The White Cat: The Curse Workers 1

Author: Holly Black
Genre: Young-Adult Urban Fantasy
Publication Date: May 11, 2010
Age Range: Young-Adult
Pages: 310
Date Scoot Read: September 2010
Source: Audiobook

Scoot's Rating: 9 - Great Read! Couldn't put it down. 


Synopsis (via 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.

Scoot’s Review:
The White Cat is a story of mobsters with a literal touch of magic. Cassel is the only member in his family of con-artists and mobsters who isn’t a curse worker.  But his association with ‘the family’ sets him apart from regular kids.  Set between two worlds Cassel struggles to find a place for himself. Trained from birth from his emotion-working mother for the con, he is talented at getting what needs or wants without curses.   However, he doesn’t want to just be the con; he wants live a normal life and have his brothers love him despite his lack of curse worker skills. Cassel is burdened with guilt over the murder of his best friend Lila, and we follow him on his journey of discovering exactly what happened all those years ago.  I loved this tale of dark magic blended with mob family politics.  Holly Black eloquently pens a world of deception where you never know exactly what to believe.  When someone can mess with your head, what is the truth?  I loved Cassel’s personality.   He was smart, brave, and tried to do the right thing – even when the right thing wasn’t exactly legal.  This book starts out strong – throwing you straight into danger and doesn’t ever slow down.  From start to finish it is a fast-paced mystery. Filled with wit, danger and romance White Cat is an excellent read!