Book Review: White Cat (Curse Workers #1) by Holly Black

Summary:

Cassel comes from a family of curse workers -- people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they're all mobsters, or con artists. Except for Cassel. He hasn't got the magic touch, so he's an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail -- he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.
 
Ever since, Cassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his façade starts crumbling when he starts sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat that wants to tell him something. He's noticing other disturbing things, too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. They are keeping secrets from him, caught up in a mysterious plot. As Cassel begins to suspect he's part of a huge con game, he also wonders what really happened to Lila. Could she still be alive? To find that out, Cassel will have to out-con the conmen.

Holly Black has created a gripping tale of mobsters and dark magic where a single touch can bring love -- or death -- and your dreams might be more real than your memories.

Review:

White Cat was a little bit of a slow starter for me, like so many first-in-a-series books.  I've always heard good things about Holly Black, and when Natalie came back from the Smart Chicks Kick It signing with White Cat, she had me read it first (to make sure she'd like it).  That's how we operate---she finds new books and I'm her gateway to four and five star reads. 

About halfway through the book, the story got so intense I couldn't put White Cat down.  The combination of Cassel running cons, the back-stabbing family members, Cassel's guilt over Lila, and the truth behind Lila's death made for a unique, surprisingly intense story.  I also really enjoyed the hoarder aspect.  There were a lot of really well-fleshed out details in this book, which made the book feel much smarter than many YA reads.

It's rare that I enjoy a first-person narration from a male perspective as much as I enjoyed White Cat.  I loved the curse-worker basis of the story.  Curse workers are both feared and revered by the rest of the world and everyone in Black's world wears gloves to protect themselves from curse workers who work curses through touch.  The addition of the illicit photographs featuring bare-handed women was a nice touch. 

The ending left me wanting more, and I'm really looking forward to Red Glove, book two in the series.  I think I'll read Holly Black's other books in the meantime--her writing style is smart and intriguing and I need more!

Just One Gripe:

The slow start.  I kept putting the book down waiting for more to happen.

The Best Thing About This Book:

All of the intricate details were pulled together to make an excellent plot, pacing, and unique elements.

Appropriate for a younger audience:

Yes

Score:

Characters: 4/5

Plot: 4/5

Setting/Imagery: 4/5

Originality: 5/5

Ending: 4/5

Total Score:  21/25