Review Detail

Hmm…where do I start? Holly Black’s Curse Workers series is really, really good, and Black Heart was a really, really good book. Cassel Sharpe is a smart, likable guy, and it was really great to see his story get wrapped up.

I think, in the end, I liked Black Heart a teensy bit less than Red Glove, but more than White Cat. Because Black was trying together all the loose strings, she had to leave off with a lot of the intense actiony scenes that were so awesome about Red Glove.

However, Black Heart was still fantastic, and the best part, as always, was Cassel as a protagonist. He’s really smart, and I love watching him successfully pull off a con. I’m never into this kind of thing, but he is one fictional persona I would like to meet in person. True, Cassel did get a little angsty, but Black successfully pulled of self-loathing without excessive emo-ness.

Black’s plot was pretty good, too, if not quite as thrilling as I would have liked. I love it when I feel like the author is one step ahead of me, instead of vice versa. And when you consider this is intended for YA audiences, that’s even better. Authors seem to underestimate their readers rather often.

Black Heart was amazing, as I expected. The Curse Workers books stand head and shoulders above the average cookie-cutter paranormal nonsense, and I’m very glad to have stuck with this series.