Review: Paranormalcy

Paramormalcy
by Kiersten White

Plot Summary:

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.

Review:

I was so surprised by how delightful this YA paranormal novel is!  The story moves very quickly, with an involved world-building that takes a rather different view on paranormals.  All kinds of paranormals exist, and I love how Evie strips away the glamor from them - within the logic of the story, and with reader's expectations of vampires, werewolves and fairies.  Evie is such a bright personality and she really carries this story very well.  I was impressed by how involving a narrator she is.  The story also took several unexpected twists and turns, and there were many times I though I had figured something out, when I was shocked by how wrong I was.  The novel is full of the unexpected.

The romance between Evie and Lend was very well drawn and not the insta-kind which I was so happy to read.  Evie and Lend seem to fit together so well - and it felt like a very believable romance.  The other side of the novel - the commentary on what it's like to be a teenager was very interesting as well, and added a lot of depth to the story.  Evie never led a normal life, and the way she saw school and having a driver's license added a fun dimension to her character.  I also have to commend the building of the faerie world - it is so complex and the faerie nature is so well built into the narrative.  The suspicion that hangs over them drives the drama of in the story.  Overall, I really enjoyed this story and I'm looking forward to the next one in the series.

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