Oh. I wanted to like this one more than I did. But I still liked this debut from Kiersten White.
Evie, child-now-teenaged wonder, can see through the glamours that paranormals put on to appear normal. She is the star of an international treaty and the International Paranormal Containment Agency, which is charged with monitoring and protecting humankind from various paranormals (vampires, werewolves, hags, faeries, mermaids, water nymphs, etc.). Evie lives at “the Center” and is sent out to find and “neuter” some of the paranormals. She never questions this existence as it is undoubtedly better than the foster-home existence she had before. Then a new kind of paranormal breaks into the center and changes Evie’s life.
So. The writing was good. But the plot. The plot boiled down, for me, into another rather formulaic YA paranormal book. The prom plot point reminded me of Twilight, and the woe-is-me-I-could-never-deserve-love whining reminded me of Bella. Evie living in the Center, underground and essentially under lock and key, reminded me of Mockingjay. The running about and neutralizing paranormals reminded me of City of Bones. The longing for a normal teenagehood complete with normal dating reminded me of Matched (okay not paranormal but still). Sigh. I think I’m just completely burned out on this genre. And I was hoping that Paranormalcy would be a bit more of a parody than it is. Insert another sigh for the fact that this is a trilogy. Again, a current YA cliche. I mean go authors for multi-book deals. But seriously? I’m sick of it. And finally, I just have to add that I’m not fond of the cover. Not the author’s fault, usually, but still.
Wow. That turned into a bit of a rant. But, really, a lot of this anger is, I think, at this particular genre and not necessarily at this particular book. Evie was a fine narrator. The writing, as I mentioned, is good. My favorite part was the development of the relationship between Lend and Evie. So the romance part worked, whining notwithstanding. Oh, and three cheers for the lack of a love triangle.
This is a perfectly good YA paranormal romance, but I think I’ll be taking a break from the genre for a while.
Paranormalcy, by Kiersten White 
Have you read or reviewed this book too? Feel free to jump in with your thoughts or leave a link to your review in the comments.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
The cover is actually why I haven’t picked up this book. (I know, I know, I shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but it’s hard not to sometimes!) I’m sorry this book turned out to be a compilation of current YA lit trends. Sure would be nice to have one do something a little differently. And I am so done with series! Yeesh.
Emily´s last post ..Library Love: Brentwood Library
I’m not into paranormal at all, so this probably isn’t for me.
bermudaonion (Kathy)´s last post ..Mailbox Monday
Love the rant! You knew I would, didn’t you? I own this one so I’ll at least have to read it, but whether I read the rest is yet to be seen.
Jenny´s last post ..Most Boring Post Ever
Emily – I’m glad to hear I’m not alone in my opinion of the cover. :) And I’m getting very very tired of EVERYTHING being a series.
Kathy – Definitely not for you then.
Jenny – I did think you might enjoy the rant. I’ll be interested to hear if it invokes a similar rant from you.