Book Review: Paranormalcy

TITLE: Paranormalcy
AUTHOR: Kierstan White
PUBLISHED: 2010
CATEGORY: Young adult
GENRE: urban fantasy, faeries, vampires, werewolves
PREMISE: Evie has worked for IPCA nearly her whole life, bagging and tagging paranormals for their own protection. But then a paranormal her own age breaks in and makes her start to question everything she thought she knew about IPCA and even about herself...
MY REVIEW: Doubtless, you bloggers have already heard of this one and are tired of the rave reviews. I'm sorry to say my review will be no different. I adored this book to death. Definitely one of my top books this year. I will say that it isn't totally unique, the idea is vaguely similar to Buffy the Vampire Slayer (lucky for the author I consider that one of the best shows ever so I didn't mind too much). Writing could also use a bit of polishing description wise and I would have maybe liked more character developement.
But other then those minor issues, this book was phenomenal. Especially for a first book. Evie is a fantastic character that you just can't help but grow to love. She's fiesty, hilarious, has vulnerability but isn't weak, and I actually bought that she was a teenager for once. I also found her romance with Lend very refreshing. Finally, a couple I buy and see why they work. But literally every character in this had their own type of personality that made you just enjoy them. Even the love triangle was refreshing. Mostly because I'm not sure if it counts as a love triangle. Reth seems more obsessed with Evie then in love with her but that's just me. Plus, Evie doesn't go around saying she and Lend are soulmates. Yes, she says the l-word by the end but only once and to herself. they don't see each other go "oh this is my life mate, we're spending the rest of our lives together" like other couples in YA have been known to do, particularly lately.
Then there was just other things that made the book for me. I loved the world building and the different takes on vamps, shifters, and faeries. I loved that Lend had a FAMILY (finally teens with involved parents, because even Evie had Raquel as a parental figure) and friends and that high school wasn't treated like the circle of hell nor was it treated like the best place on earth either (unless you're Evie but her worship is more understandable) it was just that: high school.
So yes, I loved the heck out of this book. In fact, I kind of had to dig to find something I didn't like and I'm coming up blank, aside from the uniqueness and perhaps lack of character developement (but there still is some developement). I'm kind of torn about whether or not I want a sequel to this. Part of me does want one, another part of me wants to see what else White can create because if this is her first book, just think about what ideas she can come up with next! Either way, this author is definately one I'm watching in the future.
WHO SHOULD READ: Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans, paranormal fans, urban fantasy fans
MY RATING: Four and a half out of Five pink tasers

FOR THE FOLLOWING CHALLENGES:
12 by 12 in October
One Hundred Plus Books
YA Challenge