The White Cat (Curse Workers, Bk 1)
Author:
Genres: Children's Books, Teen & Young Adult
Book Type: Hardcover
Author:
Genres: Children's Books, Teen & Young Adult
Book Type: Hardcover
Helpful Score: 1
I picked up this book looking for something to kill an hour with before bed, and ended up being drawn into the world and stayed up for several hours to finish the story. It took a little while for me to get into the terminology used in the book ("workers", the various types of curses, the blowback effect of cursing someone, etc.) and I thought it was a bit clever that when the protagonist (Cassel) referred to "working" someone I always had to pause to determine whether he meant working them via magic or via a con (or both). The line between magical talent and more mundane confidence work is skipped over, blurred, and turned back upon itself several times in this book, which is one of the elements that kept me turning the pages...I wanted to see if it was all real, or a con, or a little bit of both in the end.
There are many plot twists and turns (some I saw coming, and one very large one at the end which I didn't). The situation with the titular cat was telegraphed pretty clearly so I felt pleased with myself for seeing that one coming, but then the rug was pulled out from under me with twists that were revealed further down in the book. I found it very, very difficult to like the main character and his rather cold and clinical way of describing things, but as his history was revealed, I found myself sympathizing with him.
I would have liked a little more complexity in the actual text itself and a little more done in the way of worldbuilding, and understand that this may have been difficult to do since it's written from the first-person view of a teenager. I wanted a little more explanation of the Mafioso set-up in the book, since that element seemed to appear/disappear rather conveniently at times. Overall, I give this book four and a half stars because despite my (minor) quibbles with it, I greatly enjoyed it and am looking forward to the next installment.
There are many plot twists and turns (some I saw coming, and one very large one at the end which I didn't). The situation with the titular cat was telegraphed pretty clearly so I felt pleased with myself for seeing that one coming, but then the rug was pulled out from under me with twists that were revealed further down in the book. I found it very, very difficult to like the main character and his rather cold and clinical way of describing things, but as his history was revealed, I found myself sympathizing with him.
I would have liked a little more complexity in the actual text itself and a little more done in the way of worldbuilding, and understand that this may have been difficult to do since it's written from the first-person view of a teenager. I wanted a little more explanation of the Mafioso set-up in the book, since that element seemed to appear/disappear rather conveniently at times. Overall, I give this book four and a half stars because despite my (minor) quibbles with it, I greatly enjoyed it and am looking forward to the next installment.
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