Waiting on Wednesday: Black Glove by Holly Black

Waiting on Wednesday’s a feature hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine to highlight the books we just can’t wait to get our hands on.

This week the book I’m most looking forward to is:

Black Heart
by Holly Black
April 3, 2012

NOTE! If you haven’t read White Cat and Red Glove, DON’T READ THE SYNOPSIS. SPOILERS BE HERE. (Man, sometimes I miss LJ cuts)

Synopsis: Cassel Sharpe knows he’s been used as an assassin, but he’s trying to put all that behind him. He’s trying to be good, even though he grew up in a family of con artists and cheating comes as easily as breathing to him. He’s trying to do the right thing, even though the girl he loves is inextricably connected with crime. And he’s trying to convince himself that working for the Feds is smart, even though he’s been raised to believe the government is the enemy.

But with a mother on the lam, the girl he loves about to take her place in the Mob, and new secrets coming to light, the line between what’s right and what’s wrong becomes increasingly blurred. When the Feds ask Cassel to do the one thing he said he would never do again, he needs to sort out what’s a con and what’s truth. In a dangerous game and with his life on the line, Cassel may have to make his biggest gamble yet—this time on love.

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Now, you guys totally believe me when I say this week’s ‘Waiting on Wednesday’ has NOTHING AT ALL to do with the fact that I read White Cat/Red Glove last week...right?

Okay, yeah, it totally does, and I’m not fooling anyone. I seriously love Holly Black’s first two books, and I’m sure the third will live up to its predecessors. Usually I’m more of a fan of a female main character - nothing against the boys, I just bond more with a female protagonist. That, and often when women/girls are written as love interests for the boys, they don’t come off as a fully fleshed character. We could call it the ‘Ginny Weasley’ syndrome if we wanted to be snarky, but I won’t.

Cassel, however, is an exception to my general preference. I seriously love this character. He’s smart and thoughtful and completely messed up. He tries to do what’s best for his family and ends up screwing them over anyway. He desperately tries to keep up the con man front and makes friends in spite of it. He’s stuck in an impossible position, watched the girl he loves walk away from him, and...where to go now?

We knew that the deal with the Feds couldn’t possibly end up as perfect a solution as Cassel hoped, and I’m thrilled to see via synopsis that Black’s continuing her many shades of grey approach to her world. No one’s all good or all bad. The mobsters have an admirable aim at times, and the Feds are hardly the guys in white hats. It’s a level of complexity that’s not always achieved in novels (YA books are so not alone here), and it’s one I appreciate greatly.

So yes, Black Heart. Out next April. A mere 14 days before my birthday when I’ll be...let’s not think about that. I just want the book!