White Cat, by Holly Black

[rachelmanija]

This was one of the most enjoyable YA fantasies I’ve read all year. I’m surprised that I haven’t seen more discussion of it

Comments

[anait]

I loved this book! I read it off a rec by Sarah Rees Brennan and I'm glad to see that other people are recommending it too.

I guessed the spoilery bit too, it was nicely hinted at, though I didn't anticipate that last little 'gift' from Cassel's mother at the end. The characters and the execution were a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to the sequel.

[sartorias]

I'm planning to buy this one at Sirens so I can have Holly autograph it.

[idiosyncreant]

I really hope people keep discovering it, because it's great proof there's still room for ingenuity in Urban Fantasy. It's strong sense of place that just a little off from things I know was one of the most gripping things about the book, and it was both exactly what urban fantasy should feel like, and a little unlike anything I've come across before.

Poor Cassel, Poor Lila indeed, though.

Somehow that ending was just right, and I usually hate that kind of ending sucker-punch...

[eredien]

At first I thought that curse workers were sufficiently rare that it seemed unlikely for everyone to wear gloves,

If this is set near the time of real-life Prohibition, then probably Victorian morality would still have a lot with why everyone wore gloves--if you were a curseworker, surely it would be impolite and dangerous to signal it to society at large by wearing gloves while everyone else went gloveless. Also, your hands would still get dirty a lot.

[sarahtales]

I love this book like cake! Kind of evil families, and super clever: of course I would. ;) And Red Glove is even better, and has a murder mystery. I want everyone to read it so I can have lots more magical con jobs in my life.