red glove

The perfect con, a couple of intense twists, a sociopath or two, and an engaging and exhilarating adventure in a world filled with magic and mobsters. That was White Cat, Holly Black’s first installment in the Curseworkers series. It was a huge favorite of mine last year. Need evidence? Check it out. So I’ve been waiting not-very-patiently for the sequel, and more of quirky, clever Cassel.

The follow-up, Red Glove, was released two weeks ago. I reminded my brother Joey of this by text (he was excited). We read it at the same time, then called to rehash. The burning question: how did it go?

Curses and cons. Magic and the mob. In Cassel Sharpe's world, they go together. Cassel always thought he was an ordinary guy, until he realized his memories were being manipulated by his brothers. Now he knows the truth—he’s the most powerful curse worker around. A touch of his hand can transform anything—or anyone—into something else.

That was how Lila, the girl he loved, became a white cat. Cassel was tricked into thinking he killed her, when actually he tried to save her. Now that she's human again, he should be overjoyed. Trouble is, he isn’t sure he can believe anything she says or does.

Cassel is going to have to stay one step ahead just to survive. But where can he turn when he can't trust anyone—least of all, himself?

Love is a curse and the con is the only answer in a game too dangerous to lose.

Did Red Glove live up to expectations? Were the mysteries and cons fresh and the twists convincing? Did I feel a deep sense of satisfaction at the trickiness? Unfortunately, the answer was somewhere in the region of ‘sort-of.’ It’s hard to maintain the same level of excellence and excitement from book to book. I know this. And while parts of Red Glove felt just as wonderful as the first in the series, other bits felt like solid ‘second-in-a-trilogy’ material.

The things Red Glove did right: character development (oh Cassel, you tortured soul, you), set-up for interesting third book shenanigans (mob! Feds! revelations galore!), and further explanation of the world of cons, curses and magic. I got delightful shivers down my spine whenever one of the characters seemed hard and calculating. That part was rather strange and all awesome.

On the flip side, there were some negatives. First: the con itself. I wanted more, better, and a thrill to boot. I won’t spoil it – you should definitely read this series for yourself. But you may see what I mean when you compare books 1 & 2.

Another bit I didn’t find satisfying was the relationship development. There’s a technique of leaving thoughts or actions to the reader’s imagination, and just giving us reaction. We don’t need play-by-play in EVERY young adult novel out there. However…in this case it I was legitimately confused. I read scenes over to make sure I hadn’t skimmed something important to making sense of the situation. I couldn’t help but feel that either I was stupid, or it didn’t gel. Probably I am stupid.

My brother and I agreed that we are both SUPER excited for book number three, Black Heart. So despite the below-expectations results of Red Glove, the enjoyment remains undiminished, the excitement unabated, and the wait far too long. We will be back for more!

Recommended for: lovers of young adult literature, fantasy, crime and cleverness, and the ever-elusive boy reader. Also – anyone who enjoyed White Cat, casual fans of the Oceans 11, 12 and 13 films, and anyone looking for a bit of harmless (we hope!), entertaining darkness with their springtime reading.

contest winners and hilarious insight

The Book Extravaganza that Kristen of Bookworming in the 21st Century and Kate of The Neverending Shelf put together was a resounding success. At least on my end. Wait, did I actually go enter any other contests? Nope. BUT! I had a lot of new and wonderful visitors, crazy blog traffic, and a couple of my most successful contests ever. Thanks to all who participated!

And now, the part you’ve all been waiting for…

The winner of Holly Black’s magical con masterpiece White Cat, plus a bit of swag, is:

Ella Press of The Clock Monkey

Ella wrote, “Watching the latest HP [Harry Potter] trailer makes me smile. It also makes me kinda sad, to know that it’ll be over soon.”

And the winners of Jessica Day George’s fairy-tale type tale Princess of Glass are:

Cass of Words on Paper and Jenny N. of Dreaming of Books

Cass opined, “Who WOULDN’T want a fairy godmother? Do want!” While Jenny N. said, “Of course I’d like a fairy god mother. She’d be very handy to have around.”

In addition, my other contest (for SteamBoyz Week) also ended. The winner of a signed ARC copy of Matthew Kirby’s The Clockwork Three, plus a YA steampunk book from the list of choices is:

fredamans of Freda's Voice

fredamans answered the question, “What is the essential steampunk accessory?” with “Most definitely could not leave the house without my Steampunk Watch Gadget!”

Congrats, winners! Happy reading! Everyone: be on the lookout for more contests soon (yes, it’s an addiction. but it’s not a PROBLEM. i swear.)!

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Oh, you were waiting for the hilarious insight bit? I guess I’ll let you have it. This is SO ME. All my friends agree. Not sure if that’s depressing or hilarious, but the blog post almost made me wet my pants I was laughing so hard…

book extravaganza - white cat giveaway

I feel like I’ve gone slightly contest crazy. And I like it. The crazy part. Oh heck, the contest part too…

In any case, welcome to the Book Extravaganza! Kristen of Bookworming in the 21st Century and Kate at The Neverending Shelf are hosting a weekend full of giveaways. They’ve gotten book bloggers of all stripes to offer giveaways over July 16-18, and I’m taking part.

So, for my first giveaway (yes, there are TWO!), I’m offering a signed copy of White Cat by Holly Black, an excerpt from Red Glove (Curseworkers #2), black Curseworkers gloves and a button.

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. 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.

Oh yeah, and check out this photo of me with Holly Black! I got to meet her at ALA, where she was signing White Cat and being awesome. As you can tell, she is made of classy, and I have that glazed fangirl look. In other words, all is right with the world. But! You will want to know how to win the book and swag.

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To enter:

Leave a comment on this post with something that makes you smile. It could be a joke, a link, a (very) short story, a book title…whatever you want it to be. You can earn an extra entry for the giveaway if you comment on my review.

Please include a method of contact. Giveaway is open internationally. Comments will close on July 18 at 11:59pm EST, and I will notify the randomly selected winner via email.

Good luck!

había una vez

That’s “Once Upon a Time” in Spanish. I hope. Unless I messed up the spelling. *sigh* It was a long and wonderful weekend. And it’s been a long time since my last Spanish grammar lesson, come to think of it. Eeek! But enough of that. This post is a wrap-up/summation/endnote for the Once Upon a Time IV Challenge, hosted by Stainless Steel Droppings, which officially ended on June 20.

I said I’d read five books that fit into the category of fantasy, myths, or fairy tales. Not all of these books are classic ‘fairy tales,’ but all of them contain elements of the fantastic, and thus count for the contest. Click on the titles to see my reviews.

White Cat by Holly Black

Sleepless by Cyn Balog

The Moorchild by Eloise Jarvis McGraw

Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken

The Sleeping Beauty by Mercedes Lackey

No worries that I’m going to drop fantasy any time soon…I’ll continue to read fairy tales for the rest of the year because I’m also taking part in the Once Upon a Time 2010 Reading Challenge. Do you have any recent fairy tale reads to recommend?

a white cat and a con

Oh twitterverse, I want to say ‘thank you.’ I’d never read a Holly Black book before picking up White Cat. I knew vaguely that she had written some ‘modern faerie tales,’ but I didn’t feel any urgency to find those titles. Then White Cat was released. The twittering world exploded, blog reviews went up all over the place, and someone said the magic words: ‘best book of the year.’

Just like that, my antennae went up. Well, it's quite a claim. I'll give anything proclaimed 'best of the year' a try, as long as I trust the speaker. But even if a book sparks my interest, I won’t necessarily go out and buy it. If that were the case, I’d be buried under a mountain of books (literally), and also quite broke. So instead I checked the local library system and found a copy. Here’s my shout-out to the Arlington Library System! The book was in my possession within the week.

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. 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.

My undiluted reaction: fan-freaking-tabulous. Just the sort of con caper that makes my insides liquefy and my brain start working in overdrive. If it were translated immediately into film-form, it would rank right up there with Ocean’s 11, The Italian Job, and Brothers Bloom. Those are, by the way, some of my favorite films. I get a rush from the cleverness, the con, and the bit-by-bit reveal. It’s not for everyone, but it’s for me. Not even kidding. I don’t even like mystery as a genre; I like people getting played, and the story itself getting the best of me until the last second.

I also love a twist, an unexpected conclusion and a clever switch. I don’t want to explain more, because one of this book’s main strengths is its inscrutability and the unraveling thereof. Cassel and company were a great cast of characters, though not all are equal or equally interesting. But each person fits in the novel, and I didn’t feel like anyone was there as a placeholder or simply for a future set-up. I guess I’m just trying to say that it’s smooth, seamless, and beautiful. Here’s hoping there are many more adventures, cons and magic-filled moments in their future.

Recommended for: adventurers, daredevils, and those who want to join the club (or at least read about it), appreciators of clever stories, dark magic and dark times, and anyone in the mood for sharp, brilliant entertainment at its best and finest.

This book counts for the Once Upon a Time IV challenge.