Paranormalcy (Paranormalcy, #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Jul 06, 2011 A book away from an episode of hoarders rated it really liked it

Shelves: pnr-uf-fantasy, first-in-series, judged-by-its-cover, read-in-2013

This is the typical YA Paranormal Romance book. It's fluffy and made me very happy when I was reading it. Evie has shades of early Buffy going on. She's very girly but I didn't find that annoying. It helps that she's strong enough to fend for herself, usually.

I loved Lend too. The cover is very pretty but it doesn't quite match the story.

This book follows Evie as she goes through her jobs at the ICPA as the only known agent (or person) who can see through the glamours that paranormals cast. Th ...more

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Aug 27, 2010 Literary Ames rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, weres-shifters, series-abandoned, kindle, urban-fantasy, read-in-2012, vampires, 1st-in-series, fae, cheap-reads

Wow, the beginning of this book really packed a punch, bolting out of the gate at top speed. I had no problems getting into it.

Evie’s teenage life is more para than normal. She identifies and bags and tags supernaturals over the world for a super secret organisation with her special ability to see through all glamours. There’s nothing she wants more than “normal,” to go to high school and do proper homework, meet boys, and have nice, normal fun. I empathised with this desire but not quite being Wow, the beginning of this book really packed a punch, bolting out of the gate at top speed. I had no problems getting into it.

Evie’s teenage life is more para than normal. She identifies and bags and tags supernaturals over the world for a super secret organisation with her special ability to see through all glamours. There’s nothing she wants more than “normal,” to go to high school and do proper homework, meet boys, and have nice, normal fun. I empathised with this desire but not quite being able to cope when she gets a taste:

‘I always thought the Center made me claustrophobic, but now I suspected I had the opposite problem. All that time today in open spaces and outdoors made me kind of twitchy, nervous to get back inside. How lame was that?’

Evie’s character was very likeable. She was self-aware and evidently knew what was really important in life. The way she treats Lend, in a rather mature way, valuing him for himself and his real appearance rather than what he projects. Lend is an insanely nice guy, insecure about his unusual looks. He's almost too nice and slightly boring although he has an interesting heritage. I felt sorry for his dad regarding his awkward relationship with Lend's mother. What an awful situation. To be rejected in favour of leaving her corporeal body behind and returning to the lake, and after only a year together living as husband and wife. So sad. He obviously loved her, and she just left him to raise their son, practically, alone.

I liked the two prophetic rhymes describing the opposing sides:

“Eyes like streaming snow, cold with the things she does not know. Heaven above and Hell below, liquid flames to hide her grief. Death, death, death with no release. Death, death, death with no release.”

“Eyes like streaming snow, cold with the things she does not know. Heaven above and Hell beneath, liquid flames will end her grief. With her fire, at last release. With her fire, at last release.”

I still don’t understand why the “Empty Ones” were created. Though the clue seems to be in Reth’s words: “You weren’t supposed to release them [souls of the dead], you silly child. You were meant to release me. Us.” What did he mean by that? (view spoiler) Reth is a frustrating mystery. He’s close-mouthed about everything important. If only he’d explained everything to start with much of what took place in this book could’ve been avoided.

I liked Paranormalcy, it was slightly different to the usual paranormal YA books around. One definite plus, no love triangle. However, I doubt I'll read the sequel not because I don't want to, I do, but because all of my friends who've read it have awarded it with less than favorable ratings and reviews, and I trust their opinions.

Other Favourite Quotes

“That’s because you have no idea how precious normal is.”

“You have lipstick here?” he asked, confused since I hadn’t brought a purse. “Oh, never underestimate the ingenuity of a girl in figuring out where to pack necessities.” [In her bra!]

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Aug 25, 2011 Nairabell rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 5-star, teen-ya-paranormal, read-in-2011, favorites, read-in-2013

Evie has always thought of herself as a normal girl with a paranormal life, after all her best friend is a mermaid, her ex is a faerie and the only thing unusual about her is the ability to see through paranormal's glamours. When a shapeshifter breaks into the compound where she lives, Evie's world begins to change. She starts to have dreams filled with haunting prophecies and paranormals begin to die under strange circumstances. But as her feelings for the shapeshifter grow, so do her doubts ab Evie has always thought of herself as a normal girl with a paranormal life, after all her best friend is a mermaid, her ex is a faerie and the only thing unusual about her is the ability to see through paranormal's glamours. When a shapeshifter breaks into the compound where she lives, Evie's world begins to change. She starts to have dreams filled with haunting prophecies and paranormals begin to die under strange circumstances. But as her feelings for the shapeshifter grow, so do her doubts about who she is working for.

This is one of those books I've had recommended to me so many times I've actually lost count. I was excited to read it, but also a little worried that I might not like it. I really enjoyed the story and found it to be cleverly written with great world development. It begins with Evie making an arrest for her employers, the IPCA (International Paranormal Containment Agency) and is action packed from page one.

The world is populated with a huge variety of paranormals - vampires, werewolves, mermaids, faeries, nymphs, trolls, hags - basically anything and everything you can think of, plus a few more. There is no info dumping despite the depth of story and all the species are amazingly well developed.

Evie is a very likeable character with a lot of snark and a slightly weird dress sense. Given that she's been bounced through the foster system until she was 8 and then taken in by the IPCA she's well written and believable. Her mermaid best friend Lish is brilliant, especially the fact that she has a computer to speak for her which refuses to swear leading to lots of 'bleep' placement which in some ways is funnier than any swear word could ever be.

There is a hint of a love triangle in the book between Evie, her faerie ex Reth and the new shapeshifter Lend. I pretty much disliked Reth from the page he appeared - arrogant, stuck up and annoying. On the other hand Lend is sweet and funny, and helps Evie without even realising it.

All in all this was an amazing read and I can't wait for Supernaturally.

Plot: 10/10
Characters: 10/10
Ending: 10/10
Enjoyment: 10/10
Cover: 9/10

Overall: 49/50 ...more

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Sep 28, 2010 Lisarenee rated it really liked it

Shelves: books-i-own

This is about Evie, a teenager like no other. She works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency where she tracks and contains paranormals. Armed with her trusted Tasey (her name for her pink sparkly taser) she goes on missions. Found at the age of 8 by the agency they put her to work when they realized she had a special talent - she can see through paranormal’s glamour.

Now paranormals everywhere are being killed and the main focus of everyone is figuring out what or who is killing th ...more

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