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Overview
Cassel comes from a family of curse workers—people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, all by the slightest touch of their hands. Since curse work is illegal, they’re all criminals. But not Cassel. He hasn’t got the magic touch, so he’s an outsider—the straight kid in a crooked family—as long as you ignore one small detail: He killed his best friend, Lila. Now he is sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat. He also notices that his brothers are keeping secrets from him. As Cassel begins to suspect he’s part of one huge con game, he must unravel his past and his memories. To find out the truth, Cassel will have to outcon the conmen.
Synopsis
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.
Publishers Weekly
In this beautifully realized dark fantasy, which launches Black’s Curse Workers series, Cassel Sharpe is a talented con artist who works as a bookie at his snooty prep school. But skilled as Cassel is, it’s nothing compared to the rest of his family, who are curse workers, able to control people’s memories, luck, or emotions with the touch of a finger (curse work is illegal, and all citizens wear gloves to safeguard against being taken advantage of). Three years ago Cassel murdered a friend, the daughter of a crime lord, and now, not by coincidence, he’s having nightmares about a white cat (“It leaned over me, inhaling sharply, as if it was going to suck the breath from my lungs”) and sleepwalking on the roof of his dormitory. Complex plots unfold around Cassel, and he eventually realizes that he can’t even rely on his own memory. With prose that moves from stark simplicity to almost surreal intensity in a moment, Black (Ironside) has created a believable alternate America where mobsters are magicians and no one is entirely trustworthy. Ages 14-up. (May)
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
In this beautifully realized dark fantasy, which launches Black’s Curse Workers series, Cassel Sharpe is a talented con artist who works as a bookie at his snooty prep school. But skilled as Cassel is, it’s nothing compared to the rest of his family, who are curse workers, able to control people’s memories, luck, or emotions with the touch of a finger (curse work is illegal, and all citizens wear gloves to safeguard against being taken advantage of). Three years ago Cassel murdered a friend, the daughter of a crime lord, and now, not by coincidence, he’s having nightmares about a white cat (“It leaned over me, inhaling sharply, as if it was going to suck the breath from my lungs”) and sleepwalking on the roof of his dormitory. Complex plots unfold around Cassel, and he eventually realizes that he can’t even rely on his own memory. With prose that moves from stark simplicity to almost surreal intensity in a moment, Black (Ironside) has created a believable alternate America where mobsters are magicians and no one is entirely trustworthy. Ages 14-up. (May)Publishers Weekly
In this beautifully realized dark fantasy, which launches Black’s Curse Workers series, Cassel Sharpe is a talented con artist who works as a bookie at his snooty prep school. But skilled as Cassel is, it’s nothing compared to the rest of his family, who are curse workers, able to control people’s memories, luck, or emotions with the touch of a finger (curse work is illegal, and all citizens wear gloves to safeguard against being taken advantage of). Three years ago Cassel murdered a friend, the daughter of a crime lord, and now, not by coincidence, he’s having nightmares about a white cat (“It leaned over me, inhaling sharply, as if it was going to suck the breath from my lungs”) and sleepwalking on the roof of his dormitory. Complex plots unfold around Cassel, and he eventually realizes that he can’t even rely on his own memory. With prose that moves from stark simplicity to almost surreal intensity in a moment, Black (Ironside) has created a believable alternate America where mobsters are magicians and no one is entirely trustworthy. Ages 14–up. (May)Children's Literature -
This extremely dark book is filled with terror, evils, and sadness. Cassel's life does have some bright spots that come from spending time with his Grandfather and school friends; however, those moments are brief. Cassel is the only member of his family who is not a Curse worker. His family is certainly messed up, and furthermore his girlfriend left him. He did have a friend named Lila, but at the age of fourteen he kills her. He dreams about it a lot, and in one of his dreams a white cat appears. He wakes up and finds himself on the roof of his boarding school, wondering how he got there. Unfortunately, he keeps dreaming the same dream night after night, and one day a real white cat shows up. Afterward his strange world gets even stranger. He begins to doubt what really happened at the time he killed Lila, and starts to wonder whether his brothers conned him and had something to do with the murder. The curse workers have the power to change memories, emotions, and even one's luck. Did Lila really love him? Why did the Curse workers erase his memory about her death? Will Lila and Cassel get back together the way they were before the Curse workers became involved. Is there really a curse or is it magic? This fast-moving read leaves the with some unanswered questions that call out for a sequel. Reviewer: Kathie M. JosephsVOYA -
Dreaming of a white cat, Cassel wakes up on the roof of his boarding school. Bad dreams are nothing new. His family is a wreck, his girlfriend dumped him, and a dark secret weighs on his mind. When he was fourteen, he murdered Lila Zacharov, the girl he loved. He does not remember the murder, only a sense of joy. But as the dreams continue, he begins to question the events of that terrible night as well as the role his two older brothers played in covering things up. He soon realizes that his brothers, both of whom have close ties to the Zacharov crime family, are hiding things from him. When a real white cat shows up, things get even stranger. In Cassel's world, magic exists, but it is forbidden by law. Magic workers offer their services on a black market dominated by mafia families. Cassel comes from a clan of talented curse workers. The only one without powers, he is a jaded outsider, accustomed to the graft but too sensitive to be a true con artist. With or without magic, he is trapped by his upbringing. This fresh urban fantasy offers an intriguing cast of characters and thoughtful world building. Cassel's relationships with his grandfather and school friends offer glimmers of light in an otherwise dark and gritty story. Readers who know their fairy tales will see threads of the traditional White Cat. This is the first of The Curse Workers books, so expect sequels. Reviewer: Brenna ShanksMichael Ebling
Cassel comes from a family of criminals. They are curse workers—people with special powers that can change memories, create good luck, or even kill. Curse working is illegal, so workers are all criminals, often becoming mobsters and con artists. Everyone in Cassel's family is a worker—except him, that is. But when his sleepwalking gets him suspended from school and his two brothers' secretive maneuvering gets increasingly suspicious, Cassel begins thinking something sinister is in the works. To figure out what is going on and what role he has in it, he will have to out-con the con artists, but he must also confront his own dark past—three years ago, he murdered his best friend, Lila. In White Cat, Black creates a fascinating and smart protagonist who must confront real issues of trust and loyalty. This fantasy noir keeps the pages turning and comes to a shocking conclusion. Reviewer: Michael EblingLibrary Journal -
Cassel Sharpe is a lot of things-a prep student, a con artist, a bookie, and possibly a murderer-but he knows that he is not a curse worker. In a world similar to our own, curse workers represent the small percentage of the population that can work magic with the touch of a hand: controlling emotions, telling fortunes, making people remember or forget, and, rarest of all, bringing about transformation. Cassel is the only nonworker in his family, and what a family! Mom is in prison, and everyone else curse works for the Zacharov crime syndicate. Then Cassel has dreams that upend his worldview. In them, a white cat tells him that he did not murder his best friend (Zacharov's daughter, Lila) years before and that he could be the most powerful worker in generations. Combining magic, cons, lies within lies, and a healthy dose of mob activity, this work is the first in a new series from Black, a master of teen urban fantasy. Angelina Benedetti, "13 Going on 30", Booksmack! 10/21/10School Library Journal
Gr 9 Up—Cassel, 17, is an anomaly as the only untalented one in a family of curse workers. While his mother, grandfather, and brothers make their living by illegally performing death curses, manipulating memories, and casting emotion charms, Cassel relies on his quick wit and con-artist skills to convince his private-school classmates that he's normal, despite bouts of sleepwalking and patchy memories of standing over a murdered friend named Lila. Nightmares about a white cat that resembles Lila, his family's ties to organized crime, and evidence of a mysterious plot against him threaten to pull Cassel into the world he's fought hard to resist. Black has written a dark coming-of-age tale with a likable hero. Teens will empathize with Cassel's desire to fit in and his occasional clashes with his family while rooting for him to unravel the conspiracy. Though readers will enjoy the fast-paced plot, there are points, particularly in the last few chapters, where the action is confusing and clarity appears sacrificed for expediency. Some secondary characters, such as Cassel's grandfather and friend Sam, are three-dimensional, while others, including his brothers and Lila, are less well realized. Despite these minor flaws, White Cat will appeal to readers who grew up on Holly Black's "Spiderwick Chronicles" (S & S) and are ready for something edgier.—Leah J. Sparks, formerly at Bowie Public Library, MDKirkus Reviews
Forget fairy tales. The first in Black's new series is a dark, complex Chinese puzzle box, full of cons, criminals and curses-a denigrating term for magic in a world where it's outlawed. Cassel is the only non-worker (magic user) in a family full of them, all tightly connected to the Zacharov crime family. He's also a murderer, although he can't recall some critical details of killing his best friend-Zacharov's daughter-three years ago. The world is casually revealed through Cassel's engaging, genuinely teenage voice, and what a world: Just like ours, except magic is common and conveyed through touch (everyone wears gloves), and instead of debating healthcare, there's a growing political movement to legalize "cursework" so that magic-based crime can be prosecuted more effectively. Cassel's discovery of his own talents and his realization that everyone he trusts has lied to or betrayed him propels the narrative; the larger machinations surrounding him and some unfinished romantic business mean the sequels should be equally compelling. Urban fantasy, con story, coming of age-whatever you call it, read it. (Urban fantasy. 14 & up)From the Publisher
"Dangerously, darkly gorgeous fantasy." - Cassandra Clare, author of The Mortal Instruments series* "Fans of the author will revel in the sophisticated and slightly-more-realistic-than-usual approach, . . . fascinating and carefully developed characters, and lush setting descriptions." - BCCB, starred review
"A noir thriller." - New York Times Book Review