Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Pub. Date: May 4th, 2010
Pages: 310
Series: The Curse Workers, #1
Age Level: 14+
Synopsis via Goodreads
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 mobsters, or con artists. Except for Cassel. He hasn't got the magic touch, 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.
Ever since, Cassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his façade starts crumbling when he starts 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, caught up in a mysterious plot. As Cassel begins to suspect he's part of a huge con game, he also wonders what really happened to Lila. Could she still be alive? To find that out, Cassel will have to out-con the conmen.
Holly Black has created a gripping tale of mobsters and dark magic where a single touch can bring love -- or death -- and your dreams might be more real than your memories.
Noteworthy Passages
Cassel, Dean Wharton, & Headmistress Northcutt; pgs. 6-7
"What about changes in appetite or sleep patterns?" He sounds like he's reciting the words from a book.
"The problem is my sleep patterns," I say.
"What do you mean?" asks Headmistress Northcutt, suddenly intent.
"Nothing! Just that I was sleepwalking, not trying to kill myself. And if I wanted to kill myself, I wouldn't throw myself off a roof. And if I was going to throw myself off a roof, I would put on some pants before I did it."
Cassel & Sam; pg. 135
"I really need your help."
"Are you okay? You sound serious."
I make myself laugh. "I have to spring a cat out of the Rumelt Animal Shelter. Think of it as a prison break."
It does the trick. He laughs. "Whose cat?"
"My cat. What do you think? That I break out the cats of strangers?"
"Let me guess, she was framed. She's innocent."
"Just like everybody else in prison."
Well there you have it everyone. I really enjoyed both these passages and I hope that you all do as well. Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments, and don't forget to check out my Review.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a lovely weekend! :D
PLEASE NOTE: This is a feature hosted here at my blog in which I present you with selected passages or quotes that I deem Noteworthy from a book I've just reviewed. My hopes are of course, that these passages will make you want to pick the book up and read it. This feature was started and created by me in January in hopes of making my blog more unique. That being said, I would like to kindly request that you do not use this feature as it was intended to be for my blog only and is not a meme. If you see some one else using it, please know it is without my permission. Thank you.
This was a fun read, with many, many noteworthy passages. It would be hard to just pick two - you did a great job!
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