This, to my dismay (utter and complete), is the last (noooo!!!!) book in the Curse Workers trilogy. I don't want it to be over. I really don't. But if it does have to be over, I am so glad that it's over with this book. You know how sometimes the trilogy is fantastic until you reach the last book and several layers of frigid effery later, you step out of the story utterly horrified, devastated (and if you are me, angry, very very angry)? No? Well maybe I have crappy taste but this has frequently happened to me. Anyway, this is not the case with Black Heart. Black Heart is an amazing conclusion to one of the slickest, sexiest and bad-ass-iest (in honor of it's awesomesauciness I made up a word to describe it) trilogy I have had the fortune of reading. Now usually, I am not a great fan of male protagonists. Oh I am sure they're cool and all but honestly? I'm a girl. I can empathize with girls and Harry Potter aside, boys are like aliens I can't fathom. (I don't even want to fathom them, they have cooties.) However, Cassel differentiates himself from the rest in a variety of different ways. But I do not want to rehash what I have already discussed in the reviews of the last two books.Let's discuss Black Heart. This was, perhaps, the most, I do not want to say sentimental because it wasn't, but rather, the most passion driven of the three. I like how Black made it possible to talk about love and feel about love without reverting to melodrama and sappiness. Oh and dude, cookies for her since there wasn't even a whisper of the word "soulmate." One of the biggest strengths of the Curse Workers trilogy is the realistic nature of its portrayal of supernatural events and activities. Does that make sense? We all know that the trilogy is fantasy but its execution is edgy and situated firmly in contemporary society with issues and concerns that have gone through a metamorphoses to better fit the world of the curse workers but nonetheless remain pertinent in a way that makes it extremely easy to relate to. And wow, yes, I know, convoluted sentence is convoluted. To elaborate, think about the whole deal with the Senator trying to pass laws against curseworkers. This smacks of discrimination and raises a whole lots of questions on what it means to be human and the nature of humanity. The novel asks, more successfully than others in the genre, about how far people can go before they can no longer be called people and if they can't be called people, do they still retain the same rights and freedoms that people take for granted. This is interesting stuff, you guys!It also talks about the nature of evil. Is it an inherited gene? Can you ever escape or run away from what history and your parents have condemned you to? Or is evil a reaction to society and its overbearing norms? I love books that entertain you and manage to ask questions that move beyond the momentary enjoyment and linger in your mind. The world building is ace but what cinches Black's success in this conclusion are her characterizations. She manages to keep her characters real. Flawed but redeemable. Bad but good. A whole host of contradictions doing the dance around each other. The book may be called Black Heart but all you'll see are shades of gray. The pace is fast, the plotting spot on and the ending made me jump up and down and squeal. Thank God I was hidden from the public's judging eyes. Ha. Also, I love the fact that Black does not tie up all ends neatly. She leaves the book with some questions scenting the air with possibilities and perhaps this is what has me hoping for a spin off but even if it is intentionally meant to give the book a sort of asymmetrical end (you'll know what I mean once you read it), Holly Black's Curse Workers has ensured its spot on my list of favourites. Girls like her, my grandfather once warned me, girls like her turn into women with eyes like bullet holes and mouths made of knives. They are always restless. They are always hungry. They are bad news. They will drink you down like a shot of whiskey. Falling in love with them is like falling down a flight of stairs.
