White Cat by Holly Black

I picked up this book because I love Holly Black and Jesse Eisenberg (who I think is just cute as a button) was reading the audio book. It was quick and I used it to pass the time in the car, but, as usual for Black, creative in many ways.

Cute!!

Cassel, the protagonist, is the only son in a family of curseworkers who doesn't have the abilities that go with the negative practice. His brothers work for a mob doing cons but Cassel is still just in school. He starts having sleepwalking issues related to a childhood love that he killed. But when Cassel and his new friends dig deeper into his past to resolve his issues, he quickly discovers that he can't trust anyone, even the damn cats hanging around his dump of a home.

Evil cats!!

Cassel is the mature voice in a sea of criminals; like other young adult lit heroes, he just wants to be normal. I appreciate the struggle he has with conducting his cons. He loves to fool people, and is good at it, sort of like a magical Danny Ocean. For those who saw Eisenberg in Now You See Me, you'll be reminded of the movie when listening to this audiobook.

Decent movie.

Because he knows the life of conning people, especially those who can't work curses, is wrong, he wants to abandon it eventually. However, he knows how valuable a good con can be in a pinch, his morality swings like a pendulum throughout the book. When she introduces the concept of redemption in a YAL book Black is showing how deeply guilt can affect anyone so easily, especially in the young.

His brothers are pretty shallow, and I foretell that the rest of the trilogy will be dealing with his relationships with them. His grandfather is a good character (though my expendable character alert is ringing) and his mother is frustrating as hell.

I wish this guy was still alive to be the grandfather in a movie adaption :(

I'm certainly interested to read the rest of the series, but I don't think it will overly wow me because the same old YAL themes are being used. However, Black has surprised me before, so we'll see what happens...

Goodreads link