Review: Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Paranormalcy 

by Kiersten White

Evie's always thought of herself as a normal teenager, even though she works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she's falling for a shape-shifter, and she's the only person who can see through paranormals' glamours.

But Evie's about to realize that she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures.

So much for normal.

A Long Story Short:

I'm afraid, I didn't like this book half as much as I thought I would. Although the witty narration and the unique (but completely over the top) heroine made this book original, I found myself bored halfway through and even considered not finishing it.

RATING: 1/3 Smarties

Review for You:

For some reason, Kiersten White and I just don't get along. It's just not meant to be. For over a year, I thought I'd be the biggest White fan out there once I'd actually pick one of her books up. I did, eventually. I even read two of her works - and the bumming result? Nope, not for me.

White deserves applause, though, for her writing style. It is unlike most YA I've ever read. The best description I can come up with? She writes like an actress. I have read Mind Games by her and now Paranormalcy. Two books with completely different characters. And while other authors kind of and somewhat change the character's voices, White beats them all. She gives each of her characters such a unique voice that I'm sure I would not recognize her writing if I picked up another book of hers.

Although White's writing is so great, I couldn't enjoy Paranormalcy as much  as I hoped I would. Funny narration, it seems to me, is not everything.

There has to be a plot, too. And sure, somehow there was a story in Paranormalcy, but most of it - in my opinion - were little scenes that didn't really seem connected to each other. The first half of the book consisted of nothing but Evie's everyday life and a few dialogues with the people around her. Looking back now, of course, some of it made sense and was necessary for the rest of the book. It's just that I wanted to be excited about the book, I wanted to not be able to put it down, to feel the need to pull an all-nighter just to know what happens. Sadly, none of these things happened.

Instead, I found Evie's witty voice entertaining for a while. Her obsession with everything pink was amusing on page one and got on my nerves at the end of the first chapter and I had to tell myself I wouldn't get anything for dinner until this book was read to make myself finish it.
The plot just lost itself, and not just once. In the beginning, I found myself at a point where I had no idea what was actually happening. It was like reading some random girl's diary, her everyday - life where nothing happened. Then, I thought things were picking up a notch. And then, everything settled down again. And I was like - what? This is it? I didn't like how this great premise turned into an everyday Highschool story with paranormal touch.

On the happier side, I really liked Lend. He was the right mixture of funny, crazy and nice and did a good job as love interest. The bad guys mostly worked for me,too - especially because it took so long to be sure who  to trust.

All in all, I won't say this was a bad book. I'm sure - no, I know, actually - that most people really like this trilogy and I get it. It's light, it's funny, it's paranormal. I recommend it if you are a Paranormal - fanatic anyway and looking for something on the unique side. For those of you who mostly read for plot and world - building, though, and don't care too much about writing, you might find this a bit boring.