Book Review ~ White Cat

White Cat (Curse Workers #1)
By Holly Black
Published By Margaret K McElderry Books

Summary (Goodreads):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.

Likes/Dislikes: I read this book at a good time for me. It is so uniquely different from anything else I have read lately.  The world the author created while familiar mobster family style, the mix of curse work magic took it to another level for me.  I also really enjoyed the characters in this story. Even the seemingly safe, good ones (roommates and classmates) seemed to have a quirky dark side. Cassel was an intriguing lead who engaged me from the start with his trip up on the roof up until the end when everything seemed to be looking up (or not). 


Overall: This was a fast paced story that kept me reading from beginning to end. It's a darker, grittier look into the world of magic and family. I look forward to reading more in this series and seeing how the decisions made to stick by family affects Cassel's future. I'm also looking forward to finding out (hopefully) more about the crime families and how the politics will affect the curse workers.


Rating: 5