Welcome to Shelf Control — an original feature created and hosted by Bookshelf Fantasies.

Shelf Control is a weekly celebration of the unread books on our shelves. Pick a book you own but haven’t read, write a post about it (suggestions: include what it’s about, why you want to read it, and when you got it), and link up! For more info on what Shelf Control is all about, check out my introductory post, here.

Want to join in? Shelf Control posts go up every Wednesday. See the guidelines at the bottom of the post, and jump on board!

Title: Curse Workers (trilogy)
Author: Holly Black
Published: 2010 – 2012
Length: White Cat – 310 pages; Red Glove – 325 pages; Black Heart – 297 pages

What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black comes the “dangerously, darkly gorgeous” (Cassandra Clare) Curse Workers trilogy…

Cassel Sharpe comes from a family of curse workers, people who have the power to change emotions, memories, and luck with the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they’re also all criminals. Many become mobsters and con artists, but not Cassel. He doesn’t have magic, so he’s an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family—except for the small detail that he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.

Cassel has carefully built up a facade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his facade starts to crumble when he finds himself 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 older brothers, who are keeping secrets from him. As Cassel begins to suspect he’s an unwitting pawn in a huge con game, he must unravel his past, and his memories. To find the truth, Cassel will have to out-con the conmen.

How and when I got it:

I bought the three paperbacks many years ago — and yes, the gorgeous covers had a lot to do with it!

Why I want to read it:

It’s Holly Black! Of course I want to read these books!

I actually bought these books several years before reading one of my all-time favorite series, The Folk of the Air — but especially after reading those amazing books, I’m willing and eager to read anything and everything by this author!

The overall plot of the trilogy sounds terrific. I love the idea of being able to change emotions with a touch — it sounds like such a dangerous power to possess.

In case you’re interested, the three books of the trilogy are being released this coming December as an all-in-one edition. 992 pages!! Somehow, it seems a lot more intimidating to think about reading it that way. (And I way prefer the covers of the editions I have!)

What do you think? Would you read this trilogy?

Please share your thoughts!

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Want to participate in Shelf Control? Here’s how:

• Write a blog post about a book that you own that you haven’t read yet.
• Add your link in the comments or link back from your own post, so I can add you to the participant list.
• Check out other posts, and…

Have fun!