Paranormalcy series by Kiersten White

Paranormalcy Series (Paranormalcy, Supernaturally, and Endlessly)

By Kiersten White

Published by Harper Collins, 2010

335 pages

Evie’s always thought of herself as a normal teenager, even though she works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, she’s falling for a shape-shifter, and she’s the only one who can see through glamours.

But now Evie’s dreams are filled with haunting voices and cryptic messages—and she’s realizing that she may be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures.

So much for normal. (from barnesandnoble.com)

There are a lot of paranormal teen books out there. Shoot! Barnes & Noble even has a specifically labeled section of all these young adult books that have vampires, werewolves, faeries, etc! I think, after reading so many books like this, it takes a lot to impress me. I mean, I have started and stopped reading more books in this genre than any others just because the stories seem the same or dull.

But Kiersten White surprised me. Although the subject matter could have blended in with the rest of the paranormal books or have gotten really dark and depressing, White kept it light-hearted, lively, quirky, and sarcastic. The characters in this series are fresh and original while the concept has some unexpected twists. Even at the most tense moments, Evie was able to add in some silliness or snark  to change the tone.

And speaking of Evie, I really liked her. In a world of brooding teens who think their lives are over when the littlest things don’t go their way (I’m looking at you Edward & Bella!), she didn’t get into the woe-is-me funk. Sure, she got down about things, but when she got down, she got moving and tried to make things better. With some spunk and amazing shoes.

A bonus is that all the books in the series are out so you don’t have to wait months to read books #2 and #3!