The Curse Workers Series by Holly Black gets a new look

And while they are beautiful and everything, I still hate it when they change the cover design halfway through. Cause now I'll have books with different cover styles, and I don't like that at all. 

They could have designed Black Heart's cover like the previous two, and maybe change all of them later.

Well, there's nothing I can do about it now. I'll just have to buy BH with this new cover and have it stand out because it doesn't blong.

And, what was so wrong about the old covers? I loved them, I thought they were haunting and dark and reflected the book's essence just fine.

Compare the new vs the old covers:

Armchair BEA: Best of 2011

Welcome to Day Two of Armchair BEA, the bloggy event meant for those of us who couldn't make it to the actual BEA.

Today's topic is: Best of 2011.

Well, this isn't very hard. There's one book that came out early this year, which I love and can't wait to re-read:

DELIRIUM, by Lauren Oliver.
This book tore at my heart and left me hopeless, until I found out there was hope for them.
I love, love, love this book, and I'm waiting for it to come out in Argentina, so I can have my own printed copy, since I read it on NetGalley. 









And there were other books that I really liked this year (considering I haven't read very many books):

Red Glove, by Holly Black.
A great way to continue this series;
I love Cassel!

Wither, by Lauren DeStefano.

Such a brilliant start to a new series!

It must be terrible knowing when you're going to die,

I can't imagine Rhine's world.

Both have 5-monkey-reviews :)

Lila Zacharov in 13 Pieces! [The Curse Workers Series by Holly Black]

Holly Black has created one of the most amazing things on the net: a short story generator told from Lila's POV.

Basically, you go to Lila Zacharov in 13 Pieces, and click Start. You then get a short story (I got number 4) out of the 13 the site has, and when you're done, you click Continue. The generator will take you to another random story, all told from Lila's POV. 

So, the story you read and the one I read will be different! According to Holly, there are 6 million possible variations. WOW!

Red Glove hits the shelves on April 5th, so this is definitely a great way to keep you entertained until then. I've already read the book, and while I loved White Cat more, this one didn't fall behind. Click on the titles to read my reviews.

Red Glove (The Curse Workers, #2), by Holly Black

Red Glove (The Curse Workers, #2), by Holly Black on Goodreads

Release Date: April 5th, 2011
Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 320

Overall: 5 Monkeys
Source: NetGalley
Interest: Series

Other Titles in the Series: White Cat (The Curse Workers #1), Black Heart (The Curse Workers, #3)
Read in March 2011

Summary from Goodreads:

After rescuing his brothers from Zacharov's retribution and finding out that Lila, the girl he has loved his whole life, will never, ever be his now that his mother has worked her, Cassel is trying to reestablish some kind of normalcy in his life. That was never going to be easy for someone from a worker family tied to one of the big crime families and a mother whose cons get more reckless by the day. But Cassel is also coming to terms with what it means to be a transformation worker and figuring out how to have friends.

But normal doesn't last very long - soon Cassel is being courted by both sides of the law and is forced to confront his past. A past he remembers only in scattered fragments and one that could destroy his family and his future. Cassel will have to decide whose side he wants to be on because neutrality is not an option. And then he will have to pull off his biggest con ever to survive.

My Opinion:

Another great book by Holly Black! I can't get enough of this world of lies and cons. 

After learning that his mother had worked Lila, the girl he's ever loved, Cassel believes that she will never be his, not like he'd want her to. Because sure, she's dying to get into his arms, but is it all because of the magic?

Cassel's older brother, Philip, is killed, and now Cassel wants to know who did it and why. He'll get called by the Feds to help them figure it out.

In the meantime, his only friends, Daneca and Sam, are trying to help him, but having been brought up by a worker family, Cassel isn't sure if he should trust them. 

I love these books, and I love Cassel. I haven't read a book in a boy's perspective in a long time (the only other books I did read in a boy's POV are the Caster Chronicles) and I just love being inside his mind. And it's like he's actually talking to us sometimes, with little remarks like, "I told you I wasn't good at friendship, didn't I?" 

His friends really are his friends, you can feel it. Even if he doesn't let them in that much, you can see how they do care about him, and it's not just an act. That is some spectacular writing from Ms. Holly Black. 

I'll say it now, and I'll say it again, I truly love the worker world Holly created, because it's not just a fantasy world, it's one we could very well live in. There are laws and protests about worker rights, and mafia, and trust issues, and family you've got to stick up to. And there are kids actually studying. They don't just ditch school to go in pursue of their Great Destiny, they care about their education. And I think that's awesome. 

WOW #16: Red Glove (The Curse Workers, #2), by Holly Black

Red Glove (The Curse Workers, #2), by Holly Black
Sequel to White Cat (The Curse Workers, #1).

(No summary yet.)

I won a hardcover of WC, and a little teaser for Red Glove that left me wanting more so much!
I'm guessing this is Lila in the cover, although she doesn's look much like the Lila from my mind. This one is much older.





This cover doesn't match the one I have for White Cat, which is this one:


But it does match this other cover which I hadn't seen until now:



Personally, I like the first one better, the one with the smoke over Cassel's eyes. It gives it more mystery and the font for the title looks so much better than this block-y one in the second cover.

What's your WoW this week? Maybe I'll find something to add to my ever-growing TBR Pile!

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

White Cat (The Curse Workers #1), by Holly Black

White Cat (The Curse Workers #1), by Holly Black on Goodreads

Release Date: 2010
Age Group: Young Adult

Pages: 310

Overall: 5 Monkeys
Source: Won
Interest: Series

Other Titles in the Series: Red Glove (The Curse Workers #2), Black Heart (The Curse Workers, #3)

Summary from Goodreads:

Cassel comes from a family of curse workers -- people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they're all mobsters, or con artists. Except for Cassel. He hasn't got the magic touch, so he's an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail -- he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.Ever since, Cassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his façade starts crumbling when he starts sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat that wants to tell him something. He's noticing other disturbing things, too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. They are keeping secrets from him, caught up in a mysterious plot. As Cassel begins to suspect he's part of a huge con game, he also wonders what really happened to Lila. Could she still be alive? To find that out, Cassel will have to out-con the conmen.
Holly Black has created a gripping tale of mobsters and dark magic where a single touch can bring love -- or death -- and your dreams might be more real than your memories.

My Opinion:

What an amazing book! I have nothing but great words for this book, it's awesome!

From the beginning we're trapped into this game of trust and deception, of cons and murders, of love and brotherhood. I loved the world Black has created and can't wait to read more about it!

The story is all about Cassel (pronounced like "castle", according to the author) and how he is a non-worker in a family of workers. To be a worker means to have a special ability: emotion workers can change your feelings just by touching you, memory workers change or block your memories, etc., etc. But transformation workers are the rarest workers in the world. Basically just one is born within a decade, or a generation even.

Workers work their magic by touching other, hence the use of gloves. To be seen without gloves is very serious thing, and "bare hands can be as dangerous as knives".

Cassel has killed his friend Lila, and now his guilt is coming back. And so is his mother, locked up in prison, and about to be set free. Cassel is asked to leave school after an incident involving the school's roof, and has to go home.

To prepare for his mother's arrival, his grandfather gets him to work on cleaning up their old house. There, he sees cats lurking around. And a white cat he thinks he's seen before.

From that point on the story gets more amazing and fast paced. We learn the truth about Cassel and the cat, and there's a scene towards the end that is just plain awesome.

The ending made me groan in frustration! How could Cassel's mother do that to her son? Ugh! Poor Cassel!

I really have nothing more to say, except that I loved this book and can't wait for Red Glove.

Visit Holly Black's website.