The Casquette Girls by Alys Arden
Skyscape Books, 2015
ISBN-13: 978-1503946545
Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, Audible
New Orleans, with its rich history and varied people, reeks of life, death, and mystery, intriguing both writers and readers. Anne Rice, Heather Graham, and Poppy Z. Brite have captured the wonders and horrors well: the Big Easy is more than a colorful backdrop, it is a living, breathing character integral to their stories.
New Orleans native Alys Arden, with her debut novel, The Casquette Girls, succeeds at this as well: she knows her city, and her audience will experience much more than the glitz of Bourbon Street. While it’s being marketed as a YA title, this is a great story that will intrigue readers of all ages and from many genres. The horror burns sweeter than a midnight car bomb on St. Louis Street, the romance as bitter and satisfying as the coffee at Café Du Monde. The mystery tugs the reader in deeper than the voodoo shops lure tourists off the beaten paths.
Adele is a sixteen-year-old resident of New Orleans who returns from vacation after Hurricane Katrina has destroyed the city. Now home, she finds that New Orleans has become a dark and dangerous place, as bodies begin to turn up in the streets. Adele uncovers secrets in her attic, locked up for over three centuries, that unleash monstrous results into her life and town. The lives of her friends, schoolmates, and father are in peril, and Adele soon realizes that there is much more going in the city, and with her friends, than she knew. She encounters strangers who may be the key to survival, and finds herself torn between two boys, each with a dangerous past.
While the plot seems to follow along standard lines for YA paranormal romance, there is much more to the story, and it is worth your time to allow the story to unfold at a smooth but suspenseful pace. Discovering the Casquette Girls themselves, and their stories, alone is worth the journey.
Arden has produced an excellent debut novel, and with writing as polished as this, we can expect to see much more from her in the future. Highly recommended.
Reviewed by David Simms
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