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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
I read this years ago on Wattpad and it has HAUNTED my consciousness ever since - I am so glad I found it again and was able to indulge my little ghost. This book is pacey and unique and the narrative is intriguing af - I am so glad I ordered the sequel straight away...
READTHROUGH #2
Look, I never actually wrote a review about this masterpiece the first time. Wont be writing one the second time either
Look, I never actually wrote a review about this masterpiece the first time. Wont be writing one the second time either
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Sixteen-year-old Adele and her father return home to New Orleans after being evacuated due to the "big Storm". Adele is hoping for things to return to normal but her school is still closed, the local businesses are struggling to recover, and there has been a spate of recent murders. When Adele begins to exhibit some unusual powers, she unwittingly sets into motion a chain of events that began hundreds of years ago. Meanwhile, Adele has to fend off a host of admirers, including her mother's assistant Emile, the Italian Medici brothers Niccolo and Gabe, and the strange boy Isaac who appears to have powers of his own. With the help of some new-found friends, will Adele be able to set things right in her beloved city?
The author manages to transport us to New Orleans; she has an incredible knack for describing the scenes and setting the atmosphere. The story is fresh and original, and the author debunks many of our long-held vampire beliefs. With a cast of characters spanning centuries, The Casquette Girls is full of twists and turns and shocking revelations; you never know what is going to happen next. I especially enjoyed the diary entries of Adele's ancestor, Adeline Saint-Germain. While this story is complete, we will see a return of these characters in The Romeo Catchers.
I received this book in return for an honest review.
Read my full blog post: http://booksdirectonline.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-casquette-girls-by-alys-arden.html
The author manages to transport us to New Orleans; she has an incredible knack for describing the scenes and setting the atmosphere. The story is fresh and original, and the author debunks many of our long-held vampire beliefs. With a cast of characters spanning centuries, The Casquette Girls is full of twists and turns and shocking revelations; you never know what is going to happen next. I especially enjoyed the diary entries of Adele's ancestor, Adeline Saint-Germain. While this story is complete, we will see a return of these characters in The Romeo Catchers.
I received this book in return for an honest review.
Read my full blog post: http://booksdirectonline.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-casquette-girls-by-alys-arden.html
I wanted to like this book but ended up a bit disappointed. Nothing happens for the longest time, then it finally starts getting interesting halfway through. But the girl has three love interests and she goes from being obsessed with one to making out with another in 0.5 seconds. Doesn't make sense. And so many unnecessary characters and use of "yelling" as a way to describe people pleading or talking excitedly...
Let me be clear about one thing: I skimmed 60% of this book. It is over 550 pages as a paperback, which in ebook translates to 5 billion pages, and it just took forever. This would be fine if things started off strong and fast-paced, but they did not. A Capital-S-Storm blew through NOLA, displaced the population, meant Adele had to go to France to stay with her mom for a bit (and was whiny about it always), and finally it was time to come home. Easily the first fourth of the book was Adele gaping at the destruction of New Orleans, which is only interesting until it isn't. It's when a lot of the characters are introduced, sure, but they don't do anything.
And this brings me to my first point: The Storm. Because this storm was nothing but a means to not have to write about a flourishing NOLA full of people and life. It was a means to get Adele's friends out of town so that she would have to make new friends, a reason to have a curfew on the characters (which, btw, was a big deal for half the book and then everyone ignored curfew all the time and no one minded). This story could've taken place absolutely anywhere; there was no reason to have NOLA "destroyed" mostly so we could hear about all the reasons it was different than it used to be when Adele comes back.
Speaking of Adele: She is so whiny. Like, I get it, yes, it would suck to be sent away to live with your estranged mother who's never given two shits about you and who doesn't spend any time with you when you are there. But also, shouldn't you be glad she doesn't try to spend time with you when you're there? Be homesick, sure, but don't moan and groan about your gorgeous French school and all your leisurely shopping trips in Paris and your flawless accent and your hot boyfriend.
You can be glad to be home without being rude about your privilege.
So Adele is blessedly back in the ruined NOLA without her family, her school, her job, etc; she wanders; she marvels at the emptiness; she sees a dead guy which freaks her out for a while but then she stops thinking about him altogether... And, oh yeah,
And then, you know, the vampires. Of course one of them is super hot and kind and protective, but also warns Adele away from him so you know he ~means it~ when he says he cares about her.But also
But don't worry, there's another point in this love triangle: Isaac. New to town (of course), seemingly broody but also always around, suspiciously close to Adele's father, clearly hiding something, doesn't get along with Adele until he does. Tricks into like three different dates even when she explicitly states that she doesn't want to hang out with him. And oh yeah,
So with this choice between two terrible men — one human who never listens to her and gets jealous all the time even when Adele has made it clear she's not into him; one vampire who you know is lying and keeping secrets and creeping on her and who also is super old — we have Adele. Who literally does not ever acknowledge that she is in a love triangle.
Every time she's with one boy, she forgets entirely about the other boy. Don't get me wrong, I don't want a book full of constant "I love him; but I also love him. Whatever will I do?" But never ever ever does she acknowledge there is a choice to be made. She just flips back and forth between the two, and no one really seems to mind. She never makes a decision; a decision is made for her, and it's one she still barely sticks to. The second she sees one of them, all thoughts of the other abandon her. Which is kind of a shitty thing to do; stop dragging two people along, even if they both suck.
(Get it? Vampires? One of them, at least.. I digress.)
The only time she thinks of one over the other is at the end.
There was more I didn't understand. The revelation Adele seems to have at the end but never explains, so I have no clue what she realized. The whole thing with "The Count" from Adeline's diary, who is clearly a supernatural figure but who Adele, Isaac, and Dee never focus much on even though they could have at least Googled the guy (as someone rich and famous and important in his day, he would've come up). I assume this will be a plot for a later book, but you'd think they'd be more interested in him, especially when they realize (from the diary and from the vampires) how obsessed with him the vampires are. Why did Adele's bestie Brooke only make appearances via text like three times. Adele never thought about her. Who was the "red-headed friend" Gabe and Emilio kept threatening?
All in all, I will say this book at potential. The vampires were essentially bad guys here, and I think they should be, so that was nice. But I thought Adele would get over Nicco when she realized he's undead, and she doesn't really. NOLA could've been a really cool setting, but The Storm seemed like an easy way out of actually describing it. The love interests fit the mold of every other possessive male love interest available in YA. Some obvious things were un-thought-of and not worried about. I didn't like Adele much.
I did like Dee a lot. I thought that character development was quite strong. And when he got over (most of) his jealous phase and became a normal person, I kind of liked Isaac with Adele. I liked Adeline's diary, and some of the revelations, and the coven, and the showdown at the end. I liked some of the side characters. And the book was pretty well written, all things considered. Arden did a very nice job tying the paranormal to the historical without it seeming incredibly far-fetched. Also, people died, and there was consequences for various actions, and that doesn't always happen.
But my issues with the story and the actions of the main character outweighed my enjoyment of the last 30% of the book.
And this brings me to my first point: The Storm. Because this storm was nothing but a means to not have to write about a flourishing NOLA full of people and life. It was a means to get Adele's friends out of town so that she would have to make new friends, a reason to have a curfew on the characters (which, btw, was a big deal for half the book and then everyone ignored curfew all the time and no one minded). This story could've taken place absolutely anywhere; there was no reason to have NOLA "destroyed" mostly so we could hear about all the reasons it was different than it used to be when Adele comes back.
Speaking of Adele: She is so whiny. Like, I get it, yes, it would suck to be sent away to live with your estranged mother who's never given two shits about you and who doesn't spend any time with you when you are there. But also, shouldn't you be glad she doesn't try to spend time with you when you're there? Be homesick, sure, but don't moan and groan about your gorgeous French school and all your leisurely shopping trips in Paris and your flawless accent and your hot boyfriend.
You can be glad to be home without being rude about your privilege.
So Adele is blessedly back in the ruined NOLA without her family, her school, her job, etc; she wanders; she marvels at the emptiness; she sees a dead guy which freaks her out for a while but then she stops thinking about him altogether... And, oh yeah,
Spoiler
SHE HAS TELEKINETIC POWERS SHE'S ABSOLUTELY UNCONCERNED WITH. She literally finds out she can move objects, turn on radios (and she discovers out of the blue that she loves David Bowie, so you know she's cool), has abilities that get out of her control when she's emotional, and she spends very little time trying to control them, understand them, worry about them, research them, anything. YOU CAN'T JUST DO MAGIC, THAT IS NOT A NORMAL THING. She has a mini-freakout when she learns vampires are real, but she literally could not be less concerned about sudden and unpredictable magic powers.And then, you know, the vampires. Of course one of them is super hot and kind and protective, but also warns Adele away from him so you know he ~means it~ when he says he cares about her.But also
Spoiler
he's essentially stalking her? At a Waffle House? And even though I knew it was him literally the second she saw him again in NOLA, it takes her a very long time to recognize him? And even after that, when she's pretty unnerved, she literally never thinks about it again? Why was he there? What was the point??But don't worry, there's another point in this love triangle: Isaac. New to town (of course), seemingly broody but also always around, suspiciously close to Adele's father, clearly hiding something, doesn't get along with Adele until he does. Tricks into like three different dates even when she explicitly states that she doesn't want to hang out with him. And oh yeah,
Spoiler
he can turn into a bird and follows her around a lot.So with this choice between two terrible men — one human who never listens to her and gets jealous all the time even when Adele has made it clear she's not into him; one vampire who you know is lying and keeping secrets and creeping on her and who also is super old — we have Adele. Who literally does not ever acknowledge that she is in a love triangle.
Every time she's with one boy, she forgets entirely about the other boy. Don't get me wrong, I don't want a book full of constant "I love him; but I also love him. Whatever will I do?" But never ever ever does she acknowledge there is a choice to be made. She just flips back and forth between the two, and no one really seems to mind. She never makes a decision; a decision is made for her, and it's one she still barely sticks to. The second she sees one of them, all thoughts of the other abandon her. Which is kind of a shitty thing to do; stop dragging two people along, even if they both suck.
(Get it? Vampires? One of them, at least.. I digress.)
The only time she thinks of one over the other is at the end.
Spoiler
Even though Isaac tried to tell her that Nicco throwing her from the attic was part of the plan (and then I think never actually mentions is again, so he's hella lying to her, which is not a good place to start a relationship), Adele gets obsessed with this idea that Nicco (the ancient, lying, murdering vampire) "let her go." I'm 1000% sure this was a reference to something earlier, but I literally don't know what, and it got really annoying, and she was supposed to have chosen Isaac at this point but she clearly hasn't really.There was more I didn't understand. The revelation Adele seems to have at the end but never explains, so I have no clue what she realized. The whole thing with "The Count" from Adeline's diary, who is clearly a supernatural figure but who Adele, Isaac, and Dee never focus much on even though they could have at least Googled the guy (as someone rich and famous and important in his day, he would've come up). I assume this will be a plot for a later book, but you'd think they'd be more interested in him, especially when they realize (from the diary and from the vampires) how obsessed with him the vampires are. Why did Adele's bestie Brooke only make appearances via text like three times. Adele never thought about her. Who was the "red-headed friend" Gabe and Emilio kept threatening?
All in all, I will say this book at potential. The vampires were essentially bad guys here, and I think they should be, so that was nice. But I thought Adele would get over Nicco when she realized he's undead, and she doesn't really. NOLA could've been a really cool setting, but The Storm seemed like an easy way out of actually describing it. The love interests fit the mold of every other possessive male love interest available in YA. Some obvious things were un-thought-of and not worried about. I didn't like Adele much.
I did like Dee a lot. I thought that character development was quite strong. And when he got over (most of) his jealous phase and became a normal person, I kind of liked Isaac with Adele. I liked Adeline's diary, and some of the revelations, and the coven, and the showdown at the end. I liked some of the side characters. And the book was pretty well written, all things considered. Arden did a very nice job tying the paranormal to the historical without it seeming incredibly far-fetched. Also, people died, and there was consequences for various actions, and that doesn't always happen.
But my issues with the story and the actions of the main character outweighed my enjoyment of the last 30% of the book.
Phew. I don’t even know where to start with this one. This book was sooo all over the place. Sophisticated writing turned into juvenile writing at the drop of a hat. Storyline had sooo much potential but just wasn’t executed to satisfaction. So much fluff and filler. The “big reveal” meant to drive the plot forward wasn’t until 250 pages in, meaning those first 250 pages were all filler and fluff. I almost DNF’ed so many times. The characters weren’t always very likable, the mythology was not well constructed, and I got whiplash so many times with the pace of the story. Honestly so disappointed by what could have been that this got an extra star just for potential.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No