Book Review: Kiersten White’s Paranormalcy

My review today is for Kiersten White’s Paranormalcy. This is the author’s debut novel and what a YA ride it was. There are spoilers in this review. So beware. After reading a plethora of reviews on the book, I was definitely intrigued but also guarded. Initially, I had concerns about the similarities to Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer covert military operation episodes. Still, I remained open minded and was without a doubt pleasantly surprised.


Evie works for IPCA, a covert operation called the International Paranormal Containment Agency. With no parents, this orphan was picked up by IPCA, who then raised her and trained her for strictly bagging and tagging paranormals. This 16 year old beauty is gifted with seeing through paranormal glamour’s. That might not sound very exciting to most, but when she’s surrounded with paranormals that constantly hide under elaborate glamour, one can see Evie’s allure.

With all the paranormal activity in her life, she begs for a simpler kind of life, a normal one. I was sucked in throughout this novel, feeling Evie’s loneliness. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. Poor thing really never fit in anywhere. In her paranormal world, she’s being stalked by an ex-boyfriend, Reth (a faerie) with ulterior motives. Her boss, Raquel, is the only mother figure she’s got. And her best friend is a mermaid, Lish. Yep, you know the girl’s got issues when she refers to the IPCA as being her only family.

In walks Lend, a paranormal teenage boy with a cool power. He’s a shape shifter that can appear as pretty much anyone. And Evie busted him because she saw right through his disguise. How perfect were they made for one another! As empty as Evie is, she was desperate for love, craving attention often. When she first met Lend, she gravitated towards him with curiosity. Why? Because he lives on the outside and goes to a real life high school. Lend lives a normal life and Evie can’t get enough of the detainee.

The two formed a friendship that blossomed into much more. While they begin unraveling the secrets of one another, strange happenings are occurring: paranormals are being killed everywhere. The who, what, where and why are so intriguing, up until the very end of the tale.

I loved Evie and her plight for normalcy. She’s positively refreshing when it comes to characters. Paranormalcy had a unique take on paranormals with an exciting plot. Its true blue young adult and I really liked it. There were way too many unanswered questions at the end and I totally wanted more. Bring it on Book 2, 3, 4? Possibly more? I hope so.

On the Mina Burrows KilloMeter, I give Keirsten White’s Paranormalcy a 4.

Until next time…try something normal. Try Paranormalcy.

Mina B.

Remember...

my Free Book Contest

for Paranormalcy ends Oct. 12th eod.

Click here for details!