Paranormalcy

Kiersten White

Paranormalcy is hands-down one of the best paranormal books of the year.  The story follows Evie, who works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, which tags and processes supernatural creatures, while covering up their existence in the first place.  Evie is one of the best characters that I've had the pleasure of getting to know in a very long while.  Since she was raised by IPCA, she has a warped view of society (most of what she knows of other teenagers she learned from a television show she's obsessed with), although she thinks of herself as rather normal for a girl with a best friend who lives in a big fish tank.  And a pink taser she decorated with rhinestones.  Evie is also invaluable to IPCA, as she has the unique ability to see through glamours.  So all those werewolves, vampires, hags and whatever else is out there that can hide from other IPCA members have no chance when she's around.  But Evie's world is turned upside-down when a shape-shifting paranormal infiltrates the IPCA, and she's forced to face some hard question, looking at things through new eyes.  What is she doing?  Who is she?  What is she?  It's a very compelling story, with tons of action, and is also really, really funny.  White seems to effortlessly create a wonderful realm of creatures, and offers interesting takes on creatures such as faerie, but also introduces a good dose of horror through others.  And while the action and story would have easily been enough to sustain a pretty damn imaginative book, the characters are what really make this book something special.  Evie herself is absolutely delightful, but the characters that surround her all feel very real and human (even when they're not).  Kiersten White hits a home run with Paranormalcy, which is at the top of my favorite YA books that I've read this year.  Two sequels are currently in the works, so jump on the bandwagon now, because there's no way you're going to want to miss this ride.