Kiersten White

RTW #107: Best November Read

Similar to Friday Fives, Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ hosted by the fabulous ladies over at YA Highway. Each Wednesday, they post a weekly writing - or reading - related question, and we all get to blog about it!

And this week's topic:

What's the best book you read in November?

I'll admit, my TBR pile is gi-nor-mous right now. I'm talking jam-packed with tons of amazing reads I just can't wait to get to. Reads such as: DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE, SHUT OUT, HOURGLASS, LOOKING FOR ALASKA, ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY, NORTH OF BEAUTIFUL, and A NEED SO BEAUTIFUL. And those are only a handful of what's to come, stacked precariously on my dresser, in front of my bed. Waiting. Patiently. 

But alas, revisions, revisions, take precedence over everything else right now. Not to mention, NaNoWriMo (which, I'd like to proudly admit, I will hit the 50k marker tonight!).

However, I have promised myself to read a little something, every night before I go to bed. And because of that, I do have two books I will chalk up to the best I've read in November:

SUPERNATURALLY by Kiersten White

The sequel to PARANORMALCY - which, I must say, had me laughing in silent laugh mode (which on the scale of laughter, is up there pretty high) on several occasions. The second installment, while maybe not as ha-larious as the first, was still entertaining. 

Plus, my copy is an autographed hardback that I won - so that just makes it even better. 

Goodreads Summary:

Evie finally has the normal life she’s always longed for. But she’s shocked to discover that being ordinary can be . . . kind of boring. Just when Evie starts to long for her days at the International Paranormal Containment Agency, she’s given a chance to work for them again. Desperate for a break from all the normalcy, she agrees.

But as one disastrous mission leads to another, Evie starts to wonder if she made the right choice. And when Evie’s faerie ex-boyfriend Reth appears with devastating revelations about her past, she discovers that there’s a battle brewing between the faerie courts that could throw the whole supernatural world into chaos. The prize in question? Evie herself.

So much for normal.

THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER by Michelle Hodkin

I'm actually still reading this one right now. And I will already say, I absolutely love it. It's not at all what I expected (so far) and I know I'm not even to the good stuff yet. Plus, I love the boy, Noah (even if he smokes, he's still yum). And Michelle Hodkin does Teen, amazingly well. 

This one is good. 

GoodReads Summary:

Mara Dyer doesn't think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.

There is.

She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love.

She's wrong.

So, what good books did you read in the past 30 days?

Afterall, that TBR pile of mine is just begging for one more to topple it over!

My Review: Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Paranormalcy (Paranormalcy, #1)Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Goodreads Summary:

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.

My Review:

Okay, so I'll admit it: I actually had zero interest in reading this book simply because it had vampires (so over them), werewolves (really?), shape-shifters (blah), faeries (...), and mermaids (I know they're all the rage; I just can't get into them). But thanks to a Friday Fives blog post on great first lines by my lovely writerly friend Alicia Gregoire, I was totally hooked. The opening line is ha-larious! I mean, come on:

"Wait--did you--you just yawned!" The vampire's arms, raised over his head in the classic Dracula pose, dropped to his sides.

That right there told me this book was going to be something different. Kiersten White put a very humorous spin on a variety of characters that have seen their time in the spotlight (at least until they become popular again, twenty years from now).

On more than one occasion, I went into silent laugh mode - especially when the main character Evie would censor herself by saying, "oh, bleep." or when I pictured the funny way she'd say goodbye to her friend Lish (she's the mermaid) by blowing up her cheeks on the glass of her tank. I loved the interaction between she and Lend (the shape-shifter), but wish there had been more between she and Reth (the Faerie); but I'm sure that's coming in the next book...at least I hope so!

Just an overall super fun read and wasn't at all what I was expecting - okay, maybe just a little bit. But still, I really, really enjoyed this one! And to make it all better? I won an autographed copy of the sequel, SUPERNATURALLY (thanks to the wonderful Jessica Kim!), which I just received - and so can't wait to read.

Fun read - definitely recommend.

View all my reviews