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White Cat: The Curse Workers
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White Cat: The Curse Workers
Unavailable
White Cat: The Curse Workers
Audiobook6 hours

White Cat: The Curse Workers

Written by Holly Black

Narrated by Jesse Eisenberg

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

Cassel comes from a family of curse workers-people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they're all criminals. Many become mobsters and con artists. But not Cassel. He hasn't got magic, so he's an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail-he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.

Cassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his façade 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. He's noticing other disturbing things too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. They are keeping secrets from him. As Cassel begins to suspect he's part of a huge con game, he must unravel his past and his memories. To find out the truth, Cassel will have to outcon the conmen.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateMay 11, 2010
ISBN9780307711823
Unavailable
White Cat: The Curse Workers
Author

Holly Black

Holly Black is the #1 New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of speculative and fantasy novels, short stories, and comics. She has been a finalist for an Eisner and a Lodestar Award, and the recipient of the Mythopoeic and Nebula Awards and a Newbery Honor. She has sold over twenty-six million books worldwide, and her work has been translated into over thirty languages and adapted for film. She currently lives in New England with her husband and son in a house with a secret library. Visit her at BlackHolly.com.

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Reviews for White Cat

Rating: 3.91230064214123 out of 5 stars
4/5

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I love Holly Black! This story was so interesting.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    My daughter grew up on Holly Black's [Spiderwick Chronicles]. She and I would read them together and nearly wore the pages out. So it had been a while since I had read a Holly Black book and of course this one fit yet another challenge. Surprise! I wasn't immediately hooked on the story or the characters but remembering those wonderful books that my daughter and I shared...I kept at it. I'm glad I did and I found this to be an interesting beginning to a series that would appeal to any fan of supernatural and paranormal stories...which everyone here knows that I am. I really started to like Cassel. He's the black sheep in his family but what a family he has. They are so twisted that they are actually fascinating. If I had a family like this I would be wondering which of them I could really trust...and what sort of twisted people they might be if they had such powers and would they use them on me. It was a good book for the challenge and who knows? I might pick up book 2.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Cassel is a young con artist with a dark past and a family with strange powers. As events unfold, it becomes obvious how badly he's been conned by his abusive family, but he is not far behind in figuring it out himself. The narrator's voice fits him well and the story is good and creepy.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The first book in the Curse Workers trilogy, I received this book as a freebie at a book festival. I was not expecting much, but it turned out to be a pretty good book. Each curse worker has a special ability. They can influence your dreams, your luck or your memories. They can even kill with a touch. Curse workers are a small percentage of the population, but are feared by all.

    This book centers around Cassel, a seventeen year old boy born into a family of "workers." He seems to be the only one in the family without powers, but soon realizes that his memories are being manipulated. Who is manipulating them and why? Could it be someone in his own family?

    This was fun to read. Cassel is conflicted. He wants to be good, but he is drawn into the criminal world his family lives in. In this world, it is hard to trust your own memories, because they can easily be changed with one simple touch.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Find this review and more at On The Shelf!At first, I wasn’t entirely sure if I would enjoy this book since it isn’t my normal kind of read. I generally don’t read books about thieves and conmen and crime families and such, and I am sure glad I did not let that keep me from trying this book out because I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book! The book was very enjoyable, though at some points, predictable. It was a fun read and has me quite engrossed as I drove to and from work listening to the audiobook. Jesse Eisenburg (known for Zombieland and the voice of Blu in Rio) is the reader for the book, and I thought he did a really good job. He is a fun character in movies I have seen him in, and he is a fun narrator as well. The story has vivid imagery and I was wincing at the painful parts and curling my nose at the gross parts! The characters were written pretty ok, I liked Cassels friends a lot and his grandpa. I thought a couple of the characters could have been a little better, but I’m sure those characters will be developed more in the next two books, and the mother really annoyed me. The plot was interesting and had some twists in it. Great read for the first I’ve ever read of a crime world like this. It was interesting hearing the tips and tricks of being a conman. I can’t wait to see how things play out in the next books. I also love the covers with the dots of color, so pretty! This book has lots of secrets and lies and it is hard to tell who is being truthful and who is being a con. Great read! Fun, good imagery, engrossing, a little on the predictable side.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Meet Cassel. High School student in the prestigious Wallingford private school, with a lot of friends (or so he thinks), running his own betting scheme, and member of a criminal family. He tries to appear normal. In fact, everything he does is a façade, just pretend, a long con to get people to do what he wants and to like him.Until he finds himself on the rooftop of the school. During the night. In his boxer shorts. With no way of getting out of there without help. Any semblance of normalcy is lost, and soon enough he is suspended from school because there is no way to know if he was only sleepwalking or had been cursed.White Cat is clearly YA. That much was clear from the start. And I was kind of dreading that, but thought of the name on the cover and persevered. I mean, the other books by Holly Black I had read were also YA, and I liked them. And, well, I liked White Cat. But…Let’s start with the good things. Holly Black writing has this strange power of sucking me in even if I’m set on not liking the story. There’s a mixture of good plot and mystery that makes me turn page after page to know what happens next. And in this case the plot was quite good, a bit of mob story meets magic meets YA.The mystery however, while nice, was not exactly a mystery. Nothing really surprised me there. Not who dunnit, nor the stuff about the white cat, nor any of the other little mysteries. Predictable, and would have been really boring had the writing been worse.I liked the characters, I really did. But I loved the minor ones: Sam, Cassel’s roommate and Daneca, his friend. And Grampa. Although they get enough screen time, I wish they had a bit more. I really liked the parts they were in and got a bit curious about them.And now for the bad things. I say again, White Cat is clearly YA. Had it been longer and targeted to more adult audiences, I would have loved it to bits. There were things hinted at, that if they were to be expanded and explored would make this book awesome. The fact that everyone wears gloves and skin touch is something intimate and a bit perverse. That the History of this series is an alternate one to ours, only with curse workers, and that they are victims of discrimination and prejudice, but are also, on most of the cases, the worst criminals. There are undertones of dystopia that I would love to see developed.So, White Cat is a nice book, entertaining and gripping. But there was a glimpse of something great that disappointed me more than it would had it just been missing. Let’s hope that Red Glove, the second on the series is better.Also at Spoilers and Nuts
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The Little BookwormCassel comes from a family of criminal curse workers, people who have the power to change people, change their memories, their luck, their emotion, with just one touch. He is the one person in his family who is not a worker, but he is a great con man. Haunted by the memory of the murder he committed, Cassel tries to become the most normal kid, but his hard work of normalcy starts to unravel the night he finds himself of the school roof lead by a dream of a white cat.I'm a sucker for a good con game story. I loved Heist Society and Ocean's 11. Something about these especially when the main character is sympathetic makes me happy. Cassel is an extremely sympathetic character even as he explains how to swindle or outright steal from someone. There are some seriously horrific things going on this book though, but Cassel carries the whole book really well. The whole idea of curse workers is an intriguing one and there are a lot of parallels that can be drawn to their situation. I liked the whole world that Black built. It was very thorough and there were lots details that support the idea of the curse workers and their abilities and oppression as well as the fear that having people with the innate ability to change someone would bring. The mystery was sound and I enjoyed the resolution. Now I can't wait for Red Glove to come out and I will definitively read that one as soon as it is published.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I am a HUGE fan of Holly Black, but her latest release is largely disappointing. The main character, Cassel, is well-developed, but the actual story isn't. The world he lives in (which is a kind of alternate-realty of our own, where "curse workers," or people who have specific kinds of magic, are powerful but marginalized) also feels like it wasn't fully developed. All the curse workers end up working for crime families, Cassel claims, but is that really the only option open to them? I can't help but think that, at the very least, governments would have started some kind of program for them. All in all, there's just too much focus on how trapped the curse workers are in that they all end up as criminals.

    That is not to say, however, that it's not a fun read. Cassel is a sympathetic and well-developed protagonist. His friends and grandfather are, as well. The story just... kind of ends at an awkward spot, like Ms. Black ran out of time before her deadline and really, really wanted to set it up for a sequel. And yes, I get that it's going to be the first of at least two books, but there are better ways to end a storyline with loose ends that can be tied up in the next book.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    2.5 stars

    Overall I would say I liked this book--there are a lot of interesting ideas, and Cassel is a decent narrator--but there were enough elements that rubbed me the wrong way that I am currently uncertain as to whether or not I will seek out the other books in the series. It shaded just a bit too negative for my tastes, in general.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    very enjoyable... and I've already added book 2 to my to-read list.

    While this is identified as YA... so was Harry Potter and Hunger Games. The main characters are high school and a bit older, but the story is certainly enjoyable for adults, as well.

    The story is not so much in the future, as in an alternate world.... those who can do magic ("workers") fit into certain categories. The 'rules' for this alternate world are clear and consistent.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is one of those books that's nearly impossible to put down. Cassel's voice is such an engaging and driving force within the book that it's difficult to walk away from the story here, and the twists Black has played out in the book are put together masterfully, so that the book has its own sort of inertia from start to finish. I'm not sure what to call it--fantasy, urban fantasy, suspense, con story--but I loved it. And in the moments when my heart dropped with what the character was experiencing, and I was left staring at my book and feeling stupefied by the turn things had taken... well, all of that made it that much clearer that if this book draws you in and holds onto you, it's going to affect you. I feel shell-shocked enough by the twists in this one that I think I need a few weeks of recovery before leaping into the second one, but there's no doubt that I'll be seeking it out sooner than later. Absolutely recommended for fans of strange suspense/mystery or urban fantasy, or well-written stories in general.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    3.5 Stars. This book has a lot going for it. The setting is a very realistic world, with just a tiny twist -- a subset of the population has a magical gift that allows them to change anyone they touch. Each gift is different and allows people to change something like a memory, or luck, or can make you fall in love. Of course, this is a pretty dangerous gift so it is illegal, and the people who can do this type of magic (Curse Workers) are criminals. It's a pretty interesting premise and the plot is exciting and twisty. And the writing is good, with just the right balance of world description and action. So why only 3.5 stars? For me, I couldn't quite relate to the main character and narrator. Cassel is a teenage boy, who comes from a family of Curse Workers. He, doesn't have a gift though so he's pretty normal except that he sleep walks. Oh, and he also murdered his best friend. I guess I found that what should have been a huge deal and totally shaped his personality was sort of important, but not that traumatic. I could see people loving this series since the writing is really strong and the whole world is fascinating. Just not quite my cup of tea.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    That was...something else. An intricate setting with complicated themes. The plot kept me interested, despite how loooong it took for it to get moving. Cassel was aloof, yet his reactions to & relationships with others intriguing. An interesting opening to a promising trilogy.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    What a clever little story! I love it when character motivations make sense the whole way through the book. Holly did a great job of detailing the impact that curse work had on her world without having to resort to large amounts of exposition. I actually found myself wanting more of that. Just what would it be like to live as a non-worker in that society? Looking forward to the next one because there's so many ideas that can be taken further.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I'd give this a solid 3.5.

    Reasons that made me click the 3* instead of 4*:

    - Slow beginning.
    - A little predictable. I NEVER predict stuff in books 'cause generally I'm wrong. But there was stuff in this one I saw coming.

    Reasons it deserves the extra-.5*:

    - The second half was REALLY good. I didn't really started rooting for Cassel until the 2nd half. I didn't get him. And suddenly it all goes: "OHHHH! So THAT's what's up!"
    - It REALLY made me want to read the sequel!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    White Cat was a great read. I wavered back and forth about whether I should read it or not but I'm glad I gave it a chance. I love that Holly Black is such a versatile writer. I have read several of her books and they are all unique and refreshing YA. The Curse Workers series begins with White Cat and tells the story of a family of curse workers. Curse work is illegal and charms to ward off curses are big business. As with anything that is illegal, curse work is a lucrative business. The main character Cassel is allegedly the only non worker in a curse worker family. I really liked Cassel's character. Holly Black does a good job of voicing this male character and seems to understand how teen boys think. The book grabs you and reels you in to its pages. I can't wait to read the second book in the series. 3.5 stars!
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I started this unsure, thanks to some reviews I read, moved to being quite intrigued, and then stopped on page 125 to inform the internet that I knew the entire plot and I would be very surprised if I was wrong. The disappointing thing is that I was completely right. Everything panned out exactly the way I expected, which was discouraging, and became boring.At first, I was interested in Cassel, in the way he worked all the angles, his cons. I liked the setup of a mob family with magic: all of that worked fine. What didn't work fine was the fact that Cassel's meant to be smart, meant to have his eye on all the angles, and yet he's so easily manipulated and conned. He doesn't see the most obvious things. Like, one example: we're told about blowback, something that happens to people who use their powers; whatever they've done rebounds upon then. So he's pretty sure his memories are being messed with -- sure enough to mutilate himself to try and prevent it -- but when someone he knows well has big gaps in their memory and uses a journal to remind themselves of what they're doing/saying, he doesn't even think of blowback. He doesn't seem to think much of it at all, even. And he asks about how this kind of magic works, and someone tells him and then starts to mention his brother and he... cuts her off. It seems a bit like plot-induced stupidity and just completely pushed me out of the story.So I won't be finishing this series. It is light fun reading, if you can get past points like that or you don't see it from the angle I do, but I like some subtlety in the narration (even if I already knew the ending, the example I gave is just too blatantly signalling it for me).
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Holly Black created yet another world that is filled with supernatural feel to a normal kind of setting. This first book was mostly about the build up I feel like to get the reader to understand the new world she had created, a world with people who have supernatural powers in a mobster ruling in New Jersey. I thought it was kind of funny because I recognized places that she had mentioned in the towns by my college. I thought it was different compared to the Tithe series because the whole book is in the point of Cassel, a guy! Holly Black really got into the male mind so that the readers could sypmathized and yet be realistic. There was a lot of build up in this book and the end made me really wish I had the second book on hand because of how she left it! A warning though, it's not a bad one, it threw me for a loop but the book is written in the present tense! Took me a little bit to get a hold of that!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I love a good twisty, turny mystery and White Cat definitely delivers. Cassel's family are a piece of work - it's amazing he has any moral compass. The whole concept of curse working is scary - not being able to trust our emotions or memories far more so than the physical powers. Black builds a believable almost-ours world where even the smallest details have been adjusted for the concept of curse working. Lots of fun - although I wouldn't call it light - and I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I decided to give this series a shot despite the fact that I couldn't stand Tithe... I really don't think that Holly Black is my cup of tea. None the less, the story intrigued me. But it was just too heartbreaking. I also hate when publishers switch covers on me half way through a series... just saying.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Oh, but this universe it delightfully different. Sadly, I accidentally spoiled myself due to the internet for the big reveal when going to buy book two while in the middle of one, but the way it played out was still masterful. The characters are compelling and I love how everything magical has decided repercussions, and the generations and history and schools and friends.

    And it definitely sent me on to reading the next one.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Well, Holly Black entrapped me again. For the first book in the series so much happens. Not only are we introduced to the lovable and charming criminals and curse workers an entire parallel world is shaped and reshaped. The book is so good and mind blowing, because every time Castle gets one step forward some new information knocks him two steps back. The plot was great and the characters were stunning. Between crazy parents, shady brothers and hardened criminal grandfathers I constantly wonder how Castle ended up so normal! This book is part mafia story, coming of age, mystery that kept me hooked!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Pros:
    * It's a different kind of magic
    * The con is just as important as the magic
    * Interesting characters

    Cons:
    * The backstory is a bit shallow and you are just dropped right into the world.

    I love stories where one simple twist, in this case that there are people who can "work" magic, shifts our current world. Holly Black did a great job of placing the magic in our world.

    There were some places where one or two simply sentences would have illuminated the backstory and only enhanced the present situations, but by the end of the novel I had a good feel for the characters and the world.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I think this book is a excellent and unique concept. I like that the main character is a guy, I have only read a few books that are YA and the main character is a guy. I also liked the whole concept of balance in the workers' magic, that when they work there is always a fall back to what they do. It's true of everyday life so I really liked that the author had that in there. I enjoyed learning about the different types of workers, and how their who class system runs down, Holly Black definitely had it all planned out and planned well. I can't wait to see what she has in store for the next book.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Cassel Sharpe is a normal teenager from a family full of curse workers - that is, folks who can do a certain variety of magic, usually in the service of organized crime. One day he wakes up on the roof of his boarding school and gets suspended for a few days, causing him to discover all kinds of previously hidden truths about his life and family. Most of them I saw a mile away, but it was a decent story nonetheless, even if I'm not especially interested in reading the rest of the series. Recommended for fans of Cassandra Clare.A note on the audio: This book was read by Jesse Eisenberg. He was great, but the problem is that I know what he looks like, so no matter how many times the narrator described his black hair and swarthy complexion, in my head he was pale and skinny with short curly hair.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Loved this book! Mobsters that can manipulate with black magic, twists and turns - it kept me guessing most of the book. The only disappointment I had was the very predictable ending. If you like fantasy and The Godfather-like mobster stories, read this book!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    WHOA. Awesome ending, though I think I need some time to process it all. Another winner from Holly Black! Cannot wait for Red Glove!
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Meeerrrrrhhhhhppppp. Glad that's over. It gets 2 stars because I managed to finish it, but it took forever. It was pretty boring. I'm surprised I got through it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Not bad, White cat has an interesting magic system and story. The magic has limits and disadvantages, which makes it more realistic, and it was interesting to see how different groups in society looked the role of magic and magic users. The story tended to get a little involved in the middle, and unfortunately, a lot of the characters are unsympathetic. Well, they are criminals, what do you expect? The main character is sympathetic, and so are his friends. Most of his family deserved a lot worse than what they got in the end, though. That's the one thing I'm dissatisfied with: perhaps Cassel doesn't exactly forgive them for what they did, but he does protect them. And what they did is pretty damned awful. They really deserved worse. Well, maybe in the sequel...
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I do love a good teen fantasy, as a break from some of the harder going topics. This one gives a taste into the seedy underworld, as it would be if "Curse workers" had been driven underground. I probably wouldn't have picked up this book if it had the cover of other editions I have seen, but the cat sucked me in. I have a skinny white cat with one blue and one green eye. I found that I guessed a fair bit of the plot early on, but so did the character. It didn't put me off. Once the action started it kept it's pace and I read it in one sitting. The book was complete enough to stand alone, and left me with a smile. Perhaps a bit too complete, as I don't have any idea what the next book will be about, or too much sense of unfinished business. The next in the series is waiting for me at the library nonetheless.