Red Glove by Holly Black

Release Date: 5th April, 2011

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry

Pages: 320pgs

The Story

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 work mom. And if Lila's love story is as phony as Cassel's made-up memories, then he can't believe anything she says or does.

When Cassel's older 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 valuable he could be to them. Cassiel 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.

The Review

Note: This review maybe a little different from my previous one made on 12/5/11 (stupid me didn't type an extra copy of the review), because of blogger shutting down and not returning my original post, and also ruining my blogger life and those who read my posts. So bear with me if it's a little rushed. :)

RED GLOVE has higher stakes than what we've seen in the previous installment, White Cat, and my God . . . it's so much BETTER too! The thing I love most about Holly Black's writing is that it's so vivid and crazy, and again, she's made me even more in love with her main character, Cassel. It's like no matter how messed up he is or how broken he has become, he'll always be a great character to read about!

Oh Cassel. My poor, poor Cassel. How can a boy like him be so broken? Why can't he have some happiness in his con-artist-family-of-a-life? Cassel may not be your traditional main heroine, but he's intelligent, smart, knows how to play the game, and most importantly, he's pretty badass when you come to think of it. And oh yeah, did I mention he's AWESOME?! I think the main thing that draws me to Cassel's character is that he can get kicked around, betrayed, and even be bullied into doing things now and again, but in the end, he always come back on top and deal with things his own way. If there was any character I could hug, Cassel would be one of them! He has had it tough!

Getting down to the point of the story, this time round Cassel's brother is murdered and now the FEDs are showing up and asking for his help - to find his brother's killer. Now, while being constantly surrounded with dangerous mobsters and a very crazy world, Cassel has some trouble in trusting people with who he is and you can't really blame him. I wouldn't trust anyone either. But while he's searching for clues that could possibly bring his brother's killer to "justice", there is the other issue: Lila. For those who've read White Cat, Lila is the girl Cassel thought he'd killed but didn't. He actually transformed her - or rather cursed her - into a white cat. To save her. But after he found a way to change her back, little did he know his own con-artist-of-a-mother put a little curse of her own onto Lila. A curse to love. All Lila can do is think about Cassel and want to please him, but even though Cassel loves her so much, he doesn't want any part of this fixation.

The only problem in this book is Lila, at least for me. Over the many book reviews, I've read people liked her a lot as a love interest, but I don't really see the appeal of her character. Nor do I like her. I had hoped in RED GLOVE things would improve with her character and I would actually start to like her, but that didn't happen. While she's in love with Cassel, but that's just the curse talking. In some parts of the book, you can see some little bits of Lila possibly loving Cassel back without the curse, but otherwise she's not really a nice person. Cassel admits this too. But like a lovesick guy, he still loves her. Eh . . . I just want someone to treat Cassel with some respect and admiration, because despite some flaws, he's a really nice guy when it comes down to it.

Anyway, what I love most about RED GLOVE is that it's written like a classic black-and-white mobster film, the ones I love. I must confess that I'm a big fan of mobster stories and you definitely get an exciting read with the mobster world in RED GLOVE. It's fascinating and so very unique. RED GLOVE is far more engaging than White Cat and I love all the twists and turns that Holly Black throws out to her readers! The Curse Workers series is edgier than any other YA book that I've read with a male lead character and definitely something you should sink your claws into! Holly Black has the ability to write realistic characters and blend them through a modern world with a little darker paranormal element into it. If you like the likes of Cassandra Clare, then pick this up! I'm looking forward to next year, because the third installment Black Heart is going to be out!

The Rating

5/5 stars

Note: I was going to give the book 4 stars but I'll give an extra star for Cassel's hotness!