White Cat - A Review

White Cat - Holly Black (publisher for review)

Product Details

• Pub. Date: May 2010
• Publisher:Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
• Format: Hardcover, 320pp
• Sales Rank: 14,512
• Age Range: Young Adult

• Series: Curse Workers Series, #1
• ISBN-13: 9781416963967
• ISBN: 1416963960

Synopsis (via B&N)

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 criminals. Many become mobsters and con artists. But not Cassel. He hasn’t got magic, 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.

Cassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his façade starts to crumble when he finds himself 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. As Cassel begins to suspect he’s part of a huge con game, he must unravel his past and his memories. To find out the truth, Cassel will have to outcon the conmen.

My Thoughts:

What a refreshing change of pace! I have to say I really enjoyed this book and tore through it in just a couple of sittings.

I found the story, characters, the magic to be unique and interesting. I've been reading so many vampire, werewolves, and other forms of standard paranormal books and this book, while fitting a supernatural kind of genre, had a completely new kind of theme. I found that I really liked some characters while really disliking a few others.

I can definitely see more story lines come from this book and look forward to what may come next for the Curse Workers.

Holly Blacks Website