Okay. Deep breath. I’m going to try really hard here to give a straight-up, unbiased review…

…but I don’t think that’s possible. I lovedlovedlovedlovedloved When We Wake by Karen Healey. It completely entranced me for the few hours it took to devour it.

The premise of When We Wake was interesting enough: Sixteen year old Tegan Oglietti is at a climate change protest when shot and killed by a badly-aimed sniper who was trying for the Prime Minister instead. Tegan doesn’t remember dying, but she remembers waking up 100 years later after being cryonically frozen and thawed. She’s the first person ever to be successfully revived, making her an instant celebrity. This doesn’t so much thrill her – she’d rather get on with the business of being a normal teenager and grieving for the family and life she left behind. School, friends, boys and the political issues that defined her in her ‘first life’ are still foremost in her mind. For Tegan, being the puppet of ‘Operation New Beginning’, the army and the scientists who raised her from the dead isn’t her idea of a fun time.

The thing is, Tegan wasn’t exactly your pliable, cookie-cutter teenager the first time around. When she died in 2027, she was not only obsessed with social issues, but music as well. And not just any old music; she loved the ancient band The Beatles. Karen Healey uses this in a novel way – each chapter is headlined by a well-known Beatles song and Tegan uses her knowledge to sing their songs in times of stress. As the first-person narrator of the story, I was sucked in by Tegan’s voice from the first paragraph. She’s strong, funny, loyal, clever and fiercely independent with a sense of empathy and compassion for others that makes her impossible not to like and cheer for.

But Tegan and her likability isn’t the big issue with When We Wake. It’s consequences. Underneath the main character’s (and secondary characters – did I mention how well formed each and every one was?) amusing and self-deprecating voice is a whole world of consequences. Literally. Things change over a hundred year period, and while I wouldn’t label When We Wake as dystopian, it comes close. Some things are better. Marriage is no longer the domain of just a man and woman. Meat and animal products are no not eaten by (most!) humans. Technology has reached the point where computers can be scrunched into a tiny ball and stuffed inside your pocket. But there’s also major climate issues; Australia has a zero immigration policy and there are new diseases to replace the old ones. ‘Illegal’ immigrants are kept in prisons up north and religious fanatics have split the church. Sounds unbelievable, huh. Oh… wait…

The majority of When We Wake is set in Melbourne, Australia, and the surrounding suburbs – which happens to be my home city. It’s obvious the author has spent time living here too. Even the college Tegan is allowed to attend is named for one of our most real and beloved philanthropists (side note – there is actually a college in the area by this name). As a science fiction novel, I possibly would have like to see a bit more science, mainly in the explanation of the revival process which is glossed over a little. But the truth is it doesn’t matter to the Tegan, so it doesn’t really matter to us either.

When We Wake is Karen Healey’s third novel, and the second one I’ve read. While the last one didn’t grab me the way this one did, I can’t wait for the sequel. This is an important book. Not just for Young Adult readers, but everyone. It will make you question your morals, your everyday decision making and your government. I think we’ll be hearing much more about When We Wake when award season rolls around.

Oh, and you neeeed to read it. Right now.

Moonlight & Ashes by Sophie Masson is a gorgeous retelling of the Cinderella fairytale – though probably not as you know it.

Based loosely around the German Cinderella – Aschenputtel – this isn’t a story where you’ll find Fairy Godmothers and Princes who come along to rescue poor Cinders (renamed Selena here) whose fate is out of her own control. Nope, this gutsy heroine does it all herself … with a little help from a hazel twig and some pretty cool magics.

Moonlight & Ashes kicks off where we expect it would. Selena is a slave to her evil step mother and sisters, while her father remains distant and aloof, not seeming to care what becomes of his daughter with his first, deceased wife. Her existence is miserable by all accounts – her step sisters now own the beautiful dresses and jewellery that were once hers, her place is with the lowest of the servants, scavenging for food and a friendly ear. Society has shunned her and the family renamed her as Ashes. But this Cinderella has a secret, bigger than any of them can imagine, told to her by her dying mother: she is a Moon Sister.

Many years ago, magic was outlawed and the last of the Moon Sisters were captured or killed by the Mancers, a menacing and politically powerful association of men and sorcerers. Theirs is the only magic authorised by the government. Selena is, of course, terrified of being found out by the Mancers, and will do anything to stay under their radar and away from magic. She denies anything to do with her Moon Sister heritage. Then, on her sixteenth birthday, she dreams of her Mother and the hazel twig. And this is where things get interesting.

I loved Moonlight & Ashes. I loved that Selena is strong enough to not only take charge of her own life but also the lives of those who she cares for. She’s a fantastic heroine. Far from perfect, Selena makes plenty of stupid mistakes and takes risks that will have you cringing as you turn the page. The story moves quickly, with the Cinderella ball and prince storyline pretty much over and done with in the first eighty or so pages. From there, it’s all adventure, deceit and honour. Ah, and the romance bit. Well, this is based on the Cinderella fairytale you know. Yep, capital F Fairytale – and who doesn’t appreciate a little true love? Just don’t think you already know how this romance ends…

I do wish there had been space to investigate and learn more about the co-stars of this story such as Andel, the barge-dwelling philosopher, Olga, the Ruvenyan Werewolf and Tomi, who I felt was over-looked. They were seriously engaging and interesting characters. Maybe we can cross our fingers for a spin-off there?

Moonlight & Ashes is the first Sophie Masson book I’ve read, so when I looked the author up I was pretty happy to find she had a bit of a back-list. Like, in the vicinity of fifty novels. Fifty! I’ll be checking some of those out. And so should you.

Moonlight & Ashes by Sophie Masson

Published by Random House

Paperback, 318 pages

ISBN – 978 1 74275 379 9

Burn Mark is the first novel in a planned series set in an alternate, present-day London. It’s a world where witches are both feared and revered. They must be registered with the government, tested for the strength of their ‘fae’ and bridled with iron. Unregistered witches are illegal and – sometimes – dangerous. The worst witch crimes (treason, terrorism and first-degree murder) are punished by a government department called The Inquisition by balefires – the burning of a witch at the stake in the centre of London and televised live across the country.

But like any well – or ill – intentioned law, there’s another side to the argument of protecting against witches, and protagonist Gloriana Starling Wilde (Glory for short) was born right into the thick of it. Covens. In Powell’s world, a coven of witches isn’t all pointy black hats and eyes of newt, but families of organised crime who’ll do anything just to survive and keep their fae from the cruel and often corrupt Inquisition. The side-effect is a mafia-type lifestyle of power, deceit and danger set between the upper and lower classes. Glory comes from a long line of powerful witches and can’t wait for her fae to kick in so she can help restore her coven to its rightful place in society.

The second protagonist in Burn Mark is Lucas Stearne, son of Ashton Stearne, Chief Prosecutor of the Inquistional Court. Lucas has his life firmly mapped out in front of him as a Witchfinder for the Inquisition. That is, until the day he unexpectedly turns fae.

Burn Mark skips between both Lucas and Glory’s points of view. Most of the time it’s very clear whose mind the reader is in, but occasionally it can get a little muddled, particularly early in the book. This makes for a couple of confusing paragraphs as we try to figure our way through a fairly large cast of characters. That said, both Glory and Lucas are very different; one from a lower working class family with a history of crime links, the other from a privileged background of private schooling and society parties. The two are great characters – faulty, believable and easy to empathise with. The banter and tension between the two of them is both fun and frustrating as they figure out how to trust each other (and they must) when they were born natural enemies.

The beginning of Burn Mark is a little slow, but well worth persevering. This was mainly due to a heap of information ‘dumping’ on the backstory and world. It was probably the quickest way for the author to get a lot of information to the reader, but it was also a lot to consume. However, once settled in the world and the characters (there’s a lot. Witches and Inquisition, both) Burn Mark becomes a serious slippery slope of conspiracy and betrayal. Powell’s witches and their fae (not magic. Fae) are unique – I’ve not read anything similar before. Their witchwork is inspired by hoodoo and African-American folklore rather than Harry Potter, and actual historical events are worked into the story too… Queen Elizabeth 1 a witch, anyone? I really enjoyed that this was a world where Facebook is still a place to check someone’s relationship status, and refugees and religion divide public opinion just as they do in our world today.

Burn Mark is to be followed by book two in the series: ‘Witch Fire’, due around May this year.

Burn Mark by Laura Powell

Published by Bloomsbury

ISBN – 9 781408 815229

Paperback, 403 pages.

Mandy’s Top 5 Reads of 2012

So this year, my reading was a little more eclectic than usual. I also read a little less than usual. Maybe that’s because many of the books I read had me pondering their deeper meanings, their nuances, the actual craft of the author. Whatever it was, I still got to read some seriously awesome books. So here’s my top 5 titles, in no particular order:

1/ Red Queen by Honey Brown

Red Queen is one of those titles that’s not quite crime or thriller, not quite spec fic – it just IS. And wow, is it creepy. And beautiful. Brown’s writing has a real melody to it.

2/ Feed, Deadline and Blackout by Mira Grant

Yeah, yeah, I’m cheating here by bundling all three novels of the ‘Newsflesh’ trilogy together. But technically, they’re one story. And you should read them. Now. Before the dead begin to rise.

3/ Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan

Back when I reviewed Sea Hearts here at Burn Bright in February, I wrote that I adored it. I still do. Margo Lanagan can twist words and sentences into heart-splitting scenes that will play in your memory forever.

4/ Bluegrass Symphony by Lisa L Hannett

I dipped into a few short story collections this year, most from Australian small press.  Lisa’s collection was a real standout for me (along with Felicity Dowker’s Bread and Circuses. But it would be cheating to add that in too. Oh. Oops). Hannett is another author whose words rise and fall like music; Bluegrass Symphony is as twisted and bleak as it is beautiful.

5/ Handling the Undead by John Ajvide Linqvist

More zombies. This time, in a very serious, heartbreaking novel that explores grief and loss. With lots of gory and mucky and cool horror stuff that smells like expensive cheese.

5 Most Anticipated Reads of 2012

Okay, most of these are already out there in the wild, jumping off bookshop shelves. Actually, most are jumping off MY shelf, coz I already have them in my To Be Read pile. I’m just a little backward and haven’t got to them yet. So, here are the five books I can not wait to sink my teeth into next year:

1/ Shine Light by Marianne de Pierres.

Oh. Yeah.

Do I really need to explain? Really?

2/ Stage Fright by Marianne Delacourt

Book three in the Davitt Award Winning Tara Sharp series has been screaming ‘Pick me! Pick me!’ from my bookshelf since the first week it was released. Tara’s noisy like that. I’ll be putting her out of her misery very, very soon.

3/ Illumination by Karen Brooks

Another one from the already-purchased-not-yet-read pile. The third and final book in the Curse of the Bond Riders trilogy, I can’t wait to see what this doorstop of a book has in store for characters Tallow and Dante.

4/ Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris

The thirteenth and final book in the Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire series is due for release in early May next year. *Sigh*. I hope Sookie finds happiness. I hope she finds love (preferably with Sam, ahem). I hope we get a satisfying ending to the series that spawned the TV show, True Blood.

5/ The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

I know, I know, it’s not new. In fact, The Scorpio Races was released in 2011. But I didn’t know about it until it was recently recommended to me by uber-author, Alison Goodman (EON and EONA) And, you know, when Alison Goodman personally recommends something – you have to read it, right? I’ll let y’all know how I go.

The World Didn’t End When The Zombies Came.

We Just Wished It Had.

Blackout is the third and final book in Mira Grant’s Newsflesh trilogy. And if you haven’t read book one or two – Feed and Deadline – you need to stop reading right here, right now. Because there will be spoilers. I promise. If you’d like to read more about Feed and Deadline, why don’t you head on over and check out my reviews here on Burn Bright of those little (or rather large) gems.

Now, if you’re ready to read on and hear about Blackout, one more thing: this is one of those books that kinda crosses over between Young Adult and Adult reading. It’s in a tricky space. Bottom line is, if you’re not so good with the occasional swear, a little sex, blood, brain matter, moaning zombies, mad scientists or – and this could be scariest of all – political conspiracy – then Blackout isn’t for you.

I haven’t scared you off yet? Excellent. Because Blackout is one of the best books I’ve read in a very long time, and a most fitting end to the Newsflesh trilogy. In Feed and Deadline, Georgia and Shaun Mason tell us their stories. Set in the early 2040’s, and around thirty years since ‘The Rising’, when man cured cancer and the common cold and the dead stopped staying dead, bloggers like Georgia and Shaun are how we get our news. Their news site, ‘After the End Times’ is one of the highest rating in the country. By the time we get to Blackout, the world has gone mad. Well, madder than it already was.

If you’ve read Feed, you’ll know that something big and bad happened to George in the final chapters, and if you’ve read Deadline, you’ll know that Mira Grant did some serious messing with the reader’s mind in the last chapter of that one too, again to do with George. The whole ‘is she dead, alive, a clone or just some new breed of sentient zombie?’ makes the reader sit up and take notice. In Blackout, that head-messing continues, so this isn’t really a book you’re going to only pay half your attention to, or hope it sends you to sleep at night. Grant will pull you through her world at break-neck speed, she demands you stay on the ball, use that grey matter (sorry, couldn’t resist) and keep up with both the characters and the science. All our favourite characters are back in their best form (well, the living ones anyway. Actually, that’s debateable…) Angry, sceptical, brave and more than a little bit mad, Shaun and Georgia’s quest for truth again puts their lives on the line, along with their loyal staff. The science of Newsflesh is nicely played out and explained to the reader, though I wouldn’t try multi-tasking while you’re reading. It might prove hard to get your head around.

What makes Blackout and its predecessors stand out from other zombie novels isn’t just the science. Sure, the back-story and the corruption are important, real and plausible; the bones to the story, but it’s not what makes the novels so un-put-downable. It’s the flesh (ahem) that makes these books amazing – the characters and how we care about them. In a world overtaken by the undead, it’s how the living manage to go on doing just that – living – that makes the story so real. Shaun and Georgia share an impeccable sense of humour, although their ‘voices’ are so different to one another. Shaun in particular is more than a little twisted, but his loyalty to George and their band bloggers is without fault. You’ll laugh out loud through this story, be horrified and disturbed and if you don’t shed a tear (or at least be tempted to) then you better check to make sure you’re not entering the amplification stage of Kellis-Amblerlee yourself.

If Feed, Deadline and Blackout aren’t enough Newsflesh for you – don’t despair. Available as e-books are the novellas Countdown and The Last Stand of the California Browncoats. I can highly recommend them both. Whedon fans will love the Browncoat reference – and seriously, a zombie apocalypse set at Comic-Con? Omg.

*Mira Grant is also known as Campbell Award winning author Seanan McGuire.

Blackout by Mira Grant

Published by Orbit

Paperback, 574 pages.

ISBN – 978-1-84149-900-0

‘I have done bad things. I can’t take them back, and they are part of who I am.’

Insurgent is the follow-up to one of last year’s biggest debut novels in YA dystopian fiction: Divergent. I loved Divergent. (You can read my Burn Bright review here) In fact, I loved it so much I listed it as one of my top 5 reads for 2011. It came from nowhere and blew me away. A gutsy female lead, a subtle romance with no gross-out factor and world that was built with clear lines and rules – so easy to get lost in. But Insurgent? Well, it left me kinda bewildered, confused to how I felt.

Insurgent picks up right where Divergent left off. For this reason, please don’t start with book two. Roth’s world is complex, built around five factions, or groups within society. There’s the Dauntless – the brave (and often reckless) who provide safety, Amity – who are peaceful at all costs. They provide society with counsellors, they are the caretakers of society. Then there’s Abnegation who are completely selfless. They fulfil the need for selfless leaders. Candor value truth above all else, providing trustworthy leaders. Finally, there’s Erudite, who are dedicated to intelligence and learning. Sounds pretty organised, huh? Well, it is. Until the goings-on of Divergent (which I’m not going to spoil here – because you need to read it!)

What I will say is that Divergent ended in a pretty dramatic way. Society, so organised and practical on one level collapsed into chaos. Lead character, Tris (also known as Beatrice) found herself in a situation where she had to make split-second choices to save her own life. In Insurgent, she’s paying the price for those choices. She’s being swallowed by guilt and grief, which has a huge impact on the way she responds to people and situations. Tris is an awesome, multi-faceted character but here she kind of loses some of the ‘oomph’ that made her so strong in the last book. She’s done some things she regrets, and while we don’t expect her to just ‘get over it’, she’s become weak and self-loathing. Veronica Roth has made this transition in Tris’s nature believable and heartfelt, but to be honest, it just got a little tired after a while. I wanted to slap her, tell her to “get the hell on with it, stop trying to redeem yourself through stupid, desperate actions.”

But see, here’s the thing. I think Veronica Roth wanted us, the reader, to feel like this – and why I think I finished the story confused as to how I felt. Both Tris and Four (her waaay too hot love interest from Divergent) have been living a war. There’s loads of death and destruction in both books. No character is safe. They’ve been lied to, betrayed – oh, the betrayal! – injured and been the ones to injure, betray and kill others. They haven’t always done it for the right reasons, either. In the real world, both of them would be diagnosed as having some kind of post traumatic stress disorder. And that’s where Insurgent comes into its own. It doesn’t gloss over the terrible, nasty things that would happen in a world where control of others is the ultimate goal. It doesn’t pretend that lives and personalities aren’t changed forever. That’s how we grow as people. We’re the product of our experiences. Insurgent doesn’t dismiss the bad, it’s blunt and to the point. And, if you can forgive Tris and Four a little time to feel sorry for themselves – then Insurgent works.

Don’t get me wrong, Insurgent isn’t just about teenagers moping around. This book is full-on action, that Does. Not. Stop. once it gets going. Just like its predecessor, it’s fast, furious, more dirty than gritty and there’s some torture scenes that will make you squirm. The ‘love’ thing is still without eew factor; it’s believable and true. There are so many amazing twists in this story, you’ll be left trying to figure out which way is up. And then, there’s the cliff-hanger ending. The big reveal. Oh, my…

Book Three in the Divergent Trilogy is due for release in late 2013. And the movie? It’s currently in pre-production with Summit Entertainment.

Insurgent by Veronica Roth. Book #2 in the Divergent Trilogy.

Published by Harper Collins.

Paperback, 525 pages.

ISBN – 978-0-00-744292-8

Black Heart is the third book in Holly Black’s Curse Worker series, following up from White Cat and Red Glove. You can read my and Kylie Fox’s reviews of them HERE and HERE at Burn Bright.

Black Heart picks up almost immediately from where Red Glove finished up. Cassel Sharpe is in deep trouble. After finding out his not-so-charming brothers have been using him for years as an assassin and then wiping and replacing his memories, he’s trying to get on with life. He’s trying to be good. He’s trying to win back the girl he’s loved for longer than he can remember (which, considering he’s a bit hazy on the memory-front, is a tricky situation) and he’s trying to stay alive. And that’s where things get complicated. The Feds want him to do their dirty work, and so does the Mob. But who’s telling the truth? You’d think that growing up in a family of con artists would make Cassel an expert on picking fact from fiction, but it’s not always that easy when you’ve been raised to believe the government is the enemy and the love of your life is the daughter of the Mob boss.

In a world where an ungloved, naked hand is classed as a deadly weapon and Curse Workers like Cassel and his family are both feared and sought after, nothing is as it seems.

The Curse Worker’s series took a little while to hit its stride. Red Glove was a much stronger book than White Cat, and the same applies again for Black Heart. Cassel is finally a character that the reader can relate to and like, flaws and all. Deep down, he’s a good guy. It just depends on which side of the fence your alliances sit. Told in first person, we get a great insight into the way Cassel works through things in his mind; how he steps through each con, how he figures out how to con the con artist. Black Heart is clever in its set-up and delivery of the not-so-unexpected twist – it’s just that the twist isn’t so easy to spot until you’re deep within it.

While Cassel might be a more likeable character, I did miss some of the others. Cassel’s grandfather, a retired Death Worker, only makes a small appearance, which is a shame. The rest of Cassel’s family are here – his mother as despicable as ever (seriously, it’s about time you divorced yourself from her, Cassel) and while it’s easy to hate older brother Barron, even he has a moment where it’s impossible not to feel sad for him. A small subplot, while making things more complicated for Cassel at school, does nothing much except give Sam a little air time – which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

If you enjoyed White Cat and Red Glove, you’ll *love* Black Heart. It’s more complex than the first two, but worth it. As with the others, I enjoyed the explanation of the way con artists work, how they pick their mark, carry out the crime and sometimes… they even score.

Black Heart by Holly Black.

Published by Gollancz / Orion.

Paperback – 296 pages.

ISBN – 978-0-575-09680-6

Feed and Deadline are the first two books in Mira Grant’s Newsflesh trilogy. Before I go any further, it has to be said they’re at the pointy end of Young Adult reading – why? There’s the very occasional swear word, possibly a not-very-explicit (at all) sex scene and some pretty complex science talk that you’ll have to suspend belief for. If you’re okay with all of that, go for it. Now. Because there’s zombies. And government conspiracies. And twists and turns that will knock your socks off.

The first book, Feed, is told from the point of view of Georgia Mason. She runs a news blogging site ‘After the End Times’, which is the way folks in the near future get their info. Bloggers come in three types: The Newsies, who report the news, the truth, and nothing but the truth. Then there’s the Fictionals, who write poetry, fiction (duh) and are basically pretty placid kind of folk in the scheme of this world. The most interesting of all bloggers though, are The Irwins. Named for a certain deceased Australian adventurer, Irwins will do anything for a rush, higher ratings and to stir the pot. This includes putting themselves in calculated danger time after time, wearing concealed cameras to record every moment while they go about the business of poking zombies with sticks.

The first part of Feed deals with the explanation of how the zombie crisis began. Way back in 2014, (these books are set in the 2030’s) two man-made viruses were set upon humanity. One was to cure the common cold, the other successfully cured cancer. All good until these viruses mutated and joined, creating Kellis-Amberlee – the zombie virus. Everyone carries it in their system somehow, but it’s not that much of a problem until you die. And then don’t. Grant’s zombies are fairly traditional un-dead types. They moan, they need to feed, they bite and spread infection. Government policy is to shoot (and permanently kill) anyone who has gone into ‘amplification’ immediately. This means big changes in how society works, including dozens of mandatory blood-tests every day.

But it’s not so much the actual zomification these books deal with. Along with her adopted brother Shaun (chief Irwin on After The End Times) and loyal team, George gets a life-changing gig reporting with on the campaign of a senator with aspirations to become the next president of the United States. This, of course is where the conspiracies come in – and a hell of a lot of action, laughs, tears (yes, tears!), gory stuff and evil dudes. My only negative with this book was that there’s a bit of repetition and the big bad was easy to spot. Not so much the ending. I seriously didn’t see that coming.

Deadline differs from Feed in that it’s told from Shaun’s point of view rather than George’s, but his voice is just as witty, sharp and damaged as hers. Grant has created two extremely likeable, funny and sarcastic narrators, breaking up what could otherwise be a tale of misery. It’s the characters, and what goes on inside their heads, that really push these books through.

In Deadline, the presidential campaign is far behind them, but not so the ramifications of the team’s need to find and report the truth. Secret laboratories, shocking twists and turns and a massive revelation early on made this book extremely hard to put down. Oh, that and the fact that even though physical descriptions of each character aren’t really dwelled on – I think I have a crush on Shaun. Bad attitude combined with a sense of righteousness, fear and recklessness and more than a touch of insanity make this character and his story one that I’m looking forward to continuing. Mira Grant has a sadistic way with cliff-hanger endings, and Deadline was no exception. Book three – Blackout – is due for release in June this year, which is way too long to wait.

Feed by Mira Grant

Published by Orbit Books

IBSN – 978-0-356-50056-0

Paperback 574 pages

Deadline by Mira Grant

Published by Orbit Books

IBSN – 978-1-84149-899-7

Paperback 524 pages

Mira Grant is a pseudonym for author Seanan McGuire. You can check out her other novels at: www.seananmcguire.com

Kylie:

Red Glove, the second book in the Curse Workers series, picks up where White Cat leaves off, with curses and cons, magic and the mob, unreliable memories, betrayal and manipulation – and it beats its predecessor hands down!

Cassel Sharpe has grown up in a family of “workers”, Black’s term for those with the ability to work curses, but had always believed that the abilities his family possessed had somehow skipped him. Now he finds that he is in fact, one of the rarest and most powerful workers of all – a transformation worker – one who has the ability to turn anything, or anyone, into something else.

A power that could be most desirable to those wanting to commit the perfect murder.

Cassel is thrown into a world where the ones he loves and trust most have deceived him and where he is a wanted man – both by the mob who would use his powers for their own devious ends, and by the police who need his help to find a killer. In fact, the murderer of his own brother.

Things are further complicated by Cassel’s relationship with Lila (who spent much of book one as a cat). Cassel’s morality is bought into question on more than one occasion with the object of his love and desire willing to do anything for him. But are any of her feelings real or are they all the result of a curse by Cassel’s mother; an emotions worker?

I found this a more gripping read than the first – the characters were more developed, particularly Cassel’s friends who take on a more pivotal role in this book. Cassel himself is far more interesting as his belief systems are put to the test and the moral compass that was almost irritating in the first book, waivers. Cassel became more human with weaknesses and flaws that made him far more likable.

The ease with which I slipped back into this alternate world is a credit to Black’s world building – after the first page, the cons, the magic and a reality where nobody can be trusted were beyond question.

Some of the themes surrounding workers and non-workers – the segregation, the marches, the activist movements and the zealots on both sides, were echoes of our own world, both past and present, and were all the more poignant because of that. It was easy to become embroiled in the debate as a reader.

Some of the plot, which is essentially a murder mystery with a supernatural twist, was predictable but this did nothing to detract from my reading experience.

Hopefully this series continues to develop as it has from the first to the second book. I’m certainly looking forward to reading the third book, Black Heart.

Mandy:

I have to say I agree wholeheartedly with Kylie on Red Glove. Where White Cat could be confusing due to the ‘rules’ of the world, along with Cassel’s unreliable memories – Red Glove is fast, exciting and with higher stakes for each character. The revelation of Cassel being a transformation worker, while not surprising, definitely amps this story up. Cassel’s mother also plays a bigger role in Red Glove, now out of jail and continuing her addiction to the con. She’s about as unlikeable as a fictional mother can get, which makes Cassel’s own morals all the more interesting.

The Curse Workers series is, so far, unlike anything else out there in Young Adult Fiction. A successful mash-up of magic, the Mafia, murder and segregation whisks the reader along at a diabolical pace. Unlike Kylie, I didn’t see all the twists and turns before they I was deep within them – making Red Glove a much more successful story than its predecessor.

I’m also looking forward to getting my (un-gloved) hands on Black Heart when it’s released in early April this year.

Mandy: Cassel Sharpe’s family are curse workers, and he’s the only non-magical member. Which is a bonus for him, since magic (aka talent) is outlawed in the world Holly Black has created for her latest series.

Cassel’s mother is and Emotion worker, and currently spending time in jail for her confidence tricks. His grandfather is a Death worker, able to kill people with a single touch and his older brothers have special skills of their own. In this alternate world, everyone is forced to wear gloves and anyone is a potential criminal. The Mafia prizes workers, and folks like Cassel’s grandfather are highly sought. But the biggest problem for workers isn’t always the legal issues – it’s the physical blowback they get from using their talent. Cassel makes up for his lack of magic by becoming an excellent con artist and thief, skills which are admired in his family of shady crims. Cassel’s life would be easier if he shared the family gift, and he runs a full range of emotions between embarrassment of his heritage, to wanting a ‘normal’ life, to wishing he was a worker himself. Things would certainly be easier if he was – or would they?

With his home-life less than stellar, Cassel gladly attends an exclusive boarding school, Wallingford, where he acts as the school bookie, taking bets on everything from who will be cast as the lead in the school play to how many times brownies will be served that week in the cafeteria. His life is pretty good – and profitable – until the night he wakes up on the school roof after dreaming of a familiar white cat… and the girl he killed three years ago.

White Cat confused me in the beginning, and it took a while to get my bearings. The back cover blurb and cover art didn’t do a lot to give away what type of story it was, and I was expecting a high fantasy, when really, it’s anything but. White Cat is dark and gritty and once you get the hang of the world being the same as ours, but a step or three to the left of reality, it’s easier to sink into. Black’s clever meshing of the criminal world with the magical is unlike anything else out there, and having a male protagonist was a welcome, refreshing change. I loved the explanation of ‘the con’, the steps a criminal takes to convince their victim they’re the good guy, the mind games Cassel and his family plays. Cassel himself took a bit of getting used to as well, but his lack of angsty whining combined with intelligent internal dialogue kept me on my toes and looking forward to book two – Red Glove.

Kylie: I agree that White Cat was engaging enough for me to continue reading and look forward to the second instalment.

Like Mandy, I was confused at first. What is presented is a very real world view, so the “rules” of the magical world created within it were quite unclear and took me by surprise at the beginning of the book. Once my confusion had abated though, it was easy to accept this other reality.

I found that I didn’t really engage with any of the characters as much as I would have liked to. I didn’t like any of them enough to barrack for them and, equally, I didn’t dislike any enough to wish for their demise. I remained detached throughout the book which was a great disappointment.

My other major criticism of the book was that the timing seemed to be off in parts. Some of the big reveals were anything but a revelation – and I doubt that was due to any shrewd reading between the lines of the plot. Much was not only predictable but actually spelled out for the reader so that instead of a revelation, the climatic scenes were an anticlimax.

Other scenes were so unpredictable that they left me cold. There hadn’t seemed to be any warning signs or clues to lead to the author’s conclusions.

Despite my misgivings, I did actually enjoy the ride, particularly, like Mandy pointed out, the descriptions of the cons and the profiling of their con victims.

White Cat by Holly Black

Orion Publishing Group (imprint of Gollancz)

Paperback, 310 pages.

ISBN – 978 0 575 09671 4