"Fun YA Paranormal Romance." The Casquette Girls by @AlysArden #romance #review
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The Casquette Girls
Written by Alys Arden
Genre(s): YA Paranormal Romance
After the Storm of the Century rips apart New Orleans, Adele Le Moyne and her father are among the first to return to the city following the mandatory evacuation. Adele wants nothing more than for life to return to normal, but with the silent city resembling a mold-infested war zone, a parish-wide curfew, and mysterious new faces lurking in the abandoned French Quarter, normal will have to be redefined.
Events too unnatural - even for New Orleans - lead Adele to an attic that has been sealed for three hundred years, and the chaos she unleashes threatens not only her life but everyone she knows. Mother Nature couldn't drain the joie de vivre from the Big Easy, but someone or something is draining life from its residents.
Caught suddenly in a hurricane of eighteenth-century myths and monsters, Adele must quickly untangle a web of magic that links the climbing murder rate back to her own ancestors. But who can you trust in a city where everyone has a secret, and where keeping them can be a matter of life and death - unless, that is, you're immortal.
Events too unnatural - even for New Orleans - lead Adele to an attic that has been sealed for three hundred years, and the chaos she unleashes threatens not only her life but everyone she knows. Mother Nature couldn't drain the joie de vivre from the Big Easy, but someone or something is draining life from its residents.
Caught suddenly in a hurricane of eighteenth-century myths and monsters, Adele must quickly untangle a web of magic that links the climbing murder rate back to her own ancestors. But who can you trust in a city where everyone has a secret, and where keeping them can be a matter of life and death - unless, that is, you're immortal.
Carolyn Lenz's Review
Fun YA Paranormal Romance
It’s amazing how much a proactive heroine improves the YA Paranormal Romance formula.
Before going any further, I feel I should mention that I was provided a free copy of the Casquette Girls by Alys Arden in exchange for a review. Now, on with the show:
The Casquette Girls weaves vampires, magic powers, and the history of New Orleans into an enjoyable story that knows when to be original, and when to lean on the classic tropes. Arden takes an ominous sounding term – Casquette Girls – and spins it into a clever mystery that spans centuries. Her post-storm New Orleans is vivid, and populated with memorable, believable characters, and her plot compelling and fun.
The main character, Adele, has a Crush On Every Boy, but I can’t say that’s inaccurate for a teen girl. She also comes across as a bit slow on the uptake, as Arden draws out the amount of time it takes her to figure out each new clue she finds. I understand that it’s to allow suspense to build, but you find yourself seeing each plot twist coming.
Around a third of the way through, we get introduced to Adele’s ancestor, Adeline, who left a diary describing how the vampires found their way to New Orleans. This sudden subplot adds a new layer to Adele’s relationships, and honestly might have been the most entertaining part of the book. I found myself disappointed when the Adeline chapters ended, and on the edge of my seat whenever a new one began.
The plot, as I mentioned, is best described as fun. Paranormal romance is Not My Thing, and the paranormal aspect takes a little while to assert itself, but I found myself going along for the ride once it got started. It’s light reading, but there’s nothing wrong with that.
The ending leaves a lot of unanswered questions in order to set up the sequel(s?), and I definitely plan on reading the next one when it comes out. If you’re into paranormal romance, you’ll probably love this book. If you’re not, it’s still worth giving it a shot.
Disclaimer: Book provided by the author free of charge in exchange for an honest review.
