Red Glove (Curse Workers #2)

Now fully immersed in the world of “curses and cons, magic and the mob” Cassel Sharpe tried to deal with his mother’s actions. His mother an emotional worker has cursed the girl he likes and now he can not see her because he is unwilling to take advantage of her. Cassel and his mother are trying to spend sometime together before he returns to school but having been the only non-worker in the family for years Cassel is not over joyed to be coning people for money and tricking people with his mother who thinks there is nothing wrong with it. When Cassel’s oldest brother is murdered, both the mob and the Feds turn to Cassel who must stay ahead of both of them while he is finishing high school.

I enjoyed reading this but the ending was a bit different than what I would have expected. It did a good job setting up the next book. I liked that Cassel’s friends played a bigger role in this book. I also liked that Lila was included in the story and was becoming more of a character rather than someone the story worked around. I think in the next book she will be a bigger character. I liked that Cassel plays the mob and the Feds to his advantage while he tries to decided what to do and how best to take advantage of it all. In many ways even though he doesn’t think he is like his mother he is. I liked that the characters are dynamic. I did find parts of it a bit dull but overall I really enjoyed the second book.

Holly Black has created a truly unique world in the Curse Worker series with the successful and intriguing debut of WHITE CAT and now I can tell you the much awaited sequel, RED GLOVE does not disappoint.

Cassel Sharpe is happy to be back in school at Wallingford after all that went down with his older brothers and crime boss Zacharov. Notably, Cassel is uncomfortable now knowing that he is a transformation worker, but glad to be free from his brother’s memory manipulations and control. He’s doing his best to stay clear of Lila, the girl he loves and has always loved, until the love cures his mother worked on her wears off… if it wears off. Everything in Cassel’s life is slowly returning to normal… that is, until the Feds show up at school looking for him. Complicated doesn’t even begin to describe the left turn his life is about to take. Backed against a wall, Cassel needs to decide where his loyalties lie and fast, unfortunately, no matter where he chooses could end up getting him killed. Oh and looks like love cursed Lila just enrolled in Wallingford… perfect.

Greatly to Black’s credit, there’s not a lot of rehashing of the first book, no lengthy flashbacks retelling what happened in WHITE CAT, just cleverly inserted references where the two stories overlap and/or relate; keeping this second installment of Curse Workers moving right along. All our favorite characters are back and so are the dangers, the betrayals, and the lies. The “who-done-it” factor is strong in RED GLOVE, and Black does an excellent job keeping the reader guessing right up to the end.

Fans of the first book will undoubtedly enjoy this follow-up, as I did, although; RED GLOVE couldn’t quite maintain the sparkle that shown so bright throughout WHITE CAT, admittedly allowing my interest to wane slightly midway through. But Black manages to recapture my attention with vengeance in the end, producing some pretty impressive twist and a shocker or two that make for a great set-up to book #3 BLACK HEART, due out in 2012.

(This review was originally posted at GoneWithTheWords.com)

Every time I visit Cassel Sharpe, my heart breaks for him. When will our boy get a happy ending, Holly Black?! I hope it finally happens in Black Heart because he needs one after everything you’ve made him go through so far!

Cassel is one of those people who would rather see the people he loves happy, rather than be happy himself. His self-sacrificing breaks my heart at times. Even when he’s dealing with his twisted, selfish brothers, he’s doing it because he wants them to be happy in the end. Of course, for one of the brothers it’s impossible now, but more on him in a bit. I hate how some of the people in Cassel’s life only want to use him and how his friends, deep-down, distrust him a little. I want to jump in the book and defend Cassel! I feel like no one’s on his side sometimes! I don’t know why I feel he’s treated so unjustly, I mean, the boy can take care of himself…but who’s taking care of his heart? Cassel gets hurt a lot, and he covers it up so well. My heart breaks for him, I tell you!!

I really liked Lila in this book. I believe she loves Cassel, cursed or not, so I can’t wait to see how everything turns out in Black Heart. Sam and Daneca are as interesting as ever. Sam funny and quirky, and Daneca…Daneca’s secret surprised me!

Out of all of Cassel’s family members, the only one I like is his grandfather. His mother is just selfish and annoying, and his brothers are horrible. I wanted to smack his mom and punch Baron…again! I was most shocked that Philip was found murdered in this book. I didn’t like him, but I didn’t think Holly Black would kill him!! I’m still expecting this to turn out to be another con. It’s weird, but I really can’t believe he’s truly dead.

The world Holly Black has created in this Curse Workers series is just incredible. I love the cons, the mobster families, the worker’s abilities…it’s all so dark and mysterious!

This audiobook series is narrated by Jesse Eisenberg. Yes, he’s THAT guy. The Oscar nominated actor of The Social Network, Zombieland, Adventureland, and many others. He reads this series beautifully!! His narration brings out so many emotions that I may not have felt if I had actually read this book from print. If you’re looking for a series to listen to, I strongly suggest this one.

I love the characters in this dystopic world. Cassell traumered life is well depicted inside a contemporary world where magic users are generally criminals. When I first read reviews of this series I did not expect to be drawn in so much to the world and did not read ‘The White Cat’ despite purchasing it until almost a year later. However in this sequel and the first, Holly Black weaves just the right amount of mystery into a slow reveal of ‘who did it’. There are lots of little mysteries she creates throughout the read and satisfyingly answers them, eventually. Who wore the red glove was not so difficult to guess but what Cassell’s decision would be, was, and how his relationship with the white cat develops also kept me guessing.

I read White Cat a very long time ago so didn’t remember much about the story and had to find synopsis online. It was quite different to how I remembered. Cassel is a curse worker, not only that but he is a very rare type, a transformation worker who can change people into anything. Though this has caused him nothing but trouble so far, the way he sorts things out at the end is quite clever.

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