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!

A Paranormal Book Review: Rachel Caine’s Glass Houses, Morganville Vampires

When I first heard about the YA series, Rachel Caine’s Glass Houses, Morganville Vampires,I wasn’t sure what to think about it. I always give books a try before I buy with my iKindle sample. And what a sample it was. Just a few short pages in and I was hooked. I guess for me the allure was the intensity at the beginning. Claire Danvers, a brilliant 16 year-old, graduates high school early to go off to a nearby college in a small town (Morganville, TX.) She encounters her first real taste of college life when she’s bullied and nearly killed by the campus mean girl – Monica- who ends up throwing Claire down the stairs. Poor thing. As a reader, you can’t help but feel bad for the girl.

That’s just the opening of the book. What I love best about this series is how dark and creepy it is. The kind of darkness you crave for when reading a vampire novel. Claire is naïve about life, let alone about vampires and now she doesn’t have place to live so she answers an ad for “room available”. And here is where she meets her cohorts: Michael, Eve and Shane.

The fearsome four some have a unique chemistry but Michael’s ghostly self is about the coolest thing I’ve read in a long time. Claire soon finds out about Michael’s mysterious presence and not too long after learns the entire town is run by vampires. As the rabbit hole deepens, humans are “protected” by certain vampires and in some creepy way, are kind of like slaves to the superior undead beings. When you’re an independent like Claire, you’re vulnerable and a target for the vampires. Being new, Claire has to pick a side and do it fast. And in town like Morganville, vampires are always jockeying for power, which makes for some killer storytelling on Caine’s part.

With 8 books total, this series is still hot. I’ve read 5 books within the series are they were riveting. I plan on reviewing the other 4 books, so check back for updated reviews. Caine takes a fresh and delicious approach to vampires which now have left me craving for more.  I promise, I cannot get enough of this series. My only complaint are the cliff hangers. Caine loves to suspend her fans, which pissed me off in most of her books. But, that didn’t stop me from reading at least 5 of her killer books. So what happened to reading books 6, 7 & 8? Simple: money. If anyone wants to let me borrow the last three, I’d be beyond grateful.

On the Mina Burrows KilloMeter I give Rachel Caine’s Glass Houses a 4.

Until next time…read something fangtastic, read the Morganville Vampire series.

Mina B.

Top 15 Popular Young Adult Vampire Series

I had the pleasure of coming across a post from Vampires.com not too long ago. They wrote a special feature: What Is Your Favorite Young Adult Vampire Series? In the post - which I found insightful- they listed several YA Vampire Novels.

Since I’m a bona fide list collector, I felt the topic was well worth repeating or reposting, rather. But what I treasured most about the original post was the small book description that followed each series. Check it out if you get the time. If not, I’ve put the list below. These are in no particular order and many of them I’ve read. There are a few I haven’t but since reading this article, I’ve flagged a couple for my “must read” list. Check out my blog for previous book reviews with authors like Richelle Mead of the killer Vampire Academy Series.


1. Vladimir Tod series by Heather Brewer


2. The Blood Coven series by Mari Mancusi


3. Den of Shadows collection by Amelia Atwater Rhodes


4. Bloodline Series by Kate Cary


5. Vampire Beach series by Alex Duval


6. Blue Bloods series by Melissa De la Cruz


7. The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer


8. House of Night series by P.C. and Kristen Cast


9. The Morganville Vampires series by Rachel Caine


10. Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead


11. The Vampire Diaries by L. J. Smith


12.Vampire Kisses series by Ellen Schreiber


13. Vampirates series by Justin Somper


14. Cirque du Freak series by Darren Shan


15. Evernight series by Claudia Gray


Until next time…read any of the YA series above. I promise you’ll be thrilled you did.


Mina B.