Review: Red Glove

By Holly Black
Available now from Simon & Schuster
Review copy
Read my review of WHITE CAT

Cassel Sharpe and his friends return in the second installment of the Curse Workers series. This time, the mysteries afoot are ones Cassel has already solved. (Or mostly solved.) The Feds want Cassel to find out who Zacharov's wetworks man is. They're interested in one murder in particular, one that Cassel has a personal interest in. He needs to give them an answer, not just to protect himself, but also to protect their number one suspect and his love interest: Lila.

I loved RED GLOVE as much as I loved WHITE CAT. I was pleased to see that most of the book took place at Cassel's snooty private school. I loved his friends and their willingness to help him out at WHITE CAT's denoument. They also prove that Cassel doesn't have a monopoly on secrets. One of them is hiding something rather important, in fact. (Do you know how hard it is to review a book about cons? I'm afraid to give away any information in case it's too much information.)

Also like WHITE CAT, Holly Black ripped my heart out just as I thought everything was going to turn out perfectly. This time the heart-ripping was tempered by a bit of, "Okay, that was your fault, Cassel." Still, this series better end happy. Cassel is earning his happy ending.

Cassel has more control of events in RED GLOVE. He's not scrambling around trying to find out what's going on. He's trying to figure out how to handle the various people who want control of him. (That group includes the Feds, Zacharov, and a rival crime family.)

If you didn't like WHITE CAT, you probably won't like RED GLOVE. The characters haven't fundamentally changed. Cassel will never be entirely a good guy. Lila will never be a good girl. I love the world Black has created, where every magic user has few opportunities aside from crime. I like the discussions of workers' rights. I like the crazy plots.

But why does Black insist on ripping my heart out at the end every time?