Sign in with FacebookFlannery's Reviews > Paranormalcy
Paranormalcy (Paranormalcy, #1)
by Kiersten White (Goodreads Author)
by Kiersten White (Goodreads Author)
Flannery's review
bookshelves: tbr-scb-2011, kcls, paranormal, young-adult-teen, read-in-2011, reviewed-2011
Mar 08, 11
bookshelves: tbr-scb-2011, kcls, paranormal, young-adult-teen, read-in-2011, reviewed-2011
Recommended to Flannery by:
SCB TBR 2011 - Pick Three; Jess
Recommended for:
YA urban fantasy readers, Buffy fans
Read from March 04 to 07, 2011
When you look at the cover of this book, what do you think it is about? A blond teenage girl is wearing a prom dress in a field of pussy willows or wheat or something equally nonsensical. Here's a new cover that crushes the actual book cover on the relevancy front (though regrettably not in terms of artistic merit):
I mean, I went into this thinking it was going to be another YA paranormal romance and IT ISN'T. It is decidedly fun YA urban fantasy book. (jacket copy reading is for losers) It has a pretty kickass heroine, mermaids, werewolves (that may or MAY look like an Ewok in my picture), people made of water, people made of fire, vampires, trolls, nymphs, faeries, and everything else you can think of. Why would you trick your audience with the wheat field?
I digress. Evie has lived in the Center for as long as she can remember. She was picked up at the age of three and put through the foster system until the IPCA (Int'l Paranormal Containment Agency) realizes that she can see through glamours produced by all paranormals. As a vital asset, she goes out to bag-and-tag all sorts of beings for the agency. Things get a little dicey when all sorts of paranormals are being killed, the Center is invaded, and some faeries are being total douchebags. Speaking of faeries, Reth sounds like a noise someone makes when they are choking on something. Reeeth...Reeeeth...I'm retching here, it's too bad you can't hear it.
I felt like the last third or so wasn't as strong as the rest of the book. The story moved at a relaxed but appealing pace until a total break occurred and then it was out of whack. (view spoiler) Fun, sure, but I was perfectly happy with the natural pacing of the relationship--I was glad it wasn't going into trite YA foreverlove territory, and it still didn't...but it did get a little cheesified.
Kiersten White has a great sense of humor. Her characters were funny and fans of Buffy will definitely find something appealing about the friendships and storyline. I'm excited to see where it goes in the second book--Supernaturally.(which, incidentally, has Evie in a red dress and with some red (and probably completely irrelevant) flowers on the cover)
(view spoiler) 3.5 stars.
I mean, I went into this thinking it was going to be another YA paranormal romance and IT ISN'T. It is decidedly fun YA urban fantasy book. (jacket copy reading is for losers) It has a pretty kickass heroine, mermaids, werewolves (that may or MAY look like an Ewok in my picture), people made of water, people made of fire, vampires, trolls, nymphs, faeries, and everything else you can think of. Why would you trick your audience with the wheat field?
I digress. Evie has lived in the Center for as long as she can remember. She was picked up at the age of three and put through the foster system until the IPCA (Int'l Paranormal Containment Agency) realizes that she can see through glamours produced by all paranormals. As a vital asset, she goes out to bag-and-tag all sorts of beings for the agency. Things get a little dicey when all sorts of paranormals are being killed, the Center is invaded, and some faeries are being total douchebags. Speaking of faeries, Reth sounds like a noise someone makes when they are choking on something. Reeeth...Reeeeth...I'm retching here, it's too bad you can't hear it.
I felt like the last third or so wasn't as strong as the rest of the book. The story moved at a relaxed but appealing pace until a total break occurred and then it was out of whack. (view spoiler) Fun, sure, but I was perfectly happy with the natural pacing of the relationship--I was glad it wasn't going into trite YA foreverlove territory, and it still didn't...but it did get a little cheesified.
Kiersten White has a great sense of humor. Her characters were funny and fans of Buffy will definitely find something appealing about the friendships and storyline. I'm excited to see where it goes in the second book--Supernaturally.(which, incidentally, has Evie in a red dress and with some red (and probably completely irrelevant) flowers on the cover)
(view spoiler) 3.5 stars.
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read Paranormalcy.
sign in »
Reading Progress
| 03/04/2011 | page 78 |
|
23.0% |
Comments (showing 1-50 of 54) (54 new)
message 1:
by
Lora
(new)
-
rated it 4 stars
Mar 04, 2011 03:29pm
I really liked this one. Happy reading. :)
reply
|
flag
*
Hahahaaha! Awesome picture!! Wait, I'm confused..... Is that a huge ball of yarn next to Evie? Hmmmmmm.
I know you would. But there isn't. Like I would even send you to a nice place. It's just an entire realm filled with multi-colored yarn. It's a place where you can contemplate criticizing people about their drawings of faerie doors.
You're so adorable. Even if you haven't read any of the books I TOLD you to read! But as usual, fab job with the Paint. And for some reason, I always think Scarlett Johanssen would look perfect on that cover. I think if there was ever a Paranormalcy movie, I'd want Scarlett to be whatsherface.
Why is the ewok dude going all jazz hands on us? And, is the water dude laughing at him or is he just a happy guy in general? Oh, the mysteries of art…Damn your use of spoilers! I had to let go of the mouse so I couldn't click them. (view spoiler)
Chichipio wrote: "Why is the ewok dude going all jazz hands on us? And, is the water dude laughing at him or is he just a happy guy in general? Oh, the mysteries of art…"The water dude is a dudette. Just thought you'd want to know.
Oh, now I get it. It's sexism, then, pure and simple. She's feeling a bit superior, isn't she? Well, I don't see a sandwich there so I don't know what she's smiling about. For the same reason, I totally understand the guy's straight mouth.Just kidding. I'm not sending anyone to make sandwiches. (view spoiler)
@V--nu uh! The water dude is a dude! The fire dude is a dudette. (view spoiler) The water dude has a smile on because he gets a little action and the fire dudette has a straight face because (view spoiler) And I WILL read the books you want me to. I promise!!Now I want a sandwich. Thanks a lot, C.
Ohhhh, mix-up alert!!! I thought Chich was talking about Lish! Is the blue water dude supposed to be Lend?
Oh and for the record - that werewolf looks nothing like an Ewok. Trust me, I KNOW Ewoks!! (view spoiler)
Oh God, please tell me that the aye-aye thing lives only in some crazy FX guy's head. Please, please, don't let it be real!
Buhwahahahahha!! It is real. Only nature could create something so cute-ugly! Well, or maybe George Lucas.
Great review - I felt the same about this book, it's a fun read. Love your alternate cover too, especially the mermaid!
Nice review, and I love the added bonus of entertaining comments. Not sure if I recall the ensemble when Evie wears giant black basketball boots with a dress...:P
I thought those were ghosts and demons in the picture but water and fire people sounds cool too. Do they kill each other on contact?I saw this in the supermarket the other day. They put YA in the children's section so it was right next to the Gruffalo.
I always find it bizarre how they do that but the contrast is quite amuzing.
Hahaha, no they don't. It's a little hard to explain without reading it but they are only sort of made of water and fire--it's how they appear to someone in the story. They sell this at the supermarket? Ours mostly only sell major blockbusters and mass-market romances:-/
Hay there ^^ Great review and the English cover really doesn't fit the story. Maybe you wanna have a look at the German Cover, because that cover totally DOES!
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zoAyTmUTeLY...
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zoAyTmUTeLY...
Am I missing something? Are you being sarcastic? I can't believe they translated the title to "Flames N' Roses." What do those things have to do with this story? I am now utterly baffled.
Yeah... The title sucks. xD The added "prefer living paranormal" is even worse...
But I meant the cover. I think it's fits the story way more then the English version.
But I meant the cover. I think it's fits the story way more then the English version.
Great cover, LOL! @Amelie - that translation totally confuses me. What in the world?? I really liked Evie's character for the most part. Flannery, do you have any recommendations for other books with strong female leads? So far I have only one YA novel I can wholeheartedly recommend: The Next Thing I Knew. I also like the Stieg Larsson novels because that chick kicked ass!
Thanks, Abby. I thought Evie was lots of fun in this one but she disappointed a bit in the second installment. If you are into fantasy, you should check out Finnikin of the Rock. All of Marchetta's novels are fabulous. (Jellicoe Road can be hard to get into at first) I'm assuming you've read the whole Hunger Games trilogy because everyone and their dog has read that. Graceling and its sequel were both fun YA fantasy with a pretty strong female heroine. And Tamora Pierce's books are filled with strong female leads. A series that has the same feel as Paranormalcy is the Hex Hall series.I'd never heard of The Next Thing I Knew! Thanks!
Adding all those to my shelf. Thanks so much!! Wish I had more to recommend but my book budget has been shot to poo lately so I've been sticking with all the $.99 ebooks I can find.That's it! I'm marching into my boss's office and demanding a raise!! ;)
