Giulia's Reviews > Black Heart

Birth to grave, we know it'll be us one day. Our tragedy is that we forget it might be someone else first.

This book. Honestly, this damn book.
I read a lot. Some books I like, some books I don't, and some books I really like, but this isn't even one of those. This book, along with the rest of the trilogy, is the kind of book that stays with you even after you've finished it, the kind you keep thinking about and you can't quite shake off, as if it somehow crawled under your skin and you can't get rid of it. I feel like Cassel is still here with me, watching the screen over my shoulder while breathing quietly.

I've told everyone about this book: my friends, my family, anyone who was willing to listen, since I started reading White Cat less than two weeks ago. It took me so little to finish this trilogy, and I even read another Holly Black book in between White Cat and Red Glove, but what else was I supposed to do? I couldn't stop reading. I read one chapter and I wanted more, and suddenly I was already at the end of the book, and I still wanted more.

The thing about this trilogy and this book, is that you're not expecting it. If you already know Holly Black, you'll know she's an incredibly talented writer, but this book is so much more than just good writing. .
The universe The Curse Workers trilogy is set in is unlike anything else in fantasy literature: no vampires, no werewolves, no angels; this universe is inhabited by workers. In this kind of world, no one is really good or evil, but people seem to act only based on their own interests. I bet this wasn't an easy book to write, because it must have required a lot of research, and everything about it is just so realistic. From the main character, Cassel (whose name reminds me of the angel Castiel, so how could I not love him from the very beginning?), to his family, to the whole world building.
Cassel is a liar and a con artist, and you don't get many books about those. He's very good at what he does, because he's the kind of person that can charm you just as easily as he can trick you, but he's not infallible. He makes mistakes. He figures things out just as the reader does, because he's smart, but he's still human - well, sort of. Cassel could be a special snowflake, except he's not. He has a power he didn't think he had, something rare and dangerous, but I didn't feel like I usually do with a lot of other books - like the main character was special for no apparent reason and everyone suddenly adored them. Cassel is charming, but he's also vulnerable: he's in love, and madly so. Love makes him do the strangest things, and even though he's not an hero in the most conventional way, he does care about doing the right thing. But all the while he still keeps lying to the people he loves and there's no excuse for that... because he's simply not a good person. No one in this book really is, not even the ones who are supposed to be the law - the good guys. There are no good guys; there is just chaos, and violence, and people seeking power.

But Cassel is not only in love with Lila, a powerful mobster's daughter and a very powerful and dangerous girl herself. He also cares about his friends, Sam and Daneca, and - in some way - about his messed up family. Cassel's relationship with is family is one of the very best things about this book. I was a little sad that we didn't get to see a lot of his grandfather Desi in Black Heart, because he's an amazing character, but this book just made me fall further in love with Barron. (By the way, (view spoiler)[him and Daneca? They should have totally been endgame. (hide spoiler)] Ugh, my heart still aches).

It makes you a different person, not to have a past. It eats away at who you are, until what's left is all construct, all artifice.

Was Barron a controversial character? Yes. Was he an hypocrite? Yes. Was he ruthless and a sociopath with no conscience? Yes, and yes. Did I care? Absolutely not. He's the kind of character that you love no matter what. I knew he was a treacherous snake, and Cassel did too, but I think he couldn't help but feel a bit of affection for his brother, despite everything he'd done.

Cassel's family is a dysfunctional one, and not only because they don't trust each other, but also because they live a life in which trust is never an option. They're all criminals, knee-deep in business with both the mob - the Zacharov family - and the feds. It's never clear where their loyalties lie, because they're unreliable, every single one of them - even Cassel. The three books are full of plot twists and unexpected events, because the characters are extremely unpredictable and keep doing things that surprise you.

There is no right choice. There's just choice.

This is not a book about good people. It's about people trying to get away with their lies and cons, about betrayal and about love - a strange kind of love, that sometimes feels like obsession and sometimes feels almost like hatred. While reading The Curse Workers series, you never know who to trust, and you end up accepting the one advice Cassel offers you: trust no one.
But trust me on this, when I say: go pick up White Cat. If you haven't read the series yet, or if you've read the first books and have somehow managed to wait more than 30 seconds before picking up Black Heart, go and do that right now. It's disconcerting and fast-paced and will make you feel all kinds of emotions but, believe me, it's so much worth it.

"Magic gives you a lot of choices" Grandad says "Most of them are bad." (Red Glove, Holly Black)