I Tell My Love To Wreck It All

[redbrunja]

Man, I am so exhausted. I spent my day off driving to the city to look at apartments. I had a lead on one that looked like an amazing deal... due to the magic of selective photography. The actual apartment was a yellowed, concrete box in a part of town that made me think, as soon as I got out of my car, why did I not bring mace? (It was the middle of the day, natch.) On the plus side, two blocks away the vibe was MUCH safer and I got the numbers of several different complexes that had vacancies.

What's really a bummer is that my schedule lately combined with my terrible sleep habits of the moment means that once again, I am starting off my work week tired and sleep deprived.

Could this have something to do with what a snarky bitch I've been on lj? I think so.

Things that are making me happy: strawberry pop-tarts, Haven, and Holly Black's new series. Now, to give you some background, I read Black's first novel Tithe, and hated it. I hated the book and I hated that she got an amazing cover design. During a recent trip to B&N, I was thinking about cover art and noticed that while the reissue cover for Tithe was terrible (thumbs up, publisher!), the cover for her book White Cat was AMAZING.



The flap copy reads:

Cassel comes from a family of curse workers -- people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they're all mobsters, or con artists. Except for Cassel. He hasn't got the magic touch, so he's an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail -- he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.

Ever since, Cassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his façade starts crumbling when he starts sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat that wants to tell him something. He's noticing other disturbing things, too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. They are keeping secrets from him, caught up in a mysterious plot. As Cassel begins to suspect he's part of a huge con game, he also wonders what really happened to Lila. Could she still be alive? To find that out, Cassel will have to out-con the conmen.

This book is fabulous. Cassel has a great narrative voice; he's snarky and guilt-stricken and the story is wonderfully fast-paced. I just finished the sequel (Red Glove) and in the middle of the book, went 'oh my god, the parts of my flist who love Damon Salvatore HAVE to read this book.' (ever_neutral  and stainofmylove  especially.) As for Lila and Cassel... imagine that Katherine was a privileged mob-boss's daughter and Damon was her childhood friend. (Note: this isn't a perfect metaphor. For one thing, Cassel has a moral compass that Damon lacks and understands people in a way Damon doesn't. However, their senses of humor and their adorableness while being in love are quite similar.)

Red Glove just ups the emotional ante - I don't want to say too much but the book is all about Cassel's awareness of the sins he's capable of committing and his struggle not to be the monster he believes he is (one of my bulletproof kinks, as you all know). Also, the author delves into the implications of someone being able to change another person's emotions and how that affects the ability to give consent with such honestly that I was surprised Red Glove was able to be published as a YA novel.

On the subject of bulletproof kinks, I think I'm going to give this round of The 5 Acts meme a pass. I'm behind with a lot of television and on the fence with the rest, so I wouldn't even know what to ask for (besides Damon/Elena, oh pairing that I cannot quit). However, I just wanted to point out norgbelulah 's great description of the Fever/Delirium trope: "Ugh. It's basically intoxication with like a billion times more hurt/comfort. Who doesn't want that?!"

Comments

[mistaria.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I've been wondering how this book was and it's been sitting on my amazon wishlist for a while. Did you ever read Valiant and/or Ironside? I enjoyed them but if you absolutely hated Tithe I don't know if you'd like them. Valiant has a different protagonist than Tithe/Ironside and I found her more likable.

Fever/Delerium trope FTW.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I've havd Valiant recommended to me before (from a person who also disliked Tithe, to boot) but I gave it a pass; my problems had more to due with the worldbuilding than the characters and, you know, if I disliked the first book, I have too many things to read to want to read the sequel to something I didn't like the first time, you know?

[mistaria.livejournal.com]

I have too many things to read

Ha, I know exactly what you mean. I have a bunch of new books hanging around right now but I have a hard time starting new ones because I know I'm going to get hooked and have trouble getting actual work done.

Also, if it was the world building you disliked you probably won't like Valiant since it is more of that world.

[stainofmylove.livejournal.com]

Ooo, yay, book rec!

[norgbelulah.livejournal.com]

LOL shout out to mee! I wrote that entire thing and posted my list to the sign up post within about a half hour's time before I had to go to work. So wherever that description came from, it's somewhere in the land of "write this as fast as possible so you aren't late." :P

Also, it's so true. AND, I saw you signed up anyway. <3

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I wrote that entire thing and posted my list to the sign up post within about a half hour's time before I had to go to work. So wherever that description came from, it's somewhere in the land of "write this as fast as possible so you aren't late." :P

You can write awesome things under a bit of time pressure!

Also, it's so true. AND, I saw you signed up anyway. <3

I couldn't help it! Two people on my flist were like, 'you deserve smut' and I'm like, 'my life is hard; I totally do!'

[norgbelulah.livejournal.com]

Two people on my flist were like, 'you deserve smut' and I'm like, 'my life is hard; I totally do!'

Truer words have never been spoken. xD

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Yeah, this experience taught me that as much as I might WANT to rent an apartment soley via the internet, it's not a great idea.

[sharkflip.livejournal.com]

Dare I speculate on which city is the city? I may be able to give neighborhood feedback, depending.

[mollivanders.livejournal.com]

Ha, I see that commitment to not do Five Acts was steadfast ;) I was very much the same, feeling I owed more fic that I could ask for myself but...the flesh is weak, as they say.

Ugh, apartment hunting. Here's to finding something that doesn't require mace on a daily basis.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

So steadfast. ; )

Ugh, apartment hunting. Here's to finding something that doesn't require mace on a daily basis.

That's the goal.

[ever-neutral.livejournal.com]

Cassel has a great narrative voice; he's snarky and guilt-stricken and the story is wonderfully fast-paced. I just finished the sequel (Red Glove) and in the middle of the book, went 'oh my god, the parts of my flist who love Damon Salvatore HAVE to read this book.' (ever_neutral and stainofmylove especially.)

HAHAHA. Well, I'm DEFINITELY checking it out now! *g*

Sorry to hear about the sleep-deprivation. I feel that.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Awesome! Let me know what you think after you read it.

[meitah.livejournal.com]

See, I'm the opposite. I liked Tithe a lot, but I'm rather "meh" on White Cat. I don't know why, but I just didn't like Cassel that much. I think I'd be more interested if it was more focused on Lila, but I'm not sure.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Huh. That is interesting. (Which is not to say I wouldn't love more with lila, because she's really damn awesome.)