I really like Holly Black. Her stuff so far has been pretty good. The Spiderwick Chronicles were a fun little tale (despite the fact that they really should have just been in one book). And the Tithe (A Modern Fairie Tale) was excellent. In fact, that series is probably what got me started in the YA section in the first place (besides my Harry Potter addiction). So, I was eager to dive into White Cat.
As you can see from my review, which is included in the page for the book, it was alright. Not stupendous but not bad either. I have hopes for the series since it seems to be a little off the normal “broody high school girl/beautiful high school boy relationship that has no depth but is all based on how cute he is” path. There wasn’t even really enough of a description of Cassel for me to form much of a mental picture of him. Not to mention it’s told from his point of view and stories in the YA genre from the boy’s perspective are rare (with the Caster Chronicles really being the only other one I can think of).
**Spoiler Alert** Don’t read the next sentence if you don’t want to know about the White Cat. Ok, I warned you… Lila, or the White Cat of the title, and the reveal of that is one of the most refreshing things though. We find this out about 1/3 through. So the story is really about Lila, not the cat. But it’s a good twist and a nice tie in for the title. I have hopes for the series as a whole. Enjoy the page on White Cat; Red Glove will come as soon as I get a copy (publish date is scheduled for April) and finish it!