Review: "Paranormalcy" by Kiersten White

Picture Ron Pearlman in a blonde wig.

With tea in hand - okay, not in hand that would make typing a challenge - with tea sitting nearby and a mix of Mumford & Sons and Over the Rhine playing in the background, I sit to gush about Kiersten White's delightfully lovely debut YA novel, Paranormalcy.  In case that was too subtle, I adored this book.

Cover flap write up:

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.

First off, I am not a fan of first person. I don't like being stuck in a single character's head and more often than not the other characters come across as flat.  Also, I don't trust first person narrators.  I like getting as many sides as possible to any given story.  The voice that White creates for Evie, the heroine and narrator of this tale, however, is like really fabulous carbonation.  I don't mean that in any kind of demeaning way.  Evie is bubbly and catches you off guard in the most surprising and enjoyable ways.

As I was falling asleep last night, my mind wandered thinking about the story and I realized that Evie's story reminded me of Hellboy, if Hellboy were a skinny, blonde teenage girl with an addiction to hot pink and TV high school melodramas. Oh, and if he carried a rhinestone encrusted, pink taser named Tasey instead of punching people in the face.  Evie grew up working for an organization, the International Paranormal Containment Agency (IPAC), that took her in because of her special ability to see through paranormals' glamours. Hellboy was raised in the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD) because he was summoned from hell by the Nazis. Evie's best friend is a mermaid, Lish, who lives in a fish tank.  Hellboy's best friend is the aquatic Abe Sapien who lives in a tank.  They protect humanity from the paranormal world. Then there's Evie and Hellboy's fashion sense... well, I guess that's where the similarities end. But still. Totally teenage girl Hellboy. Which in my opinion is a compliment of the highest order.

This story is sunny and sweet and terrifying and tragic.  White balances all these emotional notes with pacing that seems effortless.  Let me tell you, any time writing looks effortless it means there were a hell of a lot of hours, blood, sweat, tears, near-miss pyromaniac moments when you may or may not try to burn everything you've ever written, and coffee behind it.  She makes it seem easy and that is saying quite a lot.

Evie finds herself caught up in a centuries old plot involving scheming faeries, which is a recipe for terrifyingly awesome trouble. I don't want to get too much into any of the details, because I am the founding member of the No Spoilers club and we enforce this rule under threat of tasing.  I'll just say that the romance in this book is simply sweet and innocent like first love should be portrayed.  It's just adorable.  If you read my blog or my reviews on goodreads, you know how picky I am about the depiction of love in popular culture.  I'm harsh about it, because I think it's mostly selfish garbage that doesn't resemble real love.

Just watch for the other people in Evie's world. They are definitely worth the time to get to know. By the way, Kiersten White's blog is also buckets of fun.  Do yourself a favor and stop by.