Black Heart Left My Heart Racing

Black Heart by Holly Black (Margaret K. McElderry Books, April 3, 2012)
Review by Kenzie Helene

Nearly two years since the series began, we are finally getting the magnificent conclusion to Holly Black’s Curse Workers series. Now, if you haven’t already read White Cat and Red Glove, you should leave this review, since it will contain spoilers for the first two books. But your lack of preparation for Black Heart can be fixed! All three books have been released, so it’s the best time to launch yourself into this brilliant series.

Summary

Cassel Sharpe knows he’s been used as an assassin, but he’s trying to put all that behind him. He’s trying to be good, even though he grew up in a family of con artists and cheating comes as easily as breathing to him. He’s trying to do the right thing, even though the girl he loves is inextricably connected with crime. And he’s trying to convince himself that working for the Feds is smart, even though he’s been raised to believe the government is the enemy.

But with a mother on the lam, the girl he loves about to take her place in the Mob, and new secrets coming to light, the line between what’s right and what’s wrong becomes increasingly blurred. When the Feds ask Cassel to do the one thing he said he would never do again, he needs to sort out what’s a con and what’s truth. In a dangerous game and with his life on the line, Cassel may have to make his biggest gamble yet—this time on love.*

Musings

Red Glove left Cassel -- and us --in a few too many awkward situations. Shandra Singer is in trouble for making the governor of New Jersey fall in love with her. Lila has joined her father’s mob gang. And meanwhile Cassel and Barron, Cassel’s older brother, have gotten involved with the Feds. Left with this big mess to clean up, I eagerly awaited the arrival of Black Heart. On April 3rd, I woke up early, headed straight for the bookstore, purchased my copy, and was a 87 pages into the novel before classes swept my time and attention away.

In my opinion, Black Heart is the perfect ending to this series. Not every character got their happy ending (or, at least, the ending that would have made them the happiest), but even the complicated ones are heartwarming. Cassel’s dysfunctional relationships with Barron and Shandra held the most interest for me-- seeing the family dynamic change through their interactions and discoveries in Black Heart was great.

Holly Black is an undeniable master of back story, so the characters in the Curse Workers series have never been flat, and yet she manages to add more depth throughout Black Heart. The new motives and emotions that emerge from characters who had minor roles previously offer the reader a more engaged experience during this last book.

The plot is spectacular, not that anyone would expect less from Holly Black. Every time I thought I had a grasp on Cassel’s intentions, he’d turn ‘em around and leave me with my jaw on the floor. It isn’t just Cassel, though. Every character seems to have secret, unexpected plans, and I wanted to facepalm several times for not jumping to the right conclusion the first time... or second time... or third time.

While the end pairings were predictable, the journey to get there was more than worth the trip.

I’m sad that I don’t have anymore Curse Workers books to look forward to now, but I’m certainly happy with how things work out for Cassel, Lila, Sam, and Daneca. I’ll just have to keep rereading these great books, while I wait for new genius plots from Holly Black.

*Taken from Barnes and Noble Website.

Book Noir

Red Glove by Holly Black (April 5, 2011, McElderry Books)
A review by Bailey Kelsey

Being that this is a review of a sequel, please read our spoiler policy here. But basically, if you haven’t read White Cat, don’t read this review.

If you’re a reader like me, you enjoy happy endings, but you love tortured middles. I just can’t seem to help it: the more crappy a character’s middle is, the happier I am as a reader. If you catch me sobbing and throwing my book against a wall (which has happened once or twice), this is a sign of unadulterated reader joy.  Holly Black does right by me with Red Glove, the sequel to White Cat, in her Curse Worker’s series.

Cassel Sharpe has all his life’s dreams coming true at the end of White Cat.  The girl he is madly in love with is madly in love with him; his older brother, Baron, is finally watching out for him; and his mother is finally out of jail and back at home. And, his biggest secret--that he’s the most powerful, and dangerous, worker around--is still his biggest secret.

But unfortunately for Cassel Sharpe, Holly Black is his creator and she believes in providing pure joy to her readers.

QUICK RED GLOVE NON-SPOILED SYNOPSIS

For Cassel, magic and the mob have always gone hand in hand.  But when his eldest brother is murdered, the cops turn to him to help unravel the only clue: a woman wearing red gloves entering the crime scene.  

But the mob is trying to recruit Cassel, too. One family knows exactly how powerful and useful Cassel would be to them. He is a curse-worker, after all. He belongs with the mob.  

Cassel must stay one con ahead of both sides. But when your mother preys on emotions and your brother plays with memories, pieces of your life tend to be lies.  Who can he trust when he can’t even trust himself?


A NOIR-STYLE TORTURED MIDDLE

Cassel’s tortured middle is a skillfully written Noir murder investigation.  But Black doesn’t leave it at just dark clues wrapped in beautiful prose.  While Casel is busy confronting very confusing and important personal and moral dilemmas, the real world is still spinning and affecting everyone.  There is a political and moral background against which everything is set; the events in this very real world only amplify the entire plot and a few twists.

In Red Glove, Cassel ends up losing so much--of himself, of his family, of his friends--but he gains a hell of a lot more, with the potential to keep on gaining in book three.  Because that’s what the torturous middle is all about: self-discovery through trial. There really isn’t anything more delightful.

Zombies vs Unicorns -- Ed. Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier

Dear reader, Bailey and Laura absolutely, positively promise to never ever ever subject you to a review of this shocking length ever again. Bailey and Laura felt that the magnitude of this fiction Anthology warranted a longer review, so that each story could be given its due. We solemnly vow never to expect , force, encourage, or bribe you to read a review of this length again. Unless Laura gets her way and writes reviews of double this length every week.

Laura: Should we ask the obvious question? Yeah, I think we should. We kind of have to. So…

Bailey: Which are you…a Zombie or a Unicorn?

Laura: I told you I would reserve comment until you’d finished the book…and now you FINALLY have. Despite my utter and complete respect for Team Zombie, my adoration of Maureen Johnson, my near-obsession with Carrie Ryan’s story…I am TEAM UNICORN.

If I were stuck in an elevator with a zombie or a unicorn, I would pick unicorn. It would smell better, there would be less rotting flesh on the floor, I wouldn’t be worried about pressing buttons that the zombie had already pressed that would be ooze-covered...I have thought this through. Picking a side was really hard, but the way the book is set up, you must pick a side. Just look at the cover. This is a war!

You haven’t told me which side you’re on, not since you finished the book—Team Zombie or Team Unicorn?

Bailey: I feel I should make the statement here that I finished ZvU a whole 4 days later than scheduled. Much to Laura’s chagrin. That being said...

I came into this anthology knowing zombies and wondering, “What the heck could anyone possibly write about a stupid, shiny, smelly (albeit, good smelly) unicorn?” I am leaving this book--with continued respect for all the Team Zombie authors-- but I am leaving this book firmly on the side of TEAM UNICORN.

But no worries, the hours of debate and review between Laura and I was completely fair and equally judgmental of both sides.

Laura: Especially since we both have our essences trapped in jars and cared for by Maureen Johnson (it’s what happens when you follow her on Twitter). Really, it isn’t creepy at all, and it’s totally painless. Everybody’s doing it.

FLOWERY FARTS, OR THE UNICORN STORIES

Laura: I think I will reread Naomi Novik’s Purity Test the most. It was hilarious. I forced my brother to sit through “story time” in which I read most of Purity Test to him. He said, “Laura, I can read it to myself.” I reluctantly handed over the book. But he is 24; if he couldn’t read by now, I would worry about him.

Really, I think it was Purity Test that won me over to Team Unicorn. But Meg Cabot and the rainbow-farting Princess Prettypants and Diana Peterfreund’s venom-dripping flesh-tearing unicorns played a huge part in that too. Goodbye Lisa Frank, hello Flayer.

Bailey: Flayer (the aforementioned venom-dripping flesh-tearing unicorn as imagined by Diana Peterfreund) was the unicorn that tugged on my heart-strings and made me stand firmly with the unicorns. Yes, I sided with the unicorns because of the demon-spawn murder-machine. I think if Justine Larbalestier were here she would tell me this meant my heart was secretly longing to remain sided with the zombies. Not to put words in her mouth, or anything.

However, it was Cabot’s Princess Prettypants that I actually read snippets of out loud OVER the football games last weekend. I told the boys, “You are going to sit here and listen to the hilarious mockery of the iconic unicorn.”

Laura: The only stories that kept me from running right out and buying a Team Unicorn jersey were A Thousand Flowers by Margo Lanagan and The Third Virgin by Kathleen Duey. You know how I feel about The Third Virgin. Nothing like a psychotic unicorn serial killer to make you sleep through the night. That unicorn was an angel of death! It was killing people to feel a rush of power and control—someone put him in a maximum security unicorn PRISON before it is TOO LATE!

I’m stopping myself right now. You don’t want to get either the Serial Killer Unicorn Rant or Bestiality Acorn-Baby-Making Unicorn Rant started.

Bailey: I am actually quite partial to Lanagan's story. I’m just going to say, I have never trusted a unicorn. It has a giant spike coming out of its forehead. What is to trust there? At least with the zombies, you know the evil you’re getting: brain eating.

But don’t doubt the creative genius of the authors on Team Zombie. Those folks did more with brain eating than I would have thought possible. And there is something about brain eating and love stories that go better hand-in-hand.

MAC AND CHEESE ANYONE?, OR THE ZOMBIE STORIES

Bailey: I adored Love Will Tear Us Apart by Alaya Dawn Johnson. It was all the nerdy, science-y goodness that makes zombies. The best part of that story for me is this: my boyfriend always talks about kuru and mad cow disease, and I have NEVER understood what he was saying before. But put these diseases in the context of zombies and human brain cravings? It all clicked.

Laura: I get the science-love. Who wouldn’t love to sit down and have a good chat about Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease? But I don’t think I’ll ever be able to eat macaroni and cheese again in my life after reading that story.

Bailey: I LOVE mac and cheese. I can see why the zombie ate people if they tasted like mac and cheese.

Laura: We’ll just call you Brain-Eatin’ Bailey from now on.

Brain-Eatin’ Bailey: Maybe it’s because your food of choice is not mac and cheese? Maybe if he had described brains as something else?

Laura: Yeah…I don’t see that making a difference. Maureen Johnson used juicy cheeseburger-brains in Children of the Revolution and that didn’t help much either. I haven’t had a cheeseburger since I read MJ’s story.

Brain-Eatin’ Bailey: MJ’s was my favorite zombie story! Because children frighten me anyway and zombie children are kind of how I imagine normal children. It was this moment of, “See! This is what I am afraid a small child IS when I’m not looking at it!”

Laura: How would you even be able to tell if you had zombie kids or regular kids? I mean, sticky child hands could easily be sticky zombie-child hands, and I have been bitten by children before! I could be the first infected librarian! And then I will spread it to every restaurant within a thousand miles.*

Brain-Eatin’ Bailey: Thank goodness I live…wait, do I live more than 1000 miles away from you? I might have to check into whether or not I’m safe from Potentially Zombie Laura.

Potentially Zombie Laura: I think Bourgainvillea by Carrie Ryan was awesome. It was the one zombie story that terrified me more than any other, because the frightening part wasn’t what the zombies were, it was what the zombie plague made ordinary humans BECOME. Freaky.

Brain-Eatin’ Bailey: I LOVED Carrie Ryan’s story. I had one of the worst nightmares I’ve had because of a story…and that made me love it more. But I also had terrible nightmares after finishing Prom Night by Libba Bray. I have no idea if this has to do with you telling me I’d have terrible nightmares or what, but tunneling zombies? No, thank you.

Potentially Zombie Laura: I told you Carrie Ryan would give you nightmares. The Prom Night-induced nightmares were all you.

UNICORNS, AND ZOMBIES, AND METAPHORS, OH MY!

Brain-Eatin’ Bailey: Of course, this entire anthology was centered on the metaphors of zombies and unicorns, and both sides did marvelous things with metaphors. The nature of metaphors, though, makes it tough to discuss some of the stories without completely divulging spoilery material.

For Team Zombie, such stories are Cold Hands by Cassandra Clare and Innoculata by Scott Westerfeld. For me, Clare’s zombie story was the most haunting and most blatant metaphor of the entire anthology, while Westerfeld’s was the most intriguing metaphor. Though, I have to be honest and say I expected a lot more from his metaphor than I was given. And on the unicorn side, The Highest Justice by Garth Nix was also pretty straight-forward, but a good beginning to the anthology.

Potentially Zombie Laura: Mmm...I went from thinking that Cold Hands was my favorite ZvU parable to thinking that The Third Virgin by Kathleen Duey was my favorite. It inspired enough of a rant on my part to make me love it. Arguing about literature is my favorite hobby. I could go into literary analysis mode now, or share my Psychotic-Unicorn-Serial-Killer Rant with you, but Bailey told me I need to keep myself under 10,000 words for this review. It’s all her fault. Feel free to tell her what you think about word count limits down below in the comments.

Bailey’s Witty Ending:

Though, if we are both TEAM UNICORN, I just have to ask how, by the end of this review, I have become Brain-Eatin’ Bailey and you have become Potentially Zombie Laura. Perhaps the war continues.

Laura’s Even Wittier Ending:

Yeah, I said it. Even wittier. And if you read along, you can tell exactly how we got our nicknames. See, you were talking about wanting to eat brains because you love them so much, and I was afraid I would perhaps maybe become a zombie because I work in the children’s section of a library. It really makes perfect sense. And it’s our fear of the zombie hordes coming to kill us in our sleep that spawned the nicknames. Aren’t you afraid, Bailey? Aren’t you?

Brain-Eatin’ Bailey: Not with Princess Prettypants and Flayer protecting me, I’m not.

Potentially Zombie Laura: Who says they’re protecting you? I’ve got room for them to live in the woods next to my house and plenty of apples, sweet hay and neighborhood livestock for Princess Prettypants (a.k.a. Gloria) and Flayer to eat. Can two unicorns with violent tendencies live in your apartment?

And in what will surely become an epic battle in the future for the Last Word (and it will probably always go to the final editor) both Brain-Eatin’ Bailey and Potentially Zombie Laura say:

“SPPOOOONNN...We happy.”**

Endnotes:

* Laura travels for good food, thus the wide angle of zombie disease spreading. And if she will travel for good Chicken Parmesan now, she will certainly travel for brains later. Mmm...Chicken Parmesan... (Bailey would like to add here that Laura has just discovered what food would induce brain eating for her. Victory.) (Laura would like to add here that she would not eat Chicken Parmesan Brains unless they were cleverly disguised as Normal Chicken Parmesan, like with actual cutlets covered in mozzarella cheese with tomato sauce and actual noodles made from the stuff noodles are made from on the side, preferably covered with garlic Alfredo sauce. Is Brain-Eatin’ Bailey going to cook up some Chicken Parmesan Brains as part of her master plan to make me turn zombie? I don’t think so.)

** Thanks, Maureen Johnson, for THAT creepy sign off line.

Finally, if you made it this far, please click the cover image to go to the awesome publisher promotional site for Zombies v Unicorns. It's totally freaking cool, I promise. It's like a special reward for reaching the bottom of this review!