Red Glove (Curse Workers, #2) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Oct 24, 2022 Vanessa Gayle ⚔️ Fangirl Faction rated it really liked it

Shelves: zz-rrrc-mag-aug-2022-list, emotional-reads, young-adult, can-their-love-burn-any-slower, dealing-with-heavy-issues-or-crisis, death, romance, childhood-friends, reviewed, urban-fantasy

3.5/5 Stars

This is quite an intense story with a premise that I am absolutely enamored with. If the idea of magical mobsters tickles you in all the best places like it does for me then you'll want to jump into this series!

Holly Black has a gritty and straightforward writing style that really draws the reader in. She is so skilled at crafting stories that are absolutely addicting. I couldn't pull myself away from this one. I love the world that Black created in this series. The premise of the sto 3.5/5 Stars

This is quite an intense story with a premise that I am absolutely enamored with. If the idea of magical mobsters tickles you in all the best places like it does for me then you'll want to jump into this series!

Holly Black has a gritty and straightforward writing style that really draws the reader in. She is so skilled at crafting stories that are absolutely addicting. I couldn't pull myself away from this one. I love the world that Black created in this series. The premise of the story is great but Black really drives it home with a unique magic system, political ideas, prejudices, and small details here and there.

Cassel is such a relatable character. He is probably the only passably likable character in this entire book since most of the characters are the type that you wouldn't spit on if they caught fire. Cassel was surrounded by despicable people that he couldn't trust, family included. He still navigated the ins and outs of his world and tried to make the best decisions with the obstacles that he was constantly facing. He was the type of character that you couldn't help but feel for. The secondary characters all brought something to the table but apart from a couple of friends at school there really wasn't anyone that wasn't just awful. Black did a great job of displaying these types of characters and making the reader feel so strongly about them. She also really depicted dysfunctional families to a T.

There is an underlying romantic aspect to the story. The ending of the book really does a 180 from the last book. In the last book, Lila's feelings were compromised and Cassel does his best to do right by Lila. He may have made a mistake with her though because now her feelings have changed.

Overall, this was another high-stakes story in a world of magical mobsters that you won't be able to put down! I am still so awed by the concept of this series. I know that it may very well have been done before but I love the unique spin that Black puts on it. This is such a memorable story and I can't wait for the finale!

BLOG FACEBOOK INSTAGRAM GOODREADS TIKTOK TWITTER BOOKBUB AMAZON PINTEREST ...more

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Mar 05, 2011 Kristen rated it it was ok

Shelves: young-adult

Titles of books always make me curious. I love trying to spot where exactly the reference to the title occurs, if at all. And if there isn't an overt reference, I love trying to figure out where the title comes from.

In Holly Black's second installment of the Curse Workers (Red Glove) we get an overt reference; it occurs more then once. But I can't help but feeling like the book would have been much better named. Admittedly, Phillips murder and the red glove worn by the mysterious woman who is w Titles of books always make me curious. I love trying to spot where exactly the reference to the title occurs, if at all. And if there isn't an overt reference, I love trying to figure out where the title comes from.

In Holly Black's second installment of the Curse Workers (Red Glove) we get an overt reference; it occurs more then once. But I can't help but feeling like the book would have been much better named. Admittedly, Phillips murder and the red glove worn by the mysterious woman who is wearing them (who turns out to be not so much of a mystery) are part of a story line that is threaded throughout the story. But, I have a feeling, Cassel's ability to transform himself (which, for the first time is when he turns himself into a black cat) is probably more important to the series then the existence of the red gloves. The White Cat in the first book was important both to the story at hand, as well as the series. Since it gave us, in a lot of ways, many of the details that were necessary for book two. And Cassel's abilities are probably bigger then just the one time ability to transform himself that we see in Red Glove. So... I would have renamed the book. Plus, the link between the black cat and the white cat ("White Cat") would give us much more of a link between Lila and Cassel. Which I assume, and hope, is one of the primary story lines we will see in Black Heart. Although what to call installment three, and not use the same color? Well, I will wait until after reading the third to see how to answer that question!

I realized that I have a hard time reading books that are written in the first person. I don't mind when they are from the pov of one particular character, but when they are written in real time as if the events are happening around the characters (all present tense verbs) and from one pov, it seems choppy. This series isn't written as well as Holly Black's Modern Fairy Tale series. Like with the first, the writing is not very elegant. It's a little ADD for me. The way Cassel's mind drifts and treats some things with great detail and other things get short-handed - and there's no consistency to it. Sometimes it's surroundings that get the short-shrift and sometimes its events and sometimes characters. It was just ok. The plot picks up where we left off, but I am not sure that the author had a very good idea of what to do with a number of aspects of the overall story arc. In fact, I am not sure there was an overall story arc in the series, except that we have 2 books in the same world with the same characters. I expected much more from the dilemma about the Lila-Cassel curse, and I was disappointed.

The concept is still novel and confusing all at the same time. Workers who work only with their hands (as opposed to any other part of their bodies when skin to skin contact occurs?) so they all wear gloves - it's unique. There is a line between spells and it being simply a talent, but that line isn't explored or very clear. The introduction of the feds was sort of boring. And the relationship between Lila and Cassel was strained. More then just as a result of the curse. It was as if the author didn't really know what to do with that portion of the plot. It got just enough focus to be sort of a tease and not nearly enough to mean much.

Like the first, this was a quick read. It was ok - and we will see where Black Heart, book 3, goes from here. ...more

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Jul 17, 2010 Samantha rated it liked it

Shelves: 2011, ya

After reading the first in this series, White Cat I was really impressed with the surprise ending (for me, anyway). Cassel was a character I could sympathize with in his endeavors to do the right thing in a family where cons are the norm. Red Glove continues right where we left off. Cassel's mom is out of prison and doing what she does best. The school year is about to start again and it's senior year so things are a little more serious in the academic arena. At the beginning we discover Phillip ...more

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Mar 05, 2011 Melissa-The Book Addict rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Wow! I am speechless...I loved this book! I loved the first book White Cat, and hoped that this would be just as good and it did not disappoint. This series stands out for me, Holly Black created something new and original when she wrote those books. I can't get enough of Cassel, he is like the diamond in the rough of his family. Born into a situation that is dangerous and scary and Cassel seems to be able to maintain his goodness. I also enjoyed Sam and Daneca they are good loyal friends how ju ...more

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Jul 30, 2016 Nancy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, urban-fantasy

I enjoyed this second book far more than the first one, as I knew the characters and I understood what the whole meaning of 'workers' was. As such, I could just get involved with the story. And I certainly got involved - it had me hooked in within the first few minutes and I was listening eagerly all the way through. And the ending was just great, although don't expect a HEA in this book... ...more

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Dec 22, 2011 Marla rated it liked it

Shelves: series, romance, with-reservations, adult, paranormal, young-adult, fantasy, zz-2012, magic

Not my kind of book, I like the good guys catching the bad guys and good triumphing over evil.

There are all sorts of blurry gray lines in this novel. Cassel, light gray sheep, in a worker (gifted) mob family, is the conflicted protagonist. Cassel is the school bookie, but he tries to stay on the right side of the law and yet not rat on his family.

Cassel's mother is an irritating con woman. Cassel's brothers are the stuff nightmares are made of.

Add an infatuation of a former cursed friend, the "o ...more

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