Review: White Cat by Holly Black

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry

Released: May 4 2010

Hardcover: 310 pages



Synopsis (from publisher):

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.

My Rating: 3 / 5

My Thoughts:

I loved the premise of cursers and White Cat is written by the amazing Holly Black so I expected to love this one. Sadly, this book and I did not get along. I'm not sure if Cassel's character was written this way on purpose but I just couldn't feel any empathy for him. Was it because I never knew who he really as since he's a con and well doesn't even know himself? If that's not the case, I think the execution failed. It wasn't until about two-thirds into the book that it really grabbed my attention, the real action began and the pace picked up. This is also, (suprise, surprise) when a big plot twist takes place that puts a whole new spin on Cassel!

I finished the book and thought "wow, a great ending, BUT..." then I said to my BFF "well this is book one of a series, the boring stuff should be covered now, I think I'm going to love book two!" **crosses fingers**

The one thing I must mention is that as much as I couldn't get into the story, I must give Holly credit for writing outstanding lines throughout the book. Seriously so many were just brilliant!