Review - White Cat

by Holly Black
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Date of Publication: May 2010
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 320
Source: local library

From 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 criminals. Many become mobsters and con artists. But not Cassel. He hasn't got magic, 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.

Cassel has carefully built up a facade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his facade starts to crumble when he finds himself 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. As Cassel begins to suspect he's part of a huge con game, he must unravel his past and his memories. To find out the truth, Cassel will have to out-con the conmen.

I can't say what exactly I was expecting when I read White Cat. I had previously read Holly Black's Tithe, which had good things about it, but there were also some things in that book that were a turn off for me. I was hoping I wouldn't find those kinds things in this book. But I can say that by the end of this first installment of the Curse Workers series, I was pleasantly surprised.

One thing that makes me like Holly Black's books is the unique element, whether it is something about the characters, the setting, or something else. The whole world of White Cat is pretty cool for a couple of reasons. One, it is not all that different from the world we live in today, so it has that familiar feel. Two, it has an alternate history where magic has always been around and people have worked out ways to protect themselves from it and the government has outlawed it. I wasn't sure at first if everyone knew about the magic, and I felt a few more cues could have been given to make this clear (gloves play a big part in curse protection and I wasn't 100% that people were wearing them all the time), but other than that, I was totally in.

The MC, Cassel, is pretty interesting. He's the white sheep in a family of black sheep, except not quite. It turns out that even he doesn't know as much about himself and his own life as he thinks he does, and watching him figure it out was entertaining. He had a lot of baggage from his family, but I didn't feel like he was overly agnsty. Cassel is very savvy and clever and a con-man, but at the same time, he wants to be normal and have a normal life. I love it when characters are at war with themselves.

I liked the supporting characters as well, especially the Sharpe family. They were each clearly defined people and I liked seeing their varying personalities interact. Cassel's friends from school were a nice addition, though I thought they kind of popped out of nowhere at one point, and I would have liked to see them weaved more into the story rather than just appear (or Cassell call them) when needed.

Like Tithe, Black's writing in White Cat is transfixing and dark. Some of the examples she used to equate Curse Work families with that of mafia type families were just way out there, which worked for the twisted aspect of the story. I also loved that Cassel's family plays such a big part in the story. Families can be really twisted and home life is not always neat and pretty or bland and boring, and Black expressed this vividly.

The only drawback I really found was the big climactic part of the story was more of a fizzle than the bang I expected it to be.  But...but...but...the actual end was pretty awesome. Gotta love family drama!

Overall, with the well-formed characters, an out-there story, and great writing, White Cat, the first in the Curse Workers Series from Holly Black, gets an A rating from me.  I will definitely be reading the next installment, Red Glove.

Where you can buy White Cat:

Amazon / IndieBound / The Book Depository

*Note: This review originally appeared in its unrevised format on Writer Quirk.