Book Review: Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

To make sure I keep up on reading in my busy life, I've decided that on Saturdays, I'll be posting a book review. And this is my first:

 Title: Paranormalcy
Author: Kiersten White
Publisher: HarperTeen
Genre: Young Adult (paranormal)
Rating: 4/5 stars
Why I read it/how I found it: A friend in one of my classes said it was written by an alumni of her high school, and that it was really good and unique in terms of the paranormal YA genre.
Description: 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.
Review:
Well, I for one had read enough on vampires/werewolves/fairies to last me a while. But when my friend said that this book was unique, I decided to give it a try, because I really do like paranormal. And I loved this book. White's writing as Evie was very teenage-esque, without (for the most part) being over-bearing at trying to sound  "hip" or whatever some authors think teens sound like now. Evie had little quirks about her that were so very teenage girl without being stereotypical that I could identify with a lot of her, but she was still unique enough to stand as a well-rounded character. The story was fresh, I was always wondering what was really going on, and I predicted almost nothing as to the mystery in the story of what was killing these paranormals and why. It was definitely not a plotline I could easily trace out ahead of time. And the creatures were not just limited to vampires, werewolves, and fairies, there were also mermaids, hags, water spirits, and a creature that I'm not entirely sure is even traditional paranormal. And ah, of course, the love interests! What YA book doesn't have them now? But the nice thing about Evie is that she realized her ex-boyfriend Reth was PSYCHO and wasn't turned on by his uber creepiness like some characters in other paranormal books, and yet he still had some type of crazy power that drew her into him, even though she hated it. Reth's characterization is awesome, too, I had shivers down my spine whenever he came in the scene. And Evie's development with Lend was great. Started out with just wanting to flirt since she never had the chance to like a real teen, then grew into friendship, and then she liked him. Unfortunately, some of the romance was cliche (the whole "we kissed and it was great and I have no idea how long it was, it might have been a short time, it might have been a long time, I don't know it was just that great" [obviously paraphrasing there, it was worded better, but still cliche]). Other than some of those types of phrases, though, I enjoyed watching the developing relationship between Evie and Lend.
Recommendation: Read.
Should I buy it?: If you like YA and you like paranormal, YES. If it still sounds interesting to you but you aren't sure if it's your thing or you're like me and kinda tired of paranormal, then try to find a copy at your library or borrow one from a friend. But I did buy it and I'm not regretting it.
Other information: This is a series! It is the first of the Paranormalcy series. The next book Supernaturally comes out on August 30, and the third book (yet to have a title) will come out in Fall of 2012. You can find out more about Paranormalcy and Kiersten White at her website here.

I hope you all enjoyed my first book review! I have about four or five books lined up to read next, but if you have any suggestions as to what I should read, please let me know.