Title: Paranormalcy (first book in Paranormalcy Trilogy)
Author: Kiersten White
Publisher: Harper Collins
First Published: August 2010
Format and Number of Pages: ebook (Kobo), 242
Plot Summary:
Evie considers herself to be a typical teen girl; she loves shopping, cute boys and watching TV dramas. All Evie wants to do is lead a normal teenage life. But she works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency (IPCA) as a sort of special agent who hunts down and captures paranormal creatures. Her best friend is a mermaid. IPCA's Center is also her home and her life before IPCA is a collection of jumbled childhood memories. Life gets even weirder for Evie (if that's possible) when a mysterious, young shape shifter breaks into the Center and paranormals start dying at alarming rates. To make it worse, Evie's creepy faerie ex-boyfriend refuses to leave her alone and she may have something to do with an ancient faerie prophecy. Evie's life is far from normal.
Evie as the main character and narrator was a lot of fun. She has a bright, funny and quirky way of speaking that had me laughing at times. Her actions were also quite funny and random which made her narrative interesting. She is someone a lot of people will easily relate to. She wants to be, and describes herself as a normal teenager and despite her circumstances she really is an average teenager. Everything from her obsession with the show "Easton Heights" to her struggles with fitting in and loneliness to her relationships made her seem like an ordinary teenage girl. I found it easy to like her and I wanted to see how she would deal with the problems she faced. At times she frustrated me but I always understood her.
The side characters were also fairly well developed. I liked Evey's relationship with Raquel and found their dynamic of boss-employee and adopted mother-daughter very interesting. I also loved Reth. White did a great job in showing both his allure and creepiness in his dealings with Evie. I also liked Lend and his interactions with Evie felt very natural. I did feel that some other characters, especially Lish and the main antagonist were a bit underdeveloped and I would have liked to see more of them and more interactions between them and Evie.
The story primarily takes place at the Center and while it sounded interesting - especially as a home for a teenager - I felt it could have been developed a bit more. I would have liked to see more of the Center and what Evie's life was like there and how she interacted with the people/creatures who worked there.
The plot is fairly steady throughout and from the beginning there is quite a bit of action. I did find the ending was a bit rushed. After the amount of buildup that occurred prior to the ending, I was a bit surprised by how fast it was all over. It felt a bit anti-climatic and I would have liked to have seen more from the ending.
Overall it was an entertaining read and I would like to eventually check out the other books in the trilogy. Evie was funny and I enjoyed a lot of the relationships she made with other side characters. I would recommend Paranormalcy for readers who enjoy paranormal or urban fantasy.
Rating: 3/5
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