Red Glove - Holly Black

Young Adult
Pages: 336
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Release Date: April 5, 2011

Curses and cons. Magic and the mob. In Cassel Sharpe's world, they go together. Cassel always thought he was an ordinary guy, until he realized his memories were being manipulated by his brothers. Now he knows the truth—he’s the most powerful curse worker around. A touch of his hand can transform anything—or anyone—into something else.

That was how Lila, the girl he loved, became a white cat. Cassel was tricked into thinking he killed her, when actually he tried to save her. Now that she's human again, he should be overjoyed. Trouble is, Lila's been cursed to love him, a little gift from his emotion worker mom. And if Lila's love is as phony as Cassel's made-up memories, then he can't believe anything she says or does.

When Cassel's oldest brother is murdered, the Feds recruit Cassel to help make sense of the only clue—crime-scene images of a woman in red gloves. But the mob is after Cassel too—they know how valuable he could be to them. Cassel is going to have to stay one step ahead of both sides just to survive. But where can he turn when he can't trust anyone—least of all, himself?

Love is a curse and the con is the only answer in a game too dangerous to lose.

I wasn't a huge fan of the first book. It was rather slow and bland for me. But I did LOVE the world-building and LOVED Cassel, and knew without a doubt the potential the next book could have. Mixing peculiar powers with crime family? Brilliant. Making them public and delving in the politics of it all? Even more brilliant. The first books of a series are always tricky, either they're absolutely amazing and you wonder how the author will top that, or they are so into laying the layout (if that makes sense) that they fall flat. White Cat was very interesting and had a bunch of great aspects but the plot felt slow going in my opinion.

Red Glove was just the opposite. So many shocking surprises and so much new creepiness and twists that I was blown away. As you know, I'm not a fan of paranormal. Which really means, I'm not a fan of the paranormal recipe. Holly Black does never follow any kind of recipe. She just aims to shock the shit out of the reader and manages an amazing male pov in the process.

This book was smart above all, which many paranormal stories seem to lack lately. If you've read Holly, you know the awesomeness of her writing. The characters were utterly real and all seemed to have grown out of whatever they were stuck in the first book. But the plot was simply fantastic. It's the kind of book that reluctant male readers won't be able to put down. And us females, seeking cleverness and avoiding auto-romance (or what I call 'love at first page') will be delighted in Cassel's world. And swooned by him too.

I have to add that Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network) narrates the audio version and he is unbelievably amazing. He's THE perfect voice for Cassel and makes this book even more fantastic than it is! Can't wait for more!

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