Alys Arden

The Gates of Guinée, (the fourth volume of The Casquette Girls series) picks up with Macalister LeMoyne held hostage by the Ghost Drinkers' coven and Adele willing to risk it all to save her father, even if it means opening a portal to the Voodoo Afterworld to hunt down the spirit of one of the greatest witches who ever lived.

The Gates of Guinée

Ashton Reed

Holy heckin’ wowowowowowowowow!!! I’ll keep this review spoiler-free except for a little section at the bottom and the summary, so if you haven’t read the first three books of this series, just avoid those sections so you’re not spoiled when you go read the books :)

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    “As curses come, as curses go…”
  


Goodreads summary:

As the Ghost Drinkers seep into the crevices of the Crescent City, leeching the French Quarter of magic, the local witches are consumed with a new fight for survival. Adele has one chance to save everyone she loves, but it will mean breaking away from her coven and trusting a vampire.

For the first time in four hundred years, Niccolò Medici feels on the precipice of finding his stolen grimoire. But in order to restore his family’s legacy, he’ll have to succumb to his darkest desires.

New York transplant and first responder Isaac Thompson will stop at nothing to protect Adele, even if he has to give in to his Spektral magic to unearth the truth about Nicco’s monstrous past.

For those who choose to pass through the Gates of Guinée, the rules of the Afterworld are simple: Don’t eat the food. Tell no lies.

In a whirl of lucid dreams, fetish markets, and ancestral reunions, only those who bare their souls will survive this ghostly hunt, or else they’ll join the land of the dead permanently.

Teetering on the razor’s edge between everything she desires and utter madness, only her heart and her magic can lead Adele back home... if only Callisto Salazar hadn’t stolen her Fire, and the most secretive one of them all hadn’t stolen her heart.

Wow. Just wow. It’s been a long time since I have been so shocked and twisted around in the span of a single book. This book is pure, glittery, mysterious, magical chaos, and I loved every. Single. Page.


  “We keep things hidden with masks and glitter and songs that steal your soul and drinks that steal your memories. We sing in the streets, cry in the streets, and bleed in the streets. New Orleans will be your muse. She'll fuel your dreams and your vices and your kinks. She’ll tie you up and make you beg for more, all while you search for the je ne sais quoi giving you that joie de vivre, never knowing that the magic flows freely and the dead thrive and the witches rule… Why wouldn’t the gates to the Afterworld be here? Hidden in plain sight amongst the living, guarded by the dead, covered up by stories of the magical?”
 

I feel like I’m in so deep with these characters that I’m not sure how to write much of a spoiler-free review, to be honest. The magical world Alys Arden has constructed is… unique, and that’s a huge accomplishment in the YA industry. I have read so many books that most of them are decently predictable to me. Not necessarily a bad thing, just the truth. But this series makes me feel ALIVE again in my reading! The angst as I wonder furiously if my ship is endgame, the utter confusion because I have no idea what’s going on but in the best way, the emotional thrill ride that is reading a book and you see nothing coming before it smacks you straight in the feels. That’s what reading this series is like. There’s a lot of character development in this one, some that has been much needed, and I think that was a big focus of this addition to the series, along with the introduction of an insane new side of New Orleans where nothing is as it seems!! 


  “A part of me wanted to sabotage the mission so my secrets stayed buried, as they had been for two centuries. But another part of me believed enigmatically in her. In us.”


I am obsessed with this series and I mean it when I tell you that if I could make everyone read one series, this one literally might just be it. This is the fourth book, so you have four to binge before the fifth and final book comes out (PLEASE MAKE IT QUICK ALYS ARDEN!!), so hop on it, y’all!! You really don’t want to miss out on this unpredictable joyride filled to the brim with witches and vampires, spirits and possessed, love and hatred. It’s utterly genius.

Spoiler-y section below for some discussion if you’ve read this book! Keep comments spoiler-free but feel free to message me if you want to fangirl!! 😂

(view spoiler)[
1. I still hate Isaac but I feel like he had a little bit of character development in this one, which was much-needed!! He seemed to own up to his mistakes and actively learn from them and change his behavior, though he still needs to get over Nicco!
2. NICCO!! My LOVE!! I love him soooo much and will forever love him! 
3. I’m feeling pretty confident that Adele and Nicco are endgame, especially with this interesting chemistry between Isaac and Lisette, but Adele and Nicco finally getting together feels a little too good to be true!! Or maybe that’s just me being scared because it seemed like Nicco flipped too fast from feeling betrayed to kissing her?? Like what if he’s playing her like Seraphine?? I think I’m just being paranoid because he heckin’ loves her?? Idk y’all, I think it’s suffice to say I’m anxious for the next book!!
4. I saw some people over on the Attic (Alys Arden’s Facebook group for The Casquette Girls) that Adeline’s diary might be the Medici grimoire but I honestly doubted them ahaha! When Annabelle told Lisette she knew where the grimoire was, I was like NO WAY!!
5. Speaking of, Adele is a succubus?! Like what?! That makes sense but also THAT’S CRAZY
6. Also, I cannot get over the fact that Nicco tried to break his own back so he wouldn’t feed from Adele because he knew he would lose control?! Hardest scene to read for me, for sure.
7. I’m really glad we got to see more of Codi, Dee, and Lisette in this book! Dee really showed her vulnerable side and opened up to Codi, who is HILARIOUS and too pure for this world 😭 and I really love Lisette! She has a lot in common with Nicco, I think, and if they find the cure I think she’ll take it for sure.
8. In the last book, I really want to see Adele and Nicco get their fire back in the most epic way possible, and of course for Nicco to become human so he and Adele can really be together!

I should probably stop now haha. I told y’all I’m obsessed!!  (hide spoiler)]





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The Gates of Guinée

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