by Holly Black
Description from the amazon:
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.
Holly Black has created a gripping tale of mobsters and dark magic where a single touch can bring love -- or death -- and your dreams might be more real than your memories.
Open to all.
Offer ends: January 30, 2011
TO DO:
Read the excerpt from this book and enter a brief quote from it in comments.
ALSO, include your email (if i don't already have it).
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Contest has ended - winner is here
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"I dreamed of a white cat, it leaned over me,inhaling sharply...". I liked that line.
ReplyDeletetwoofakind12@yahoo.com
I give my best grin. "Cheese," I say softly.
ReplyDeleteHehe cheeky buggar!
holz_twilight@msn.com
"I can't ask for help. I can't call anyone. If I do, then my carefully maintained pretense that I'm just a regular guy is going to fade forever."
ReplyDelete--->That line sounds promising...I can't wait to read the whole book. Thanks for the giveaway :)
judittten at gmail dot com
"I was just going to say that it's a good thing you don't sleep commando."
ReplyDeleteThank you for the giveaway! I really liked the excerpt.
precious_shusky@yahoo.com
Very promising: "No one knows I'm a murderer except my family. And me, of course.!"
ReplyDeleteThis family ain't no treat!
:)
You have my email!
;)
"Flattery will get you everywhere," Sam says. "Except, apparently, off a roof."
ReplyDeleteLIKE IT!
nina.happyendings@yahoo.co.uk
I know I should tell him that I'm going home, that he's about to become one of those lucky guys with a single, but I don't want to disturb my own fragile sense of normalcy.
ReplyDelete"It was my mother who taught me that if you're going to screw someone over -- with magic and wit, or wit alone -- you have to know the mark better than he knows himself.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing you have to do is gain his confidence. Charm him. Just be sure he thinks he's smarter than you are. Then you -- or, ideally, your partner -- suggest the score."
agcestrela AT gmail DOT com
Wow. This books is fantastic. I enjoyed reading it and everything about the characters and plot. It was a treat to read from a male perspective.
ReplyDeleteGreat quotes everyone!! You will not be disappointed with this title. * no need to enter me just wanted to sing some praise for this awesome book!!
"I'm getting the hall master."
ReplyDeleteThat never sounds like good news, does it?
Wow, the synopsis is impressive and quite original.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the giveaway. :)
Quote I liked:
It takes a lot of effort to pretend you're something you're not. I don't think about what music I like; I think about what music I should like. When I had a girlfriend, I tried to convince her I was the guy she wanted me to be. When I'm in a crowd, I hang back until I can figure out how to make them laugh. Luckily, if there's one thing I'm good at, it's faking and lying.
yvantis[at]hotmail[dot]com
"For me the curse is a crutch, but the con is everything."
ReplyDeleteThanks for the giveaway :)
Being a con artist means thinking that you're smarter than everyone else and that you've thought of everything. That you can get away with anything. That you can con anyone.
ReplyDeleteawesome give away ty
mortalsinn@yahoo.com
Being a con artist means thinking that you're smarter than everyone else and that you've thought of everything. That you can get away with anything. That you can con anyone.
ReplyDeletethrouthehaze at gmail dot com
"For me the curse is a crutch, but the con is everything."
ReplyDeleteIt's a good sign when we feel sorry that the chapter comes to the end and we can't read the rest of it!
Crossing fingers and toes for this book! ;)
It takes a lot of effort to pretend you're something you're not.
ReplyDeletelesly7ch(at)yahoo(dot)com
"I can't ask for help. I can't call anyone. If I do, then my carefully maintained pretense that I'm just a regular guy is going to fade forever."
ReplyDeleteentrelibros_blog at hotmail.com
Thanks for the giveaway!
ReplyDeletei liked this quote... "Nothing! Just that I was sleepwalking, not trying to kill myself. And if I wanted to kill myself, I wouldn't throw myself off a roof. And if I was going to throw myself off a roof, I would put on some pants before I did it."
jessica b
jecca.0104[at]gmail[dot]com
""You can always tie me to the bedposts," I say, but Valerio doesn't find that very funny."
ReplyDeleteOh, Cassel. XD
Thanks for the giveaway! christianchick52 at gmail dot com
I found this great quote from the chapter 2 excerpt
ReplyDelete"I like boys with a good appetite. All of you look so skinny, and in the magazines they talk about you starving yourselves like girls."
tanyainjville at yahoo dot com
"The last time I was in the headmistress's office, my grandfather was there with me to enroll me at the school. I remember watching him empty a crystal dish of peppermints into the pocket of his coat while Dean Wharton talked about what a fine young man I would be turned into. The crystal dish went into the opposite pocket."
ReplyDeleteGreat humour!
:)
goncalo(dot)mil(at)gmail(dot)com
"Nothing! Just that I was sleepwalking, not trying to kill myself. And if I wanted to kill myself, I wouldn't throw myself off a roof. And if I was going to throw myself off a roof, I would put on some pants before I did it."
ReplyDelete39(dot)5susy(at)gmail(dot)com
This was really good! I wasn't too interesting in reading this before, but now I am.
ReplyDeleteHere's a quote I enjoyed: "He gets the bigger laugh. I stay awake for the rest of the period, although several times I have to jab myself with a pen to do it." I remember having the same problem in school!
findjessyhere at gmail dot com
I like this one:
ReplyDelete" Being a con artist means thinking that you're smarter than everyone else and that you've thought of everything. That you can get away with anything. That you can con anyone. "
It's right at the end!
Took me a while to find a great quote, but now I want to read more!
educhico AT gmail DOT com
I liked :
ReplyDelete"I heard you've been having some problems with your girlfriend," Headmistress Northcutt says.
"No," I say. "Not at all." Audrey broke up with me after the winter holiday, exhausted by my moodiness. It's impossible to have problems with a girlfriend who's no longer mine.
spamscape [at] gmail [dot] com
"Don't be too sympathetic. Here's the essential truth about me: I killed a girl when I was fourteen. Her name was Lila, she was my best friend, and I loved her. I killed her anyway. There's a lot of the murder that seems like a blur, but my brothers found me standing over her body with blood on my hands and a weird smile tugging at my mouth. What I remember most is the feeling I had looking down at Lila -- the giddy glee of having gotten away with something."
ReplyDeleteWow how's that for trying to make me dislike a character off the bat!
angelshimmery At gmail DOT com
I think this one sounds funny
ReplyDelete"I used to sleepwalk," I say. "I haven't done it in a long time."
=)
darlyn225 at gmail dot com
"..someone's going to have to keep the books and pay out while I'm away."
ReplyDelete;-)
evie.werner@gmail.com
"She's probably trying to remember what's so hard. I have good grades. Play well with others."
ReplyDeleteSounds like a twisty tale full of humor
(\___/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")
alterlisa AT yahoo DOT com
http://lisaslovesbooksofcourse.blogspot.com
No one knows I'm a murderer except my family. And me, of course.
ReplyDeleteaikychien at yahoo dot com
Great contest!!! I've been absolutely dying to read White Cat. ^_^
ReplyDeleteI have no memory of climbing the stairs up to the roof. I don't even know how to get where I am, which is a problem since I'm going to have to get down, ideally in a way that doesn't involve dying.
Orchid
hauntingorchid (at) aol (dot) com
Cold makes my fingers numb. The adrenaline rush makes my brain sing.
ReplyDeleteuniquas at ymail dot com
""Cassel!" Ms. Noyes yells. "Cassel, don't jump! I know things have been hard..." She stops there, like she isn't quite sure what to say next. She's probably trying to remember what's so hard. I have good grades. Play well with others."
ReplyDeletecatarina(dot)magoito(at)gmail(dot)com
Which is stupid, of course. Things don't happen to people because they deserve them. Besides, I've done plenty wrong.
ReplyDeletemarlenebreakfield(at)yahoo(dot)com
A siren wails in the distance, drawing closer. My cheeks hurt from smiling
ReplyDeletecrazypplrok@gmail.com
Somnambulism isn't all that uncommon in kids, boys especially. I looked it up online after waking in the driveway when I was thirteen, my lips blue with cold, unable to shake the eerie feeling that I'd just returned from somewhere I couldn't quite recall.
ReplyDeletedr.strangelove.vs.citizen.kane
@
gmail.com
I can't make people love or hate instantly, like she can, turn their bodies against them like Philip can, or take their luck away like my other brother, Barron, but you don't need to be a worker to be a con artist.
ReplyDeleteSo intriguing! I want to know more. Thanks!
texas_gal45(at)hotmail(dot)com
I seldom walk back from the dining hall alone. Above the trees, their leaves the pale green of new buds, bats weave through the still-bright sky. The air is heavy with the smell of crushed grass, threaded through with smoke. Somewhere someone's burning the wet, half-decomposed foliage of winter.
ReplyDeleteMorganlafey86@aol.com
I give my best grin. "Cheese," I say softly.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great read. Thanks for the giveaway!
chickenherder@hotmail.com
""Cassel!" Ms. Noyes yells. "Cassel, don't jump! I know things have been hard..." She stops there, like she isn't quite sure what to say next. She's probably trying to remember what's so hard. I have good grades. Play well with others."
ReplyDeleteCassel sounds funny, just the way I like!
Thanks for the giveaway! ;)
milagp1(at)yahoo(dot)com(dot)br
"I don't even know how to get where I am, which is a problem since I'm going to have to get down, ideally in a way that doesn't involve dying."
ReplyDelete"I'm not sure that the picture of the wide-eyed zombie girl biting out the brains of senior douchebag James Page is part of Sam's homework, but if it is, his physics teacher is awesome."
I love it!!
eva.s.black[@]gmail[.]com
I chose the blurbiest qoute I could find; something that summed up what I think the main theme of the book is:
ReplyDelete"Here's the essential truth about me: I killed a girl when I was fourteen. Her name was Lila, she was my best friend, and I loved her. I killed her anyway."
zombiegirrrl21 at aol
Haha this part is quite funny:
ReplyDelete"The last time I was in the headmistress's office, my grandfather was there with me to enroll me at the school. I remember watching him empty a crystal dish of peppermints into the pocket of his coat while Dean Wharton talked about what a fine young man I would be turned into. The crystal dish went into the opposite pocket."
rain_orchid11 (at) yahoo (dot) com
"I can't ask for help. I can't call anyone. If I do, then my carefully maintained pretense that I'm just a regular guy is going to fade forever. Sleepwalking is kid's stuff, weird and embarrassing."
ReplyDeletesauvadeavelle at yahoo dot com