paranormalcy by kiersten white

 

Are you normal and wishing you were special? or paranormal?  Well, this is a book about a girl who is special and wishes like anything she could be normal.  She wants to go to high school, drive a car, have a locker, and go to prom.  Unfortunately, she can see beneath the masks that paranormals wear (their glamour) so she is part of paranormal law enforcement responsible for bagging and tagging paranormals so they can’t hurt humans.

Theology: God who?

Like so many paranormal novels, there is no explanation for the existence of faeries, vampires, trolls, werewolves, etc.  They just are and some are considered immortal.  There are human-like beings in the book that are created by faeries.  There is a lot of talk of souls, but no mention of God.  None of the paranormal characters are angels or demons.

Interestingly, the characters are instructed to carry bits of stale bread in their pockets to ward off the faeries because “bread is the staff of life for humans” and faeries won’t touch it.  A biblical reference? Dunno.

Maturity: G/PG

There is no profanity or sex in the book.  There is a lot of rule breaking and saying one thing and doing another (lying).  The attitude towards per-marital sex is condoning, although the main character wants to “take things slowly.”

Social Issues: Governmental ethics

This is the part of the book I liked best: the question of following blindly or questioning what you have been told.  How far can the government step before they are out of bounds?  Is everything black and white, or are there shades of gray when dealing with people (beings) that have the capacity to harm the innocent.  Just because you can kill, does it mean you will?  Are preventative measures necessary or ethical?  How much governmental interference is too much?

 
I hope the rest of the series is as good as this first novel.  There is a lot of potential surrounding this series.  Can’t wait to read the rest!