White Cat by Holly BlackMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Wow. I am so impressed by this book. It is not what I expected. I haven't read the Spiderwick Chronicles but I have read Tithe, Valiant and Ironside and I enjoyed them. But not as much as this one. This is another of those rare books that stand out in the ocean of mediocrity that is YA urban fantasy right now.
First, the plot of this book is original. The story is set in a parallel universe just like ours but the world is populated by curse workers, that is people who can do magic through their touch. Cassel comes from a family of workers where he is the only one who doesn't have this ability. The plot is pretty complicated, it twists and turns and there are quite a few jaw droppers but i can tell you it's greatly developed, smooth and comes together nicely at the end.
Second, Holly Black can definitely write. She is not over descriptive, in fact we get acquainted with the world Cassel lives in by bits and pieces told through different strategies, one at a time, but everything flows perfectly and at the end you don't have a doubt about what happened or why. Great dialogue, too. I just like her style I guess. She is very different from what is out there right now and that to me is a big, huge plus.
Third, characters. Black is not the kind of YA writers who give us brooding, romantic, hunky protagonists who fall in love with the pretty heroine and then live happily together after. Or maybe at the end she does but there's always a bitter ingredient added to the story. Her characters act real and are not perfect at all. They're even mean at times. Cassel is one of these. He's not the good guy but he's not the bad guy either, he just tries to survive whatever happens to him and make the most out of what he's given.
Red Glove is coming out soon and i am certainly going to read it even though there is really no cliffhanger at the end. Or maybe there is. But it could also finish there. Can't decide. Well, just read it.
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2 comments:
People seem to either love or hate Holly Black's writing. I'm still on the fence about reading Tithe, but this book is looking better and better with every review I read.
You know, I think I like her because she doesn't strictly follow the annoying YA lit canon: no sex, no drinking, no smoking. As if.
If you read Valiant, you're going to be shocked. Anyway, this is completely different from the Tithe series, I liked the idea very much, you should try it.
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