ParanormalcyPart of the Next Gen Paranormal craze where the heroine is tough, smart and fends for herself, 'Paranormalcy' by Kiersten White was recommended to me shortly after I read 'FireLight' by Sophie Jordan, both books being from the same vein, so to speak. Before I dive into the review, let me get this out of the way.
Sometimes I feel like these Next Generation of paranormal heroines have been just as bad to me as their passive, push over, abuse taking predecessors. All to often, the new generation is just as self absorbed and just as whiny only with the label of 'Bad Ass' taped across their foreheads. Characters like Calla and Jacinda from 'NightShade' and 'Firelight' respectively can easily be lumped into this category. Both considered to be independent and fierce, but when it comes down to the bareness of their character, they fall just as hard as characters like Bella and Nora from 'Twilight' and 'Hush Hush'. For me, these characters fall when they fall in love. But I digress, moving on.
As I've said, 'Paranormalcy' was next on the list after 'Firelight' and I've seen the two compared much on the same level as Twilight and Shiver were viewed, same shit different pile. If one story wasn't quite your taste, walk down the road and knock on the next door, you'll find your match there. I went into 'Paranormalcy' expecting a mediocre effort on the Kiersten's part, being her first novel and all. A lot of the authors I've read in the last two years who have popped their publishing cherry have all had the same mediocre feel. For me, 'Paranormalcy' was different, it was actually fun.
Characters of Interest:
Evie
Our heroine. We first meet her tazing a vampire in a cemetery and reading him his rights on behalf of IPCA and that's where I expected it to fall apart. You know what? I enjoyed her character too much. She cried, a lot, but she has so much spunk, so much character that most of her crying fits evoked empathy. She has friends who she doesn't look down upon, who aren't bitchy, who aren't push overs and she actually enjoys the company of. It's revealed that she's a level 7 paranormal, on of the higher end paranormal in her world and many readers cried 'MarySue' at this point. Because a hot, strong, girly girl with paranormal powers = 'MarySue' now a days just as much as plain, weak, tomboy with no paranormal powers = 'MarySue', but whatev's YMMV. I enjoyed the peppiness of her character and If good luck was tilted her way I wouldn't account it as her being a MarySue who demands everything go her way. The short of it, Evie didn't bother the ever living piss out of me.
Leth
Jesus Christ, a bad boy who's actually 'Bad'. He stalks Evie, forces things on her and twists her to suit his master plan and he pulls it all off parading around with a cane. He's an ex of Evie, a faerie, good looking but his character becomes so twisted in the end it's delicious. He's a jerk, but he's doing his job.
The Love Triangle
Leth is Evie's Ex and stays that way for the WHOLE novel. There wasn't any back and forth between Leth and Lend for Evie, she knew what and whom she wanted. While it was obvious who Evie was going to end up with in the end, she wasn't tearing the clothes off of the other two members in the love triangle.
The End
This book wasn't perfect, I found that the last third of the book was just too 'Perfect Haze' for a book that was relatively action packed for the first two thirds. Evie going to school and living with Lend seemed like filler until Evie's confrontation with Vivian. I can excuse the plot hole's because there's a sequel on the way and I hear that a lot of (my personal) questions are going to be answered.
I expected to come out of with a new book to fill out my one - two star category, but found a book with reasonably believable characters, an intriguing story and a sequel I'm looking forward to.