Book Review: Supernaturally by Kiersten White

Release Date: July 26, 2011
Publisher: HarperTeen
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 352

Source: My local library.

Summary:
A lot has changed in the six months since Evie escaped from the International Paranormal Containment Agency with her shape-shifter boyfriend, Lend. She finally has the blissfully normal life she’s always dreamed of, including
1) A real live high school
2) A perfectly ordinary after-school job
3) Her very own locker (and by the way, rusted metal is every bit as awesome as she imagined)

But Evie’s not-so-normal past keeps creeping up on her...and things get pretty complicated when you factor in:
1) A centuries-old, seriously decaying vampire stalker
2) A crazy faerie ex-boyfriend who is the perpetual bearer of really bad news
3) A major battle brewing between the faerie courts where e prize in question happens to be...Evie herself.

So much for normal. (From Kiersten White's website.)
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Paranormalcy--the first book in this series--was pink, sparkly fun, and I am pleased to announce that the laughs--and the pink--are still present in the second book of the trilogy, Supernaturally. Evie, the main character, has come a long way from page one of Paranormalcy, in which she takes down paranormals such as vampires with Buffy-esque wit and Tasey, her pink taser, while longing for a normal high school life.

The beginning of Supernaturally finds our spunky heroine living a fairly normal life. Her roommate is a vampire, and her boyfriend is an immortal shapeshifter, but her high school is normal. (Read: boring.) And, since she no longer works for IPCA, the International Paranormal Containment Agency, she is free to focus on the terrors of real life, like girls' gym, a boyfriend who's in college and can only visit on the weekends, and the fact that her favorite teen drama is in reruns.

Normalcy is overrated.

So when Raquel shows up with an offer for side jobs with IPCA, and an impish, annoying new assistant named Jack, Evie says yes, even though Lend--her boyfriend--and her other new friends disapprove. Author Kiersten White combines this disagreement with mysterious faerie attacks, the reappearance of Evie's ex-faerie-boyfriend Reth, and some startling revelations about Evie's origins to create an intricate, interesting tale.*

While I recommend reading this series in order (readers who do not will likely be confused), Supernaturally stands enough apart from Paranormalcy to be a good story in itself. White avoids a potential snoozer or simple bridge to the last book in the novel by adding characters like Jack and building more complexity into the characters readers already know.

Supernaturally is a breezy read, but, as with Paranormalcy, I didn't find it impossible to put down. I like Evie and Lend and the other characters, but I wasn't emotionally attached to them. White's writing, on the other hand, is fantastic. She turns on a dime from funny to profound, and in the end her plot threads all come together beautifully. I recommend Supernaturally to readers of paranormal romance, contemporary and realistic fiction (despite the paranormal twists, Supernaturally deals with surprisingly common teen drama, like the horrors of college applications), and readers who like sweet, clean romance. And laughing. Because anyone who reads one of Kiersten White's books will be doing a lot of that.
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*Evie isn't completely normal; she has some special abilities. But you can read all about those in Paranormalcy.

Book Review: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Release Date: February 8, 2011
Publisher: Viking
Age Group: Adult
Pages: 592

Source: My local library.

Summary:

When historian Diana Bishop opens a bewitched alchemical manuscript in Oxford’s Bodleian Library it represents an unwelcome intrusion of magic into her carefully ordinary life. Though descended from a long line of witches, she is determined to remain untouched by her family’s legacy. She banishes the manuscript to the stacks, but Diana finds it impossible to hold the world of magic at bay any longer.

For witches are not the only otherworldly creatures living alongside humans. There are also creative, destructive daemons and long-lived vampires who become interested in the witch’s discovery. They believe that the manuscript contains important clues about the past and the future, and want to know how Diana Bishop has been able to get her hands on the elusive volume.

Chief among the creatures who gather around Diana is vampire Matthew Clairmont, a geneticist with a passion for Darwin. Together, Diana and Matthew embark on a journey to understand the manuscript’s secrets. But the relationship that develops between the ages-old vampire and the spellbound witch threatens to unravel the fragile peace that has long existed between creatures and humans—and will certainly transform Diana’s world as well. (From deborahharkness.com)
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A Discovery of Witches had me from the first chapter. The story begins in Oxford, where Diana Bishop, a historian specializing in alchemy, is doing research in the Bodleian Library. Much geeky fun is to be had in author Deborah Harkness's descriptions of the library and the old manuscripts Diana methodically explores. Harkness, like her protagonist--Diana--is a historian; thus, her descriptions of Diana's scholarly practices are probably accurate, and I enjoyed reading about Diana's research.

Diana is the last of the Bishops, a family of powerful witches. For the most part, she neglects her magic. So when one of the manuscripts she requests appears to be enchanted, she examines it as she would examine any normal manuscript, and she sends it back to the stacks. Later, when she wants to glance in a periodical at the top of a tall shelf, however, she decides to use her magic instead of wasting time getting help. A vampire sees her grab the book, and she is forced into meeting him. The vampire's name is Matthew Clairmont, a geneticist, and he is interested in the enchanted manuscript she examined earlier.

In Harkness's world, there are two types of beings: creatures and humans, and there are three types of creatures: witches, vampires, and daemons (freakishly creative and/or intelligent types). All three groups of creatures are interested in this mysterious book, but no one--until Diana--has been able to call it from the stacks of the Bodleian since the 1800s. Before the reader knows it, creatures are stalking Diana, and Matthew steps in as her protector. Also--of course--they begin to fall in love.

From here, Harkness crafts a tale full of mystery, magic, and plenty of historical tidbits. Unfortunately, the plot runs out of steam in the middle of the novel. Also, A Discovery of Witches begins to read like Twilight, but with an adult witch as the leading lady instead of a teenager. Matthew Clairmont is a typically manly and overprotective vampire. While Matthew is getting to know Diana, one of his friends points out that it sounds like he is hunting Diana, and Matthew replies, "'I know. I climbed into her window when she was sleeping. I follow her when she's running. She resists my attempts to help her, and the more she does, the hungrier I feel.'" Sound familiar? Not to mention creepy?

Diana is a strong, intelligent woman with the potential to be a very powerful witch, and I still can't figure out why she goes along with Matthew's overbearing behavior without complaining in any truly forceful terms until page 284, where she says, "'Stop telling me what to do, Matthew. My ideas about vampires may be romantic, but your attitudes toward women need a major overhaul.'"*

Amen, sister.

I may not be able to stand Matthew and Diana's romance, but I appreciate them both as characters. My favorite characters, though, are the secondary ones. Harkness creates a large-ish cast of endearing characters, including Matthew's mysterious family and Diana's two aunts in upstate New York. The settings of the novel--Oxford, France, and New York--are also fun and make for enjoyable armchair travel.

And while I found it difficult to push through the middle of A Discovery of Witches, the end (while not nearly as enthralling as the beginning) is satisfying enough. Discovery of Witches is the first in the All Souls trilogy, and next novel is due out in 2012.  I recommend A Discovery of Witches to readers of paranormal romance, historical fiction, travel stories, and mysteries with a supernatural twist. This is a novel that may also have some crossover appeal with teens. A Discovery of Witches contains the kind of characters that take up residence in a person's head and play with one's imagination all day, and I am eager to see where Harkness takes them next.
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*More importantly, I don't understand why the author, an academic and therefore an intelligent woman herself, would create such a fictional relationship. I am interested to see how the tension between Diana's own power and Matthew's overprotective instincts plays out.

Book Review: Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Release Date: August 31, 2010
Publisher: HarperTeen
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 352

Source: Bought.

Summary:

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. (From the author's website)

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Ohmigosh, so fun! So pink. So side-splittingly funny.

Evie, the main character of Kiersten White's Paranormalcy, wandered away from her foster parents when she was eight years old. She ended up in a graveyard where she saw a vampire, learned she could see through paranormals' human-like glamours to their true natures, and was subsequently snatched up by IPCA, the International Paranormal Containment Agency. Now she's a hardworking teen with a full time job identifying, bagging, and tagging paranormals with Tasey, her pink rhinestoned taser.

Evie's world is shaken early in the novel by the arrival of a handsome shape-shifting paranormal boy. Soon, she's questioning the hard line between paranormals and humans and brushing aside disturbing hints that her world, and her identity, aren't what they seem. It doesn't help that her faerie ex-boyfriend is up to no good.

Paranormalcy is a quick--though not wildly unputdownable--read with a creative spin on paranormal romance and mythology. While I wasn't always crazy about Evie's repetitive first person voice, her narration is engaging and funny; I dare anyone who picks Paranormalcy up to keep a straight face. Moreover, White delivers not one, but two attractive male leads. The winner of Evie's heart is obvious, but it's still fun to watch the romance--and the most adorable first kiss scene I've read in a long time--take shape.

As the novel progresses, Evie's world goes from simple to complex, and she learns to think of normal in new ways.

I recommend Paranormalcy to readers who enjoy paranormal fiction, squeaky clean (and super cute) romances, books with both humor and attitude, and anyone looking for a quick, fun read.* Paranormalcy left me many lovable characters and enjoyable scenes to carry in my head after finishing it. Oh, bleep!** I can't wait for the sequel.
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*Evie uses Buffy-esque snark on more than one bag and tag mission.
**You'll get it if you read the book.

Book Review: The Ghosts of Ashbury High by Jaclyn Moriarty

Release Date: June 1, 2010

Publisher Arthur A. Levine Books

Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 496

Book Source: Bought.

(I'm not a fan of the U.S. cover; everytime I see it I want to pull that girl's shirt down, although I do think the color scheme fits.)

Summary:

Dreaming of Amelia (or The Ghosts of Ashbury High, in the US and Canada) is the story of Amelia and Riley. They're bad kids from the bad crowd at bad Brookfield High, and they've just transferred to Ashbury.

Brilliant, mysterious and probably evil, they have the rich kids at Ashbury spellbound. But just who are Amelia and Riley? Tantalisingly aloof, they are somehow managing to have an extraordinary impact on all the HSC Ashbury students, and the staff.

Told through memoirs written as part of the gothic fiction elective in the HSC English exam, Dreaming of Amelia is a story about ghosts, secrets, madness, passion, locked doors, femme fatales – and that terrifying moment in the final year of high school when you realise that the future's come to get you. (From Jaclyn Moriarty's website)

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At 496 pages, The Ghosts of Ashbury High is a lengthy novel. The main storylines--the mystery of Amelia and Riley and an apparent haunting in Ashbury's Art Rooms--unfold slowly behind the details of each character's life, including romance and the stress of the HSC exams (The Higher School Certificate, which, according to Jaclyn Moriarty, "is a series of exams taken by students in New South Wales at the end of their final year of school") as well as the interesting tale and slice of Australian history in the story of an Irish convict sent to Australia in the early 1800s.

The story is told entirely in written documents, including gothic fiction themed HSC essay questions, blog posts, and e-mails. All the documents, which range from businesslike to historical fiction-esque, piece together a smart, involving tale.

More importantly, though, this book is funny. Screamingly, and often subtly, so. (I.e., if I'd been drinking milk while reading this book, I would've snorted it out my nose about a bajillion times. So obviously I didn't drink milk while reading it, but if I had...) The gothic themed questions and evidence of a ghost at Ashbury High also make for delicious, creepy storytelling that takes intelligent and deep turns. Adults receive some stage time in the book, and I think this title has cross-over appeal.

When the story came together in the last third of the book, I was satisfied, surprised, and spellbound.

The bottom line? This book is genius. I recommend reading it if you like laughing, thinking, and books with originality. Also, if you've read the other books in Moriarty's Ashbury series (Feeling Sorry for Celia, The Year of Secret Assignments, and The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie) you won't want to miss this one. Em, Cas, Lyd, Toby, and many other characters are back, and their voices are as hilarious and enjoyable as ever.