Take Two: "Paranormalcy" by Kiersten White

We all do it, we read a book and we make an initial impression of it, whether it is a positive or negative impression it doesn't matter- just the fact that we make one matters. And sometimes the impression that we make can very well be impacted by factors outside of the book (ie. our mood while reading the book, other books we were reading at the time, etc.). We then reread the book (which I don't know about y'all, but I am totally a rereader) and notice things we didn't see the first time around, come to understand those characters who bothered us the first time around or just come away from the book with a totally different idea of how we feel about it. As mentioned, I am a rereader sort of person, whether I reread a book right after my initial time reading it, or months, if not years later, well, I don't think that really matters, what I think matters is that with time something about that book hooks us, reels us in, and forces us to once again pick it up. I thought that it would be interesting if I were to reread some books that I have previously read and/or reviewed to see if my initial impression of the book has changed, hence this new little feature I like to call "Take Two".

My original review of "Paranormalcy" can be found HERE.

 From Goodreads: "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."

I am not going to lie, when I first read this book I was one of those people who was more than a little turned off of Evie because I found her to be an entirely superficial individual. I think that why I was so turned off by her was because I felt that she went against everything that I stand for as a female (ie. she always seemed to be concerned about her make-up or how her clothing made her feel and things of that nature), however, after rereading it I came to realize that that wasn't the case at all. Because Evie was the only teenager living at the Center she hadn't really been exposed to people her age before. Therefore she relied upon popular culture, specifically her favorite television show Easton Heights (a trashy sounding TV show where all of the characters were always hooking up or breaking up with one another, similar to Gossip Girl or The Hills), to gauge how teenagers were supposed to act- it wasn't like she chose to act the way that she did, it was the only way she knew how to. When you think about it, it really is sad.

I just feel like I liked all of the characters more the second time around. Take Lend for instance, I didn't think that it was possible, but I loved him even more the second time around. The boy was just such a rock and really held Evie together when she needed it. And Vivian, well, maybe I didn't like her more per se, but I sympathisized for her even more- she was raised by people who didn't see her as a person, only seeing her as a weapon, therefore she hadn't truly experienced love in her life. And Reth, the first time I read of him I couldn't really stomach him at all, but this time around? Well, I found myself liking him more and more (not that I would ever want Evie to choose him over Lend)- I just found him to be entirely intriguing and a character I really want to know more about.

So what does this mean? I fully take back my earlier claims that this book was pretty superficial (if anything, the undertones of this book are quite sad). I highly recommend this book to those who have yet to read it (seriously, you are missing out- Kiersten is such a talented writer, especially when it comes to writing comedic situations and events)!

Memorable lines from the book:

"When I got to my unit, I went straight to my bedroom and dug around under my bed until I found the three-pound dumbbells I had stolen from one of Bud's training sessions. They were iron, the best protection against faeries. Or at least, I was pretty sure they were iron. Okay, I really, really hoped they wer eiron, because my only other option was to sleep with my knife on my chest. Images of impaling myself during a nightmare flew through my head..." (pg. 69). 

"According to Easton Heights, a fistfight over a girl should be breaking out at some point today, followed by a tear-streaked catfight in the girl's bathroom. Should I keep my eyes open? And, more important, do I join the fight, or just watch?" (pg. 241).

Best movie ever- no idea what it was, though, didn't really care." (pg. 250).