This Month Fantasy Books: Holly Black’s Curse Worker Series

I really love the series.

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I love the way Holly Black exposed the character, especially on how they think and feel.

The Curse Worker Series consisted of 3 books: White Cat (Book 1), Red Glove (Book 2) and Black Heart (Book 3), but I think you can read it independently. I read the 2nd book first. But the strong opening in White Cat makes me fall in love with it.

The main character is Cassel Sharpe, a 17 years old boy who, for me,  feels trapped and choose to become an almost compulsive liar, mostly lying to him self, keep his head low while trying to solve the problem and danger caused by his dark magic power (transformation curse, an ability to change anything into anything he wanted) and family. He loves his family and friends, but he knows he brings danger, his memory has been purposedly erased and changed and that makes him believe he killed his best friend Lila, and that’s why he tries to stay away from everybody.

Only people seem just could not stay away from him.

Black put his character as the first person point of view, which I think is quite brave since everything will be limited to this person’s view. But Holly knows better in playing the emotion. She made it so visual I read it just like I watch a movie.

In each book, you can see everything is starting to grow. Starting from the 1st book where Cassel accidentally found out about his dark magic power and    start to know the truth about his memories that have been cut off by his own brother. That he did not kill his best friend the way he always think and feeling guilty about it. Lila is still alive, Cassel is not a killer and he needs to find a way to save her, save his family, and also him self. In the 2nd book, Cassel’s oldest brother was killed and the FBI agent is starting to open a murder case which is most likely related to Cassel’s dark magic ability, transformation. Working with FBI agent will expose Cassel’s family, who are illegally working for the most dangerous mobster at that time, Lila’s father. At the same time, Cassel’s mom, an emotion worker, has turned Lila emotion and made her loving Cassel blindly. Cassel feels tortured because he realized that he loves Lila, but Lila’s feeling for him was not real. In the 3rd book, Cassel got involved deeper with the FBI agents, and his mom was deeply involved with a corrupted politician with unstable emotion, running the government against FBI and the Mob. Lila has officially become a member of his father’s mobster business. FBI has approached Cassel to join them so they can use his ability to prevent dangerous statement from the governor.  In this final book, Cassel, once again, tortured between loving his family and Lila, he tried to escape from the FBI’s trap and the Mob.

I read these book more than 3 times. I just feel not get enough Holly Black’s juicy way in expressing Cassel’s feelings.

Try it.