White Cat
-
-
4.7 • 6 Ratings
-
-
- $1.99
-
- $1.99
Publisher Description
A teen from a family of magically gifted conmen questions the truth of his memories in this “dangerously, darkly gorgeous” (Cassandra Clare) first book in the Curse Workers urban fantasy trilogy by New York Times bestselling author Holly Black.
Cassel Sharpe comes from a family of curse workers, people who have the power to change emotions, memories, and luck with the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they’re also all criminals. Many become mobsters and con artists, but not Cassel. He doesn’t have magic, so he’s an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family—except for the small detail that he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.
Cassel has carefully built up a facade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his mask 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. And his brothers’ strange behavior makes Cassel being to suspect he’s an unwitting pawn in a huge con game. To find the truth, he must unravel his past and his memories—and out-con the conmen.
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.
