Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Released: August 2010

Publisher: Harper Teen

# Pages: 335

Copy provided by: Bought

Summary: Goodreads

Weird as it is working for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, Evie's always thought of herself as normal. Sure, her best friend is a mermaid, 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 still. Normal. Only now paranormals are dying, and Evie's dreams are filled with haunting voices and mysterious prophecies. She soon realizes that there may be a link between her abilities and the sudden rash of deaths. Not only that, but she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures. So much for normal.

Evie is a normal human with a special gift. Or is she? Lend is a paranormal who can look like anyone he wants, male or female, but what is he? Reth is a seriously creepy fairy with an obsession for Evie. Put them all together and you have Paranormalcy, a story filled with mystery, intrigue, death, love, obsession, fae and wonderful humour.

'Lend's dad, two werewolves, and a vampire. It was like the setup to a bad joke or something. A doctor, two werewolves, and a vampire walk into a bar. "What'll you have?' the bartender asks. "We were thinking him," the vampire answers, eyeing the doctor.' (206)

Evie is such a loveable dork. She like to wear sparkly pink, her weapon of choice is a pink taser, and her biggest dream is to go to a real highschool and have a locker. Plus, she can kick serious butt. What's not to love about her?

' "I give you - my locker." It was a sickly teal, paint chipping off the corners to reveal a previous tan coat. I reached out and put my hand on the cold metal. "So, is it everything you imagined?" he asked. "Everything I imagined and more," I whispered,' (241)

And the fact that the book is full of swearing, without having one actual swear word - only lots of bleep! So cool!

Lend's father, David, was a rather nice parental role model. There has been a lot of discussion about negative parenting in YA lately, so it was a change to have a father who was concerned about Lend and grounded him for his indiscretions, without going over the top. I liked him. Lend himself - swoon. I am having a serious case of lust. Just can't decide which of his outward appearances I liked best. I just loved the fact that he wasn't too macho to admit he was scared. Another thing I liked was the acceptance of differences, which was aparent in many areas of the book. I love tolerance!

'My jaw dropped. Underneath her glamour her back was hollow like an old tree, and she had a tail. "What is she?" I whispered. "Nona? Oh, she's a huldra. Tree spirit." Watching her and the other paranormals in there, things shifted for me. They were vibrant, happy, not hurting anyone. This was a good place.' (229)

' "So you really are one of a kind, aren't you?" ......... "You are so freaking awesome." ' (226)

Paranormalcy was one of those books where I want to quote from almost every chapter. I loved just about everything about this book. the story skipped along at a nice pace with tension, laughter and sadness in equal measure. It was so much fun to read. My only regret is that I have finished it way too soon and there won't be another one for a while - but at least there will be another one, two even. 'Supernaturally' is due out in the Fall, 2011. I would say 'Paranormalcy' is an absolute must for YA paranormal fans. Lots of what you love, but different. Try it.

Alpha by Rachel Vincent

Released: October 1st, 2010

Publisher: Mira

# Pages: 473

Copy provided by: Publisher through Netgalley
Summary: Netgalley

YOU’VE GOT TO HAVE FAYTHE…
The unscrupulous new Council chair has charged Jace, Marc and me with trespassing, kidnapping, murder and treason. Yeah, we’ve been busy. But now it’s time to take justice into our own hands. We must avenge my brother’s death and carve out the rot at the heart of the Council.
It’s not going to be easy, and loss seems unavoidable, but I have promised to protect my Pride, no matter what. With a target on my back and Marc at my side, I’m heading for a final showdown that can—that will—change everything forever. A showdown I’m not sure I’m ready for. But life never waits until you’re ready.


I was lucky enough to be one of only a few people who were given access to an ARC of Alpha. Thank you so much Ms Vincent and Netgalley. Alpha is the 6th and final book in Ms. Vincent's shapeshifter series. I have to admit to only having read the first in the series, prior to this one, but I did not find that a handicap at all. (I have read all of the YA Soulscreamers series though, which I absolutely loved. Check HERE for my review of My Soul to Keep.) Ms. Vincent mentions events from previous books with just enough detail to enable you to keep reading without being lost, and just enough to make you want to go back and read the others in depth and find out 'exactly' what happened.


The main character is Faythe - a rather spunky werecat - who has obviously proven in previous books (at least to those people that matter to her) that she is just as good as the guys, in every way. Her strength of character is severely put to the test in this final book and she has to prove to everyone this time around that she is good enough to lead the pride. I don't want to give away any of the story, but there is lots of action and some unusual shifters that I have never encountered before. The fact that the main characters are werecats, and not typical werewolves, is a nice change, and there is a strong sense of family and duty throughout the book that was very compelling. The bad guys were really nasty and the good guys were really good, and I found myself really enjoying the conflict. There is, of course, the love triangle, which seems to be almost a pre-requisite for paranormal/shapeshifting/urban fantasy these day, but Ms Vincent handled it well and I was quite happy with the way the story concluded. I wonder I would have felt differently if I'd read the middle 4 books?


At 473 pages this is not a short book, but I never once felt that the action was dragging or that the story was getting bogged down. Being the last book in the series, you are fairly certain that everthing is going to work out in the end, but the proccess of getting there was an interesting and involved one, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I will probably try and read the books in the series that I missed, but only because I'm curious about the details, not because the story didn't make sense. For those of you who are interested the six books are Stray, Rogue, Pride, Prey, Shift and Alpha.

I'll leave you with a favourite passage from the book

'"....I know you better than anyone else ever will. I know what nightmares wake you up in the middle of the night. I know where you go to be alone when you sneak off during a group run. I know that you're every bit as tough as the face you show the world, but that underneath that, you're scared. And I also know that fear has never stopped you from doing a damn thing you put your heart into. So why can't you put your heart into us?"'


Note: It has just dawned on me that this is our first non-YA review, but to be honest on the strength of this last book in the series, I can see no reason why older teens couldn't read this one - just remember I'm basing this opinion on only 2 of the six, and I'm not sure of the content of the others. I suspect that in at least one of the others there may be some sexual content, but I could be wrong.

Manifest by Artist Arthur

Hi all, curlypow here. This is my first review from a yet-to-be published ARC, and it was so much fun knowing that I could read this book ahead of time and tell you all about it.

Manifest by Artist Arthur

Pub Date: 08/01/2010
e-ARC courtesy of Harlequin and Net Galley

Krystal is a typical teen. Mad at her parents for getting divorced, mad at her mom for getting remarried, mad at her stepfather for trying too hard, and mad at her dad for not being around when she needs him. Then there's the fact that her mom moved her from her home and relocated to Lincoln, in the back end of nowhere. Could things get any worse? Well perhaps the fact that she is seeing, and hearing, ghosts might count.

Ricky is one of those ghosts she's talking to and he wants Krystal to find out who killed him - but where should she start? Krystal becomes friends with Sasha and Jake, two other misfits at her highschool and together they try to help find Ricky's murderer. Of course for Krystal, the fact that she's crushing on a dead guy doesn't help matters!

I have to be honest that when I started reading this I wasn't too sure about it, and I found Krystal a little annoying, but before long I was hooked. Krystal, Sasha and Jake were believable without being too over-the-top and Krystal's transition from moody to accepting was well handled. There is a good lesson in here, for both teens and adults. The mystery behind Ricky's death was somewhat startling, but I don't want say too much about it or I'll give away the story. It's an interesting and awkward subject and would make this story a great addition to our ISU list, in the social issues category. I ended up really enjoying the story. It looks as though this may turn into a series and I will look forward to reading more about these characters.