Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Title: Paranormalcy
Author: Kiersten White
Published: August 2010 by HarperTeen

My Rating: 4.5 stars
Tags: YA | Paranormal (duh) | Romance
Includes: Sensuality, Violence

First Lines: "Wait - did you - You just yawned!" The vampire's arms, raised over his head in the classic Dracula pose, dropped to his sides. He pulled exaggerated white fangs back behind his lips.

Evie works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency...or IPCA for short. She doesn't have parents, her best friend is a mermaid, and she spends her time surrounded by werewolves, faeries, and vampires. And you wonder why this book is called Paranormalcy? Evie is also the only person who's able to see through paranormals' glamours. She can see the true beings underneath their disguises. All of a sudden, paranormal creatures are being killed and Evie quickly discovers who the murderer is actually after: her.

I think one of the many reasons why I loved this book was because of Evie's character. Her personality was so strong and unique. Sure, she was brave and confident when it came to doing her job "tagging and bagging" paranormals, but she was also fun and girly. I really liked seeing both sides to her character. Also, usually in YA urban fantasy, the main character is extremely (and sometimes unrealistically) mature and tough for their age, but Evie felt believable as a teen. One moment she'd be kicking some vampire butt, and a moment later she'd be rolling down the hallway in a spinning computer chair just for kicks. I also grew really fond of the two guys in the book - Lend and Reth. Even though Reth is the creepy/stalkerish faerie that happens to be Evie's ex-boyfriend, I still for some reason really liked the guy. I hope to see more of him in the next book.

From page 56
He smiled at me. His eyes were golden like ripe wheat and his hair shone nearly the same shade. Everything about him was gold, except his laugh. That had always been silver. I couldn't look at his face anymore without risking never wanting to look away, but I didn't want to take my eyes off him and let down my guard. I was so dead.

There was never a dull moment in the story. I never became bored while reading, but instead would delay going to eat dinner or go to sleep because I would insist on reading one more chapter. The author's creativity really shone through and she impressed me with her vivid writing. I loved all of the many different paranormals thrown into one book, too! It was so refreshing not reading about just the typical werewolf or vampire. This one included water nymphs, faeries like you've never seen before, hags, trolls, and a couple unidentified creatures, too. The biggest complaint for me about this book though was the villain. She. Was. Not. Scary. I'm not sure how the author wanted the reader to feel about her, but she definitely was not intimidating or threatening. If anything, I felt sorry for her. The ending was also a tad cheesy for my taste, but hey, it left room open for the sequel. Overall, this was a one-of-a-kind debut packed with action, humor, romance, and imagination. I can't bleeping wait to read the sequel!

Cover Thoughts: Beautiful! The model is gorgeous, the lighting is perfect, and it's so elegant looking. Plus, I adore that dress. However, it pretty much has nothing to do with the story..