The Casquette Girls is not your ordinary teen paranormal romance story. The main character, Adele, is not your typical YA character. She is far more cThe Casquette Girls is not your ordinary teen paranormal romance story. The main character, Adele, is not your typical YA character. She is far more complex than that. Yes, she acts childish at times and is ruled by her hormones, but there are more layers to her, and she is a character that uses her head. It's probably why I found the ending quite unexpected - because it didn't end in the way you would expect a YA novel to end - but it felt right because it fit Adele's character perfectly.
The book started off a little slow and took a while to reveal the main plot, but during that time it painted a hauntingly beautiful picture of a post-storm New Orleans that just made me fall in love with it. I could actually see myself walking down the streets Adele called home and feel her pain as she witnessed the destruction.
The other thing I didn't expect were the nature of the vampires. After Twilight, the YA paranormal genre has been inundated with 'tame' vampires that fall in love with the main female character who's too stupid to run away. Not in The Casquette Girls. While there are a few romances springing up, and a lot of confused feelings, Adele never forgets who it is she is dealing with. These vampires are anything but tame, and are probably more terrifying because they pretend to be nice to get what they want. Bram Stoker would have been proud of these vampires.
Then there are the mysteries. Just when you think you have it all figured out, you realise you have barely scratched the surface and there is another mystery to uncover. The final mystery - the big one - was able to retain its secrets right till the very end. I usually pride myself in being able to guess the outcome of a story. I am happy to say that I couldn't guess this one at all. It made for an interesting and unique reading experience for me.
If you want to read a YA paranormal romance without any sparkly vampires in sight, this book is a must. You won't be disappointed. ...more