Is it just me (usually is), or do all of Holly Black’s characters love coffee, including, day old, been sittin’ in the pot, stale coffee? In Black’s books, you can almost count on someone slurkin’ down some nasty, black coffee with zeal.
Black’s Tithe is one of my favorite books. In particular because of Black’s unflinching depiction of the realities of teenage life. She doesn’t shy away from drugs, alcohol and violence.
In White Cat, Cassel is the youngest son from a family of Curse Workers. Curse workers can alter a person’s emotions, memories, and in rare cases, their form. Not surprisingly, curse working has been outlawed. Those who still ply the art tend to gravitate toward less-than-legal vocations. Mobsters, con-artists, etc.
Cassel, however, has no power. He does, however, have a secret, one which could shatter the normal life he’s worked so hard to maintain. A few year ago, he killed his best friend, Lila.
But, like old bones, secrets have a way of poking through the surface. Dreams of a white cat and sleepwalking, signal the end of his brief time of normalcy.
While it’s obvious, early on, who, or rather, what Casel is, Black’s engaging style and no-punches pulled approach kept me reading. Black doesn’t burden the story with much exposition. She presents the world, one much like ours but with Curseworkers, and then gets down to business. Cassel, as with most of Black’s protagonists, is a young/old man, wise beyond his years. He’s pragmatic, but still quite compassionate. Despite that, he isn’t my favorite Black character, so White Cat isn’t a keeper.
But I’ll definitely be reading the next book.
