White Cat

"This Book was filled with Naor Twists and all the way through was nice, definitely more to come when I read the sequel, The main character is a clever and brave guy even though dealing with the supposed Sleeping Walking and Memory loss to all the secrets unfolding as you dig deep. If you like Crime Families, or Families Center around Crime with a little dab of that fantasy Magic you've come to the right book for that! "

"I"

"what"

"Such a fascinating dark fantasy series. How does Holly Black do it?? Love the ending of this one. From start to finish this was a fun read."

"I’m not really sure why it took me so long to pick up this book. I have long been a fan of Holly Black, whose <i>Tithe</i> was my first introduction into urban fantasy and dark fantasy. Perhaps it was because I felt like my tastes in reading had matured past the style presented in those novels. (Never to fear, if this is an obstacle for you, <i>White Cat</i> is a much more mature, thought-provoking piece.) I guess it’s possible that I just wasn’t sure about the whole con artist aspect of the story. However, after I made it through the light read <i>All These Things I’ve Done</i>, I decided I was not actually opposed to novels about families with histories deeply entrenched in crime. And this book definitely falls into that category.<br/><br/>Cassel Sharpe has grown up in a family where stealing, lying, conning, working are commonplace. However, his family doesn’t consist of just petty criminals. They have magic on their side. At the slightest, miniscule touch of a bare hand, they have the power to change you. His mother can change emotions. She never hesitated to use her power to get what she wanted, whether from an unwitting victim or from her children. Others can change memories, luck, dreams. His grandfather can even kill. Oh, and about that whole killing thing? Well, no one likes to talk about it, but it turns out Cassel killed his best friend and love, Lila, three years ago. He can’t remember much, but his brothers tell him they found him standing over her, covered in blood and smiling. This little incident, along with the fact that he’s the only non-worker in the family, has left Cassel on the fringes. As an outsider, he was just doing his best to get by, taking bets and money from fellow students at Wallingford. Until the sleepwalking started. When his world is full of liars and cheats, secrets and cover-ups, it’s not easy for Cassel to unravel what’s really going on. But he has to, because there are just too many things that don’t add up.<br/><br/><i>White Cat</i> is a paranormal urban fantasy novel, but it’s different than things I’ve read before. Holly Black does a great job creating memorable characters and building a world around Cassel that’s ultimately full of deception he struggles to unravel. While he may seem a little slow on the uptake at times, the novel is about Cassel coming to terms with the fact that he may not be able to trust anyone in his family. He may not even be able to trust his own memories. And when memories are such a huge foundation for who you are, what do you do when you can’t trust who you thought you were?<br/><br/>The novel is engaging from start to finish. The alternate universe America where curse workers exist is an intriguing one. Working is illegal, but those who wish to use their gifts for good, such as granting good luck at weddings, are challenging this notion. While it is a small part of the novel, it presents an interesting question — can people be trusted to hold so much power and not use it to further their own ends at the expense of others? Of course, the power does come with some price. Black introduces “blowback” as a mechanism of a power check. Cassel’s mother suffers from terrible mood swings. His grandfather has a dead hand to remind him of his debts. The concepts presented here are quite fascinating. The plot is thrilling and entertaining as well. As the threads around Cassel’s mysteries unravel, more complications arise to take their place. Even the end–just when it seemed like things were wrapping up so nicely–was a satisfying kick to the gut.<br/><br/>I’d recommend <i>White Cat</i> to fans of young adult urban fantasy looking for something different from the normal deluge of vampires and werewolves. Black’s style and talent for story creation are not to be discounted here."

"Not only was this an absolute amazing story, it was also a brilliant audiobook. I loved listening to Jesse Eisenberg tell this tale. I've never really had any feelings either way for Jesse as an actor, but Jesse as a reader... I highly enjoyed it.<br/><br/>This book has a lot going for it. One, the unique world of curse work. While you have read plenty of other books with mob characters or con artists, I have yet to come across another with anything close to a curse worker. And it's all the better for it. I loved getting to know the different possibilities of talents that curse workers can hold and seeing how the 'blow back' can effect them. I'm not going to lie, the blow back was probably one of my favorite parts about this book because while these guys have some amazing talents, they don't come free (like they might in another book).<br/><br/>What an incredible mystery! The audiobook kept me glued to my laptop/mp3 player until I had listened to the whole thing. It was suspenseful and completely captivating. I loved the characters and I loved how the author led false clues around (at least, I'm assuming she did) about the who or what because I thought I had it all figured out a time or two only to be proven wrong.<br/><br/>White Cat was just brilliant. I highly recommend this book, but more so the audiobook. I don't know what took me so long to finally read this book... but I am so glad that I finally got around to getting into this series."

"what"

"Such a fascinating dark fantasy series. How does Holly Black do it?? Love the ending of this one. From start to finish this was a fun read."