Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Rating: 5/5

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.

This review is going to be full of the gushing. I can’t help it. I am so in love with this book that I want to stand on a mountain and sing about it. I want to hold up a ghetto blaster and blare Areej Cain.  I want to change from the nerd I am into a cheap tramp to get its attention. Yes, folks, that’s how much I love this book.

I had heard great things about Paranormalcy, but I had no idea what to expect. I knew it was a paranormal YA book and by the cover I figured I was in for another epic, sweeping, oh-so-serious tale of struggling love and Big Danger. After I read the first, oh, three sentences I knew that I was in for a treat.

This book was FUNNY. And cute. Evie is such a fun, sarcastic character that I loved her instantly. Really, you can’t help but root for her. She’s been dealt a pretty crappy hand, but she does her best to rise about it. And – this is the part that made me squee all over the place – she does it without the usual “woe-is-me” dramatics that a lot of other paranormal heroines get caught up in. When she comes across an obstacle she doesn’t crumble on her bed or bitch and moan through three chapters. Nope, she tries to find a way around the obstacle. Or through it.  Don’t get me wrong, serious stuff happens and she does have moments of self-doubt and she does cry. But there is so much more to Evie than the distraught heroine.

I’ve mentioned in the past that I am getting a bit tired of love triangles in YA. And also the whole love at first sight soul-matey thing that can be great when done well, but is a bit over done right now in my opinion. There is boy stuff inParanormalcy. Evie likes a boy. She isn’t sure if that boy likes her back. There’s flirting, their friendship, their uncertainty. In other words it’s a pretty normal teen-age relationship. Evie’s relationship with Lend the shape shifter is, perhaps, the best written boy-girl-are-they-friends-or-more relationship I have read in a paranormal YA book in a Hell of a long time.

Despite the humorous, light moments, this book wasn’t all fluff. There’s serious stuff that happens and some pretty cool supernatural folks to boot. The bad guys are beyond bad, and you aren’t always sure who they are. There are twists and turns a-plenty and White kept me guessing until pretty much the end ofParanormalcy and then I howled and shook my fists angrily at the gods because the book was over. But then I discovered there’s a sequel and I called down. A bit, anyway.

I think everyone should read this book, especially if you’re a fave of YA or urban fantasy or paranormal stuff.