The Curse Workers

"No-one at home is ever going to forget that Cassel is a killer. No-one at home is ever going to forget that he isn’t a magic worker. And now he is being haunted by a white cat."

—White Cat blurb.

A series of YA novels by Holly Black, the author of the Spiderwick Chronicles. It includes White Cat, Red Glove and Black Heart (to be published in 2012). The audio book of White Cat is also read by Jesse Eisenberg.

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Tropes used in The Curse Workers include:

• A Man Is Not a Virgin - Particularly in Red Glove it's implied that Cassel's mother uses her powers to get many various girls to be attracted to him. Also, in a Dream Sequence he sees all his previous girlfriends who are all angry at him, because he used them. And there are many many many of them.
• Aloof Big Brother - To some extent, Cassel sees Phillip as this.
• Amateur Sleuth - Cassel. Subverted in that he is directly involved in most of the crimes himself.
• Ambiguously Brown - Cassel and his family. Even they don't know what ethnicity they are.
• Animal Motifs - Well, yeah.
• Awesome McCoolname - Cassel and Barron, in comparison with their older brother Phillip. Justified in that their father named Phillip, while their mom had creative control of the others.
• Badass Family - Cassel's, naturally.
• Bad Dreams - about killing Lila haunt Cassel through half the first book untill he discovers that he didn't kill her.
• Bad Powers, Bad People - Unfortunately assumed by portions of the general public about workers. They're right, to some extent.
• Baleful Polymorph - Lila.
• Big Screwed-Up Family - Cassel's family well and truly qualifies. So does Lila's.
• Black and Gray Morality - Pretty much all the characters commit crimes at one point or another.
• Black Sheep - Cassel sees himself as this.
• Blessed with Suck - All workers have blowback to varying extents, some of which can be crippling or even fatal.
• Boarding School - Cassel attends one.
• Childhood Friends - Cassel and Lila.
  • Unlucky Childhood Friend: Cassel. Sort of.
• Consummate Liar - Barron. For good reason.
• Daddy's Little Villain - Lila to her father, depending on how you view their family.
• Deadpan Snarker - Cassel, particularly towards authority figures.
• Dysfunction Junction - Cassel's family, due to both their criminal lifestyle and the effects of blowback.
  • Also Phillip's family.
• Emotion Control - Emotion working.
• Equivalent Exchange - Blowback works like this. The more you use your power, the more you're affected in the same area. For example, a luck worker that constantly decreases the luck of others will end up unlucky themselves.
• The Family That Slays Together - Cassel's brothers seem to feel this way.
• The Fun in Funeral - In Red Glove.
• Grumpy Old Man - Cassel's grandfather, although he also qualifies at the Cool Old Guy.
• Hidden Wire - Cassel at the end of Red Glove.
• It Runs in The Family - Working, although it does seem to sometimes occur out of the blue.
• Lethal Harmless Powers - Dream working sounds perfectly benign, but it can easily be used to cause someone to sleepwalk off a roof.
• Mafia Princess - Lila.
• Magic Is Evil - According to some politicians and some members of the general public.
• Memory-Wiping Crew - Barron is one. He isn't happy about it.
• Missing Mom - Subverted. Cassel's mom is absent for most of White Cat, due to being in prison. It doesn't seem to change her relationship with her children and she is out of prison at the end of White Cat and in Red Glove.
• Motive Rant - Barron has a small one near the end of White Cat.
• Murder Is the Best Solution - Both for making money and initially for getting Lila out of the picture.
• Oblivious Younger Sibling - Cassel, due to Barron editing his memory.
• The Perfect Crime - Attempted by Barron, Phillip and Cassel himself in the backstory. For the most part, it works.
• Power At a Price - Curse work has an equivalent "blowback."
• Power Limiter - Magic can only be used via skin to skin contact with the magic users hand and another person. Naturally everyone wears gloves to safeguard against this.
• Siblings in Crime - Despite Cassel not being aware of it.
• Save the Villain - Cassel to Barron and to some extent Phillip at the end of White Cat.
  • And for Barron again at the end of Red Glove, considering he could have left him to the police.
• Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome - Phillip at the start of Red Glove.
• Sympathetic Murderer - Ultimately, Cassel.
• Thicker Than Water - Despite everything, Cassel still feels this way about his family.
• Touch of Death - Death working.
• Unspoken Plan Guarantee - At the end of White Cat and Red Glove.
• Urban Fantasy - The series. Magic is well and truly public knowledge.
• You Could Have Used Your Powers for Good - Nipped in the bud, as working is illegal despite the potential benefits of things like luck work.