Kat with a K

Book 2: Paranormalcy

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
Genre: YA paranormal
Pages: 335
Grade: 84

Evie is a regular teen (more or less) who can see through the glamours of paranormals, so she's more or less adopted by the International Paranormal Containment Agency and forced to help them catch various paranormals in order to protect society. But when weirder-than-usual things start happening, and a hot shapeshifter shows up, she starts to realize that she's being used as a pawn in a bigger game than she realized. Either that or she's at the center of a faerie prophecy. Or both. Will she figure out what's going on? Who are her true friends? Will she get to go to prom like a normal kid?

Paranormalcy is the first in a series, but it doesn't really feel like it, and that's both good and bad. The world White has created is complex and compelling. But there were a few times when past events were referenced in a way that made me flip back to see if I had missed something, and I hadn't. Specifically, Evie's history with a particular faerie is made much of, but I couldn't get enough of a handle on what had happened to figure out how it was affecting her current decisions.

Other than that, though, this was a fun read, and I will definitely be continuing with the series. (Next one comes out later this year.) And the shapeshifter, Lend, has totally made it onto my list of literary boyfriends for the year. You should also read White's take on the criticism she's received that her main character is too girly. And seriously, so many main characters in YA (especially in fantasy and paranormals) are either self-identified tomboys or make a big deal about how they're nerds who don't care about clothes and stuff, and I assume that's partially due to audience demand and demographics, but reading about a heroine who loves watching teen dramas and wearing pink was a really refreshing change.