Review: Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Symone has been having some computer troubles so I'm filling in today. I've been lucky enough to have read some really good books lately and it was hard to pick just one to review but in the end Paranormalcy won out.

At first Paranormalcy reminded me a lot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer - pretty blonde slaying baddies (including vampires, werewolves, zombies, hags, you name it), witty sense of humour - she even calls her taser 'Tasey' (Buffy called her stake "Mr. Pointy" - but the storyline is pretty different.

Evie has the power to see through paranormal's glamours. She can tell when someone is a zombie, vampire, etc. which makes her very valuable to the International Paranormal Containment Agency (IPCA), who basically tag paranormal creatures. She was basically raised by the IPCA and doesn't have many friends - you wouldn't either if you hung around with the undead all day. What she wants more than anything is to lead a normal life, go to highschool and meet a normal boy but her duties at the IPCA pretty much make that impossible.

When an unidentified teenage boy breaks into the center, coinciding with a number of attacks against paranormals, everyone is suspicious. As Evie gets to know him (and starts falling for him), she realizes that Lend couldn't possibly have killed all those people, but that leaves the question of, who did?

I'm the first person to tell you that I'm a little sick of the paranormal craze going on right now, but Paranormalcy felt really fresh and funny. Evie's voice was really unique and easy to relate to and while the plot wasn't super unique, it felt that way. I also really loved the way White developed Lend and Evie's relationship. Without spelling it out, she makes it really obvious why they're a good fit for each other.

So if you're looking for a fresh, funny paranormal read, I'd definitely recommend Parnormalcy by Kiersten White. It's available either in print or e-book. You'll probably see it again in my top ten books of the year.