Monday, March 28, 2011

Review: White Cat by Holly Black

White Cat
(Curse Workers #1)
Author: Holly Black
Publication Date: May 4th 2010
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 310
ISBN-13: 9781416963974
Source: Library

Available for Purchase:
B&N | Amazon | Simon & Schuster

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. Goodreads.com

My Review:
White Cat is a captivating mixture of curse workers and conmen. I read this book in just a few hours time. It was a quick, suspenseful read that kept my attention throughout the book. I really enjoyed reading this book.


Cassel is an outsider in his family full of curse workers. Relying heavily on his ability as a conman, he makes his own place in the world. He does what he had to do to get by. He has issues big time. He believes that he killed his best friend, which really messes with his mind. I like that he was not the perfect hero, but was flawed, just like the rest of us. I liked that the story was written from his POV. I don’t get to read many books where a guy is the main character, and it was really interesting.


I liked the other characters as well. Sam, Daneca, and Grandpa were well written as well. I didn’t care for the brothers or the mom, but I’m looking forward to reading more about them in the next book. I’m on the fence about Lila. I wanted to like her, but I didn’t want to as well.


The world Holly Black created was fascinating. The setting, characters and 'curse' were really cool to read about. There was a lot going on in the book, and sometimes it got confusing. But it all came together at the end. Now I just have to read book #2, Red Glove, to see what’s going to happen next!


Book Trailer:



Have you read this book?? Leave me a comment letting me know what you thought of it!
Happy Reading!

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13 comments:

  1. Sounds like an interesting book, thanks for the review! (:

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  2. This is such a cool series! Great review!

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  3. My sister showed me this series..didn't really take a second look at it but am definitely going to now!! Great review!

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  4. I absolutely LOVED White Cat!! I was actually surprised that I liked it so much, I was only reading it out of dedication to the author. It was amazing though. The world Holly has created is intense and creative. The plot twists kept me on my toes and the characters were wonderful too. I'm reading Red Glove right now (100 pages til I'm done!) and I can happily say that it's great so far!

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  5. I just kind of skimmed your review, because I'm reading this book right now. The thing is - I'm having a hard time getting into it! I'm about 50 or so pages in, and I'm not finding that I want to dive back in when I have to put it down. I guess this just wasn't for me. I'm going to keep reading it though, and I have an ARC of Red Glove, so we'll see!
    Thanks for the review.

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  6. I haven't read this one yet but it's definitely making it's way to my shelf soon! Sounds really interesting and not your usual paranormal concept...I love a fresh new take!

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  7. Thanks for the comments guys!

    @Honey- I'm really looking forward to starting Red Glove soon!!

    @Krystal- It does start to pick up later in the book. :) Let me know if you decide to finish it or not, I look forward to seeing what you think!

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  8. Thanks for a fantastic review. I really want to read it, I'll have to find some time to though.

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  9. I haven't read this one yet. I picked it up from the library about a last summer, but never got around to reading it. I think I might pick it up soon though! Glad you enjoyed it!

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  10. I liked this book, but it took me until 3/4 of the way through to really get into it. I'm hoping that I'll be able to read WC right into Red Glove, and maybe that will help. I liked it, though, for sure!

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  11. Yeah - I'm hoping that it will pick up, I've heard nothing but good things about it, and with all of the anticipation going around for Red Glove, I'm interested to finish and see what the hype is about.

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  12. I loved this book too! Now I can't wait for Red Glove! Great review too.

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  13. I adored this book! Holly Black is a glorious creature. I am so excited for April to get here so I can get my hands on Red Glove :)

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Thanks for stopping by! :)