Red Glove by Holly Black

This is the second book in The Curse Workers series by Holly Black.

To read the review of the first novel, click here: White Cat.

Cassel is starting his senior year at his preparatory school, but things are very different than last semester. First, his roommate and his girlfriend know Cassel is a curse worker, though they don't know what kind yet.

Second, the girl Cassel loves, Lila, was worked by his mother to fall in love with Cassel. Now that she's at his school, he can't ignore her as much, and resisting her is becoming harder and harder.

When Cassel is confronted by two FBI agents informing him that his oldest brother, Phillip was murdered, Cassel finds himself in a very compromising situation.

Zacharov, the crime boss and Lila's father, wants Cassel to use his curse magic for him. The FBI wants Cassel to be a part of a team for the government.

And Cassel? He just wants Lila not to be cursed to love him and to get through his senior year in school.

However, the FBI gave him an ultimatum: find out who killed his brother, and the killer of unsolved cases Phillip was working on, or they will frame his mother since she's been working older, elite men since she got out of prison.

But when Cassel finds out who killed the men of the unsolved cases and finds out who Phillip's killer is, he has to pull out all of his con abilities to protect those two people.

Once again, Cassel will need to use the tricks and tools he's grown up with to get everyone out of trouble. Hopefully his luck stays with him throughout this investigation.

My Thoughts/Reflections
Now that I've been introduced to Holly Black's world in the Curse Worker realm, I really enjoyed this novel!

Cassel is stuck in so many worlds and so many lies, I don't know how he can keep them all straight! I also love how he comes up with his cons and how detailed he is before he reveals his story to anyone. That is a great gift; conniving, but great!

I had to chuckle when reading about Cassel and Lila. I know it's not funny, having a girl be forced to love you because of a curse, but the intense work he put into avoiding her did nothing to stop the attraction between the two.

This was a great novel and a great addition to add to the first novel of the series. I also liked how Cassel started to trust more people with the real truth, and not the version that he decided to give to his friends and associates.

Being part of so many circles can be a burden to one person, but Cassel managed it throughout this novel and I was very impressed with how much his character had grown.

I'm anxiously waiting to read the third, and final, book in this series to see what is in store for Cassel at the end.