Book Review: Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Book: Paranormalcy
Author: Kiersten White
Published: 2010
Source: local library

Evie is an anomaly in the International Paranormal Containment Agency for any number of reasons. She can see the true form of paranormal creatures, and remains unaffected by (most) glamours. She’s one of the few humans in her social circle. But the thing that makes her the weirdest? She’s the youngest in the IPCA by oh, about forty years.

When she captures a strange paranormal creature and realizes he’s a teenage boy, then the trouble really starts. Who is Lend? Why was he sneaking around the IPCA, disguised as Evie’s boss? What’s with all the paranormal creatures suddenly turning up dead? Why is the ominous faerie Reth, who's tried to manipulate her before, suddenly dropping ominous hints that he knows much more about her than Evie herself does?

What's a girl to do? If you're Evie, you lace up your zebra-print boots, grab your sparkly pink taser, and set about determining whose butt to kick.

I’ll be honest: I was skeptical about this one. See my grumblings a few weeks back about how tired I am of paranormal. The cover didn’t help. Girl with wind-blown hair and swirly pink dress and semi-tragic expression? Whatevs. Fifty pages and I’m outta here.

Then I met Evie, who wouldn’t be caught dead with a tragic expression. (The swirly pink dress would have been fine.) She’s someone that Veronica Mars and Buffy Summers wouldn’t mind hanging out with. They’d be comparing taser brands before you got out of the room. (Oh, trust me. You’d want to be out of that room.) She’s snarky, sweet, enjoys being a girl, and even more enjoys kicking paranormal behind. And when her world goes to hell in a handbasket, she doesn’t waste time whining about it.

Thank you, thank you, thank you Kiersten White for not making Reth a viable candidate for Evie’s heart. She’s pulled to him, but she knows he’s bad news. If this boy was any more bad news, he’s be the headliner on the Peter Jennings hour. Evie knows it, and fights it, and doesn’t trust him one tiny little bit, even when she’s forced to depend on him. Awesomeness.

Lend, while sweet, is also kind of bland, and I got the sense Evie likes him for his normal life, something she’s always craved. But he’s a good guy, and I’m hoping to get some interesting things out of him in upcoming books. He certainly has a thought-provoking backstory, rife with opportunities for conflict.

But the main reason I'm looking forward to the rest of this series? I want to spend more time with Evie. She's a girl worth getting to know better.