High School senior Cassel Sharpe has matured to a point that he can wield his power to transform people with relative ease. Because all magic has rules and repercussions, he suffers terrible blowback each time that incapacitates him for a while.
The story is about his constant struggle to live a normal life while both the government and the mob want him for their purposes. A new character joins the story line two or three chapters in and her motivation doesn't really add a lot to the overall plot. In the end, Cassel gets what he wants in a lopsided way that isn't perfect, but at least the peril he was in during the book is in his past. For now.

Anyone who read the first two books in the trilogy should read this book. It does finish up some of the plot points and at least comes up with a weak explanation for some of the other plot points.

Cassel is firmly in control of his powers. The story includes a good amount of action adventure and magic along with the YA aspects of the story.

The sloppy execution of this third book. The plot meanders aimlessly at times. Some plot points make no sense and serve no purpose. And I can't wait to get out of first person present tense narration.

Read a book by another author.

Satisfied to have read a whole complete trilogy. As a writer, they also showed me that it is possible to get tired of your own story.

Holly Black is a New York Times bestselling author of YA fantasy books, series, and short stories.

I recommend this book only after reading the first two books. The info-dump in the first two chapters of this book gives a quick "previously on Curse Workers," but it's not enough to really understand all of the characters.

The one time I really wouldn't recommend the book is if someone didn't read the first two books.

Black Heart is the final book in the Curse Workers trilogy. It feels as if Holly Black was over it at the point when she wrote this book. There are several instances where details don't add up and some instances of sloppy editing.
In the beginning, it is firmly established that the seniors have their dorm rooms on the first floor, which Cassel uses to leave out the window several times. Later in the book, he goes upstairs to his dorm room.
The name of a character is spelled wrong, shamefully so on the same page where that same character has their name not spelled wrong.
There are parts of the story that hint at a possible different outcome for at least one character, but his story arch never comes full circle. He gets a page at the end that doesn't explain that character's motivation. Overall, the book does not live up to the promise of the first or even the second book. It is the shortest book of the three, which made it a quick yet unsatisfactory read.

I read all three books in hardcover version. I noticed that the first two issues, that I bought years ago and are signed by Holly Black for me have people on the cover while the last book has a newer cover without a person on it, just swirls of purple.

On the first book cover, it mentions "The Curse Workers." On the second and third cover, it only mentions the book title. There is no hint that the books are part of a series. That information is buried on one of the first pages. It appears as if there was some blowback (ha!) for the word "curse" and the publishers allowed the overall title to exist, but not prominently on the cover or sleeve.

In the third book, Cassel is distinctly described as having brown skin. The family doesn't know exactly where the brown comes from, but they think it might be Indian, Turkish, or some other naturally tan-skinned ethnic group. On the first book, the two young men modeling on the cover are obviously white. There are a lot of incongruities like that throughout that make the whole trilogy feel a little slapped together.

It was still a fun read overall.

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Created Feb 06, 2022 at 2:25pm • Submit your own review...