Although some may meet the introduction of another urban, paranormal young adult novel with a world-weary sigh, this is no ordinary example. White Cat, the first in Holly Black’s Curse Workers series, is a chilly, dark and devious book. Living in a world similar to ours, Cassel belongs to a family of Curse Workers, who are both magicians and mobsters. Cassel is uncursed, a straight kid in a crooked family, and every day carries the guilt of having killed his best friend three years ago. But is it just guilt that’s propelling him to almost sleepwalk off a building, haunted by a white cat with a message he can’t understand?

Nothing is as it seems in White Cat. Black edges towards perfection with this uncanny tale that’s part Harry Potter, part Sopranos. Full of a slimy, creeping kind of magic, plus knocks, twists and unreliable narration, this novel is a make-sure-all-your-doors-and-windows-are-locked, yet can’t-put-it-down kind of read.