- Published : August 31st 2010
- Publisher : HarperTeen
- Genre : Paranormal/Romance
- Audiobook Length : 8 hours 40 minutes
Synopsis: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 paranormals’ glamours.
But Evie’s about to realize that she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures.
So much for normal.
Evie, the heroine ofParanormalcy has spent most of her life working for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, a government
organization chasing after and “bagging and tagging” dangerous Paranormals; using nothing but her skills to see through glamours and her Taser. Evie is painted as your average strong who can fend for herself against some pretty scary creatures
Oh, and she likes pink.
For some reason her preference for a pink taser and pink leather boots seemed to go hand in
hand with Claudia Gray’s “I’m Not Like Other Girls post.
Follow me on this, not only is Evie not like other girls but
she is exactly like other girls. Evie has spent her entire life living
in the walls of the IPCA with only paranormals and government workers to keep her company. Her only
real connection to the world of her teenage peers is through her favorite TV teen drama Easton Heights, teen magazines and movies
Her personality
reflects her ‘media-saturated’ image of what a teenage girl is supposed to be and it works for her.
This creates a level of optimism and enthusiasm in the character as well as some tension concerning her future. Evie starts to realize how closed in her life is. Can she have a life outside IPCA ? Is she even allowed to ? I liked how Evie’s actions and emotions are examined. When tragedy strikes she realizes her obsession with shopping and being a normal teen might not be the only important thing. Evie also spends quite a few times realizing it might be time for her to grow out of her selfishness and teenage indulgences.
In the midst of this Evie begins crushing on Lend, an unusual shape shifting teenage boy who just happens to also be a prisoner at IPCA. As the relationship between Lend and Evie grows so does the mystery surrounding Evie’s true destiny and the mysterious deaths of several paranormals. Throw in a cryptic prophecy , tricky faeries and teen angst and you’ve got a fun, simple and sweet paranormal romance.
The audiobook is narrated by Emily Eiden, she is a great actress and took Evie’s personality to heart. Her interpretation of Evie actually sounded like a teenage girl and seemed inspired by Cher from Clueless. As fitting as I found this interpretation it also became a little grating. Additionally Eiden’s other voices sounded exactly the same. Her voices just didn’t lend much to the other characters
Overall, Paranormalcy is a delightful read for any YA paranormal fan because normalcy is just a little overrated.
Sidenote : Extra points, because the heroine actually wears the dress on the front cover of the novel.
1/2 of the blogging duo at Books and Sensibility, I have been blogging about and reviewing books since 2011. I read any and every genre, here on the blog I mostly review Fantasy, Adult Fiction, and Young Adult with a focus on audiobooks.