Author: Kiersten White

Review: Supernaturally by Kiersten White

Posted September 6, 2012 by Rowena in Reviews | 3 Comments

Review: Supernaturally by Kiersten WhiteReviewer: Rowena
Supernaturally (Paranormalcy, #2) by Kiersten White
Series: Paranormalcy #2
Also in this series: Paranormalcy (Paranormalcy, #1)
Publisher: Harper Collins, Harper Teen
Publication Date: July 26th 2011
Genres: Young Adult
Pages: 336
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Evie finally has the normal life she’s always longed for. But she’s shocked to discover that being ordinary can be...kind of boring. Just when Evie starts to long for her days at the International Paranormal Containment Agency, she’s given a chance to work for them again. Desperate for a break from all the normalcy, she agrees.

But as one disastrous mission leads to another, Evie starts to wonder if she made the right choice. And when Evie’s faerie ex-boyfriend Reth appears with devastating revelations about her past, she discovers that there’s a battle brewing between the faerie courts that could throw the whole supernatural world into chaos. The prize in question? Evie herself.

So much for normal.

This was another good addition to this series. It was a little slow to start but the story definitely picked up and took off after a few chapters in. This book takes place not too long after the first book ends. Lend has graduated from high school and is attending Georgetown University and Evie is in her senior year of high school. Evie lives above the paranormal diner and not with David anymore because living with your boyfriend’s father without your boyfriend there is just weird.

So anyway, Evie is trying to live that normal life she longed for in the first book and she’s kind of bored. She misses working with the IPCA and she misses Raquel but she’s coping as best as she could by doing the best that she can in school so that she can get into Georgetown with Lend, next year. She’s going about minding her own business when a sylph tries to kidnap her but because she’s got that little power of soul stealing, she takes enough of his soul that he drops her (from the pain) and then she’s back home with the people who care about her and she tries to brush it off.

On the same day that she’s almost kidnapped, Raquel comes back into the picture, asking for Evie’s help at IPCA. She swears up and down that things have changed over there and while they’re not 100% on the up and up, they’re aware of the things that they’ve been doing and they’re doing the best that they can to make things right. She wants Evie to come back and help out and though Evie wants to, she doesn’t think its a good idea because she doesn’t trust the IPCA and she knows that David and Lend won’t want her to go back either.

It’s hard for Evie because she wants to go back and help other paranormals out, the ones that need her help but she doesn’t know how to make Lend understand that the IPCA wasn’t perfect but they did help paranormals out, in their own way. So things happen and Evie goes back to work for the IPCA on her terms. She can pass on any assignment that comes her way if she thinks it’s too dangerous and she won’t work with any faeries. Raquel agrees to all of this and introduces her to her portal helper, non-faerie Jack. Jack can open faerie doors but isn’t a faerie so Evie goes back to work for the IPCA.

What I liked about this book was seeing everyone again. I really enjoyed getting to know Arianna, David, Lend’s Mom and everyone else in the book and seeing them again was great. I really like Lend and Evie together so seeing them together and in love without it being eye roll inducing was great. I liked that they’re still getting to know each other and they’re still in that I like her phase. I liked that they weren’t perfect but what I didn’t like was what I liked in the first book. The secrets. Evie had a lot of secrets in this book and she kept them from Lend. I really hate that she didn’t trust him enough to deal with her issues with her. When she kept the first secret and then the second secret, my heart hurt because she was being so unfair to Lend but alls well that ends well. By the time that she finally came free, I wanted to strangle her but I was glad that Lend finally knew the truth.

What I’m mighty curious about is where the heck is Lend’s Mom? Why has she been gone so long? Where did she go? Is there something wrong with her or what? Curious minds want to know and all that.

I never warmed up to Jack so I wasn’t completely surprised when all of the crap hit the fan at the end. It made sense since I’m usually all about new love interests and potential love interests and what not. I wonder if I’m going to find something out about Raquel because I can’t quite warm up to her either but I think it’s because she sighs too much. I hate when she sighs.

On the story front, I thought White did a fabulous job of weaving this story together. It started off slow but when it took off, it really took off. I really enjoyed seeing where Evie was in her life after the first book and watching her try to fumble her way through this new life that she’s building for herself was good stuff. It’s funny because when I first started Paranormalcy, I didn’t like Evie at all and now I love her. She’s not the most perfect of people but for me, that’s what I love the most. She could be anyone that I know, she’s this normal teenage girl who has these abilities and she’s trying to use her powers for good and mostly winning.

I’m anxious for the next book. I can’t wait to read it and if you haven’t read this book or series, you totally should. It’s a wonderfully entertaining YA paranormal series with likeable characters and a main character that will totally win you over. It’s a good one.

…and that’s your scoop!

This book is available from Harper Teen.
Buy the book: B&N|Amazon|Book Depository
Book cover and blurb credit: http://barnesandnoble.com

four-stars


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Review: Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Posted September 4, 2012 by Rowena in Reviews | 4 Comments

Review: Paranormalcy by Kiersten WhiteReviewer: Rowena
Paranormalcy (Paranormalcy, #1) by Kiersten White
Series: Paranormalcy #1
Also in this series: Supernaturally (Paranormalcy, #2)
Publisher: Harper Collins, Harper Teen
Publication Date: August 31st 2010
Genres: Young Adult
Pages: 335
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Discover the first book in a sparkling paranormal romance trilogy from Kiersten White, #1 New York Times bestselling author of And I Darken.

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

She’s also about to find out that she may be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures.

So much for normal.

For fans of Teen Wolf, Buffy, and Supernatural, this New York Times bestseller is a witty, fresh, and downright fun read that will capture your heart.

I’ve had this book sitting on my nook for the longest time and never got around to reading it. I would start it and then stop and then move on to something else but with my niece borrowing my kindle, I picked this book up on my nook again and finally read it through the end.

I’m glad that I read it through to the end.

This book follows a young woman named Evie who works for the IPCA (International Paranormal Containment Agency) and her job there is to bag and tag paranormal creatures that are behaving badly. Her special power is that she can see through any glamour that paranormals hide behind to the real things they are underneath. She’s an orphan that was tossed around in the foster system and then was discovered and “adopted” into the IPCA. Her handler, I guess you can call her, Raquel has been like an adopted mother to Evie and even though she doesn’t tell her much about anything, she’s all Evie has. She’s all Evie has ever had.

Even though Evie is content with the way that her life is, she’s not necessarily happy. She wants to be normal, or as normal as she can be. Her favorite TV show is Easton Heights, which is a show about high school. She wants to attend high school, have her own locker and kiss boys but since she can’t, living the way that she lives, she lives vicariously through the characters on her show. Evie’s never questioned her life until she bags and tags a paranormal that tried to break into the IPCA. His name is Lend. He’s a shape-shifter and he’s got some secrets that he won’t spill to Raquel or anyone else at the IPCA so in a cell he sits while they try to figure out what he is and what he was trying to do by breaking in.

Evie is intrigued by him so she sneaks into see him every chance she can and the more she sees him, the closer they get. The more she realizes that he’s not the bad guy that everyone seems to think that he is. When paranormals are dropping dead all over the place, Evie makes some decisions on where her loyalties lay and what she’s going to do about, well everything. Her life, the paranormal situation, etc.

In the beginning of this book, it took a while for me to warm up to Evie. Her attitude and her personality took some getting used to but as the book continued on, I really came to like her. I came to respect the hell out of her and admire the choices she made. She followed what she thought was right and didn’t let anyone talk her out of doing what she thought was right.

I’m not really big on the lighter paranormal stories. I don’t read very many of them because I prefer paranormals (when I read them) to be darker and more serious. I prefer my paranormal love interests/heroes to be the silent, brooding types but White does a really great job of drawing me into this story despite all of that. I really enjoyed watching the story unfold in pieces and I loved getting to know the characters.

I loved Lend (even though I’m not a fan of his name) and I’m really anxious to see more of him in Supernaturally. I loved the relationship that he had with his parents and I loved the way that he embraced Evie and showed her the things that she was missing, being trapped away with the IPCA. I really enjoyed the presence he had in Evie’s life and the influence he had on her. He made her a better person and it was just great.

I really enjoyed getting to know Evie as well, after that rocky start we had in the beginning. She was a really kick ass heroine, real strong and I loved that she used her powers for good and not evil. What I really liked about her was something that far too often, I hate in other characters in other books. I really liked that she was upfront and honest about what she dreaming about and what she thought was going to happen if she kept hanging out with Lend. I loved that she respected him enough to know why she was acting the way that she was. I loved that she protected him by giving him the knowledge he needed to protect himself and to help her any way that he could. I really liked that.

What I didn’t like was Raquel’s sighs. She sighed too hot damn much and it got on my nerves. Every time she sighed one of her “Why are you doing this to me” sighs and her “Why are you an idiot” sighs, I wanted to hit in her the face. I’m still on the fence with her but I did love the other characters that were introduced in this book. I can’t wait to dig into Supernaturally which is what I plan to do right after I finish this review.

I definitely recommend this book. It was good.

…and that’s your scoop!

This book is available from Harper Teen.
Buy the book: B&N|Amazon|Book Depository
Book cover and blurb credit: http://goodreads.com

four-stars


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