YA Review: Black Heart (Curse Workers) [Hardcover]

I've finished "Black Heart" the 3rd book in her Curse Workers series by Holly Black.

Product Description

Cassel Sharpe knows he’s been used as an assassin, but he’s trying to put all that behind him. He’s trying to be good, even though he grew up in a family of con artists and cheating comes as easily as breathing to him. He’s trying to do the right thing, even though the girl he loves is inextricably connected with crime. And he’s trying to convince himself that working for the Feds is smart, even though he’s been raised to believe the government is the enemy.

But with a mother on the lam, the girl he loves about to take her place in the Mob, and new secrets coming to light, the line between what’s right and what’s wrong becomes increasingly blurred. When the Feds ask Cassel to do the one thing he said he would never do again, he needs to sort out what’s a con and what’s truth. In a dangerous game and with his life on the line, Cassel may have to make his biggest gamble yet — this time on love.

Product Details
Reading level: Ages 14 and up
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books (April 3, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1442403462
ISBN-13: 978-1442403468

My Review:

This is the final book in the series and you find out what happens to Cassel, Lila and everyone in his family.

Cassel Sharpe is trying to be a good man even though he was brought up in a world of con artists and the mob.  He has grown up in a Curse Worker world where a person who can manipulate emotions, change luck, change memories, etc.  He is a Transformation Worker who can change shape into another form.

Cassel is reluctantly working for the FBI where his older brother Barron is a new agent and dragging him along for training.  The FBI have agreed to let him finish high school before allowing him to work with them but they don't let him out of their sights.

Cassel is in love with Lila the daughter of the Zacharov mob family and can't stop thinking of her.  They have a long and complicated history and she is really mad at him.  He finds himself pulled back into that life when he finds out his mom has stole a legendary Resurrection Diamond from Zacharov in the past and he has to retrieve it to save her life.

He also has to solve a case at school when a classmate claims she is being blackmailed but he finds out it is not what it seems.

Agent Yulikova assigns Cassel to transform bigoted Governor Patton before his regulation of transformation workers really gets out of hand.

This book wasn't as fast paced as the first two in the books but it was an enjoyable read.  A lot of things were tied up in this book though some people didn't get their HEA but Cassel and Lily finally realized what they want and go for it.  The ending was really interesting!

4/5

Other books in series:

1.  White Cat
2.  Red Glove

Thanks Simon and Schuster Canada for sending me this book to review, greatly appreciated!

ARC Review: Red Glove (Curse Workers, Book 2) [Hardcover]

I've finished "Red Glove" the 2nd book in her Curse Workers series by Holly Black.

Product Description

Curses and cons. Magic and the mob. In Cassel Sharpe's world, they go together. Cassel always thought he was an ordinary guy, until he realized his memories were being manipulated by his brothers. Now he knows the truth — he’s the most powerful curse worker around. A touch of his hand can transform anything — or anyone — into something else.

That was how Lila, the girl he loved, became a white cat. Cassel was tricked into thinking he killed her, when actually he tried to save her. Now that she's human again, he should be overjoyed. Trouble is, Lila's been cursed to love him, a little gift from his emotion worker mom. And if Lila's love is as phony as Cassel's made-up memories, then he can't believe anything she says or does.

When Cassel's oldest brother is murdered, the Feds recruit Cassel to help make sense of the only clue —crime-scene images of a woman in red gloves. But the mob is after Cassel too — they know how valuable he could be to them. Cassel is going to have to stay one step ahead of both sides just to survive. But where can he turn when he can't trust anyone — least of all, himself?

Love is a curse and the con is the only answer in a game too dangerous to lose.

Product Details
Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry (April 5, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 144240339X
ISBN-13: 978-1442403390


My Review:

I highly recommend reading "White Cat" first so you know who is who and what is happening. You might be kind of lost like I was at first but eventually I figured out what was going on and everyone was!

Wow there are alot of twists and turns in this book which makes you wonder what's going to happen next?

Cassel Sharpe, is a "worker", which is a group of people who have special powers with the touch of their hands, so everyone must wear gloves. A lot of workers run con games (including Cassel and his family, including his mother), others work for organized crime, and others try to stay under the radar to keep their ability from being known, as workers are generally regarded with fear and contempt.

Cassel goes to Wallington, a private high school. The girl that he loves, Lila Zacharov, the daughter of a crime boss, also goes to the same school (although there appears to have been a period of years where she was caged as a cat). Cassel's mother "worked" Lila to fall in love with Cassel, so now Cassel can't allow himself to have a relationship with her, because he thinks her feelings for him are a result of his mother's interference.

Then the FBI want to recruit him when his older brother Phillip is murdered (they want him to solve his murder and what that has to do with the recent string of murders in the city)  Now Cassel has to figure out if he wants to use his powers for the Bad Curse Worker Leader Zacharov or to let his powers become dormant and not use them again.

This series is for readers who aren't afraid of walking on the dark side and characters living on the edge of good or bad and fighting their inner demons.

4/5

Thanks Michelle from Simon and Schuster Canada for sending me this ARC to review, greatly appreciated!