Overall I really enjoyed Paranormalcy and I will defiantly be reading the next book in the series. The plot was fun but like I said it wasn't overwhelming. I would recommend this book to people who maybe are thinking about trying a paranormal book for the first time or people that love the paranormal genre but want a lighter read!!!

Evie’s always thought of herself as a normal teenager, even though she works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, 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 Evie’s 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.

maddie

16-year-old Evie has always taken comfort in the fact that she is normal, even though her best friend is a mermaid and her ex-boyfriend is a lunatic, and a faery. But someone starts killing vampires, werewolves and other paranormals, and Evie must figure out what's happening before they all disappear.

Paranormalcy

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