Red Glove by Holly Black (Book review)

Title: Red Glove by Holly Black

Series: Book 2 of the Curse Workers trilogy; sequel to White Cat (See my review here.)

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books. 

Release Date: April 30, 2011

Genres: fantasy, romance, action, mystery

Medium: Hardback, borrowed from local library

 

After reading the Spiderwick Chronicles and White Cat, I knew I definitely wanted to continue reading Holly Black's work. When I came upon this sequel in the library the other day, I knew it was the perfect time to read this. And Holly Black did not disappoint this time around either.

 

With a riveting plot line and plenty of twists and turns, Red Glove is an action-packed, mysterious, fantasy with undertones of romance. In this great sequel, Cassel learns he is a curse worker, a transformation worker actually, maybe the only one in half a century. His family is full of con artists, dream workers, memory workers, etc., although they are all more malicious than he. Working with a conscience, he works to clear his name, after finding out his own brother worked him to forget the murders he committed. A giant mystery unfolds. Underneath all of this, the girl he is in love with has just been emotion worked by his mother, forced to love Cassel and think she's in love with him.

 

The writing was very good. With the high fantasy in this novel, her writing had to be descriptive, yet believable, and must be very suspenseful and gripping, and be full of cliff hangers and hooks. And it did have all of those things. Holly Black manages to write a dark, sensual fantasy that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the end.

White Cat by Holly Black (Book review)

Title: White Cat by Holly Black

Publisher: Simon & Schuster 

Genres: Fantasy, romance, drama, mystery, paranormal

Medium: Paperback, bought

To be completely honest, I have never been a really big fan of fantasy of any degree, not mild or high, but I will regularly read this. I started reading this book with an open mind, and was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it when I finished the novel. I have read a bit of Holly Black's work before (Spiderwick Chronicles) but nothing else. White Cat opened up this great new big world and dropped me smack in the middle, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. That being said, I felt like I was inside the novel, right there with the characters. I love Holly's writing and the way she builds her characters, none of them perfect and all accepting their many flaws. Her writing also shows how the characters develop from the beginning to the end of the novel. The writing is clear, the emotions are there, and he mysterious drama is there until the end.

 

Another thing I would like to hit on is the romance. Some author (I will not state names, you may look for yourself though) had her review on the back cover of the book. In the review, she stated that the book was a "tour de force of romance" and "a sexy noir." She must not have even read the book, because if you read the novel, there is only a few instances of anything slightly resembling this, none coming close to what she describes. This novel does have some flirty situations, but no romance, love, or anything really sexy. The amazing cliffhanger at the end suggests that the sequel will contain all the romance.

Getting off my soapbox here, I thoroughly enjoyed the drama, fantasy, mystery aspects of this novel. My only problem with this story is that the beginning was very slow. Very slow. It was until about halfway that it really got interesting. I feel like that may be a problem for readers who get distracted or uninterested easy. But I'm writing this review like this for a reason, and I tell you this book is worth it, so please stick with it once you start and don't abandon it. I give this book four stars.