My Review for PARANORMALCY by Kiersten White

Ok I heard so much about this book I just HAD to read it. I am soooo glad I did. Lots of light hearted moments, a pink Taser *giggles* and mystery all wrapped up in one huge pink bow. Ms. White's debut young adult book delivers so much that it was hard to put it into words but I will give it my best shot.

My Review to one of 2010's best YA Paranormal books:

Kiersten White’s debut young adult novel is full of surprises, fun and mystery all rolled u p with a pretty sparkly pink bow. 

PARANORMALCY is a fast paced ride with a few interesting twists and turns to keep things interesting, some amazingly life like characters that you grow to love and a really nasty fairy guy who I wanted to hit with a really big stick. Nope this isn’t your average young adult book, by far. It was charming and the writing was quite good. The author did a great job in creating something fresh from the tired paranormal genre and delivers something so unique, it left me wanting more when the last page was read. I was racing to the computer to see when book two was coming out and wondering if I could handle the wait for more Evie adventures.

          Meet Evie, a normal sixteen girl who loves pink and can beat up a vampire. She h as lived and worked for the International Paranormal Containment Agency since she was eight when they found her wandering alone and on top of it, she is the only person in the world who can see beneath the glamor of paranormals. Evie is a character I liked off the bat. She had a taser she had colored pink, loved TV and shopping and thought her life was as normal as can be though if she could dream, she wanted to go to a normal school with normal teenagers, like on her favorite TV show. Ms. White does a great job in getting teenager angst down perfectly especially when Evie finds herself up against something she has no idea how to kill. Vague prophecies, a former fae boyfriend is giving her grief and stalking her and no one seems to believe her on this. I really, really hated Reth, the ex-fae boyfriend. He was creepy and frankly I wanted to beat him with a stick each time he popped up, which was a lot. Though I definitely give this author props in creating a story with subtle word building and the fact she didn’t overwhelm the reader in the first few chapters with it all. She weaved it through the story at a nice even pace and it had me enthralled from the time I sat down in the afternoon to when I finished the book, three hours later. Great cast of characters kept the story flowing nicely and a love triangle had me rooting for Evie to find her one and only.

         PARANORMALCY is a story that will have you laughing at times, and other times, racing to see what would happen next. I can not wait for the next book in the trilogy to be here and am hoping this author doesn’t keep us in suspense too long. If you are looking for a story that has paranormal creatures, mysteries, government agencies, prophecies and scary beautiful faries all together in one book, than you will enjoy PARANORMALCY. It’s an enchanting story that will keep you glued to the edge of your seat. Normal just got overrated. 

So there you have it. If you haven't checked this book out yet, I hope you click on the box above and grab it from Amazon. You will NOT be disappointed. I just hope I am not waiting forever for the second book. :)

Want to know more on Kiersten's work and see what up with her check out her website HERE

Book Review: Unraveled by Gena Showalter

UNRAVELED by Gena Showalter

Book 2 in Series

Harlequin Teen

August 31^st, 2010

978-0-373-21022-0

Paranormal Young Adult

Obtained by Publisher

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Aden Stone finally found a place to belong in Crossroads, Oklahoma. He is going to a public school, has friends and is finally able to focus on living his life…even if it includes vampires, werewolves and other paranormal creatures all who want Aden in some way or form. Aden is also the de facto King of the Vampires and oh yeah…he is still human. Life is about to get even more chaotic as war is brewing and somehow Aden finds himself center stage within it all. Can Aden try to stop this war from happening before he loses everything including his life?

I have to admit, UNRAVELED just didn’t do it for me like the first book, Intertwined, did. It was longer, had more sub-plots than ever and a few new characters to keep the reader interested. Too bad it felt like I needed a score card half the time to figure out who were the bad guys, the good guys and the ones that were neutral. I am not sure if it was the mood I was in or what but this next chapter in Aden’s story was quite jumbled. Between all the different sub-plots and characters, after reading half way through, I had to put the book down and give myself a break for a few days. It was quite hard to figure out who was what and why they were there to begin with. I normally love this authors work and though UNRAVELED didn’t hit all my buttons; it was still a satisfying read.

Aden still has three souls inside him and he is dealing with the aftereffects of being bitten not once but twice by two different vampires. The witches have placed a curse on him and his friends and everyone, it seems, wants apiece of him. Oh yeah...he is also the de facto vampire king as well. Aden figures life can not get any worse until it does…in spades. I loved Aden in Intertwined. He was smart, likable and had vulnerabilities that had me melting on the spot. It doesn’t change in this latest adventure at all. The one thing I have to admit is that this author knows how to create some intriguing characters. Aden, Mary Ann, Riley and Victoria are a quartet of friends and though one is a vampire Princess, a werewolf protector and a magic dampener, all are connected in some shape or form to one another. Ms. Showalter delivers complex characters that resonate with the reader. They are fallible, have vulnerabilities that come across the pages and completely captivate the reader. That is what saved the book in my eyes even though it was quite confusing at times with all the characters running around. 

UNRAVELED is an interesting story and one that started out great but ended in a mystery that had me gasping in disbelief. Ms. Showalter is normally a great storyteller who missed the mark slightly in this latest installment of her young adult series. UNRAVELED is a good second story but making sure to have a score card handy for all the sub-plots and characters. I look forward to more from this author and hope the next book in the series, is not as jumbled or confusing.