Bartek Jaworski Jaworski itibaren Pieńki, Polonya
Review on Elizziebooks As one can tell from the summary from the book jacket, this novel is full of suspense and magic. It’s not Harry Potter or anything fantasy. Imagine Donnie Brasco, but with magic. If you’ve never seen Donnie Brasco, it’s about a guy who goes undercover in a mob. Cassel doesn’t really go undercover, but he does attempt to infiltrate his brothers’ evil plans. I thought the characters in this book were very original. Sure, there were a lot of people who were afraid of the curse workers, and I guess you could compare that to the Red Scare. But there were people kind enough to be friends with Cassel (even though he didn’t know any magic). Cassel is the kind of kid that you would never assume to rise up and be a hero. He’s a laid back guy who likes being the school bookie. Students bet on life of other students’ pets, teacher relationships, and just the oddest things. Cassel is also faced with a lot of dramatic circumstances. His dad is dead and his mom is in jail (for working a guy). His brothers are involved in the Zacharov crime family. As far as the other characters, I found Cassel’s family and friends to be very solid people. There are some characters that will surprise you. SPOILERS! *snaps book shut* The setting is in south New Jersey, I believe. Seems to be the right place for a curse working crime family! Oh, stereotypes of the northeastern U.S. I thought the overall writing was quite amazing. I just expected a book about… Well, I didn’t know what to expect. I’ve never read anything by Holly Black before. I’ve seen a review of this book, but the only think I recalled before reading was that the main character had a funny name. I found the story to be nothing like anything I’ve ever read before. Magic and crime?! Who thinks of these things?! The genius of Holly Black. I would recommend this to anyone who like stories about mob families, crime families, suspense, and doesn’t mind a bit of gore here and there.