Book Review: Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Title: Paranormalcy
Author: Kiersten White
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: 08/31/2010
ISBN: 0061985848








If you love books along the lines of My Soul to Take then odds are that you'll love this new trilogy started by Kiersten White. It's got all of the stuff that UF YA is known for but also manages to give us something rare: an "awkward" pretty main character that is not only likable, but incredibly vulnerable as well.

Evie's always been different. Unlike other girls her age, she's got the power to see through any glamour & uses that skill to her best extent in her job at the International Paranormal Containment Agency (IPCA). Evie helps to trap & contain things that humanity is best not being aware of. The good part is that she gets her own pink sparkly taser. The bad part is that what makes her special also separates her from everyone else in the world. When she captures a strange boy rifling through her boss's office & discovers that something sinister is afoot, can Evie manage to find out what is going on?

I really did enjoy this book. It's a great start to a trilogy & you can tell that White has done some incredible plotting for this series. Evie is someone that just about every reader can relate to & root for. Also interesting is the two main guys in her life- one of which is a fairy intent on making her a possession & a boy that Evie finds herself quickly falling for. While I'm sure that the future books will help elaborate on both characters, it's refreshing to have the dynamics that are in this first book. (I won't spoil it for you, but needless to say there's no flip flopping between the guys in this book.)

The only downfall is that we're given far too little information on certain aspects of Evie's world (her friendships, IPCA, etc) & I can't help but really wish that White had given us a little more to start off with. I'm sure that these things will be elaborated on in the future, but it still doesn't help define IPCA & other aspects of this book.

Overall though this was an enjoyable first book & I'll be keeping my eyes open for the next one in the series.