History Literature / TheCurseWorkers

* BalefulPolymorph: [[spoiler: Lila spends most of the first book as a white cat, having been transformed by a brainwashed Cassel.]]

Administrivia/NeedsABetterDescription.

%%** Also Phillip's family.
%%* EmotionControl: Emotion working.

%%* EquivalentExchange: 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.

%%* GambitPileup: The end of ''White Cat''.
%%* GrumpyOldMan: Cassel's grandfather, although he also qualifies at the CoolOldGuy.

%%* ItRunsInTheFamily: Working, although it does seem to sometimes occur out of the blue.

%%* MotiveRant: [[spoiler:Barron]] has a small one near the end of ''White Cat''.

%%* MemoryWipingCrew: Barron is one. He isn't happy about it.

* BalefulPolymorph: [[spoiler: Lila spends most of the first book as a white cat, having been transformed by a brainwashed Cassel.

%%* BalefulPolymorph: Lila.

%%* ConMan: Cassel is proud of his skill as such.

%%* ThePerfectCrime: Attempted by [[spoiler:Barron, Phillip and Cassel himself in the backstory.]] For the most part, it works.

%%* TouchOfDeath: Death working.

%%* AbusiveParents - Shandra Sharpe.
%%* AloofBigBrother - To some extent, Cassel sees Phillip as this.
%%* AmateurSleuth - Cassel. Subverted in that [[spoiler:he is directly involved in most of the crimes himself.]]
%%* AmbiguouslyBrown - Cassel and his family. Even ''they'' don't know what ethnicity they are.
%%* AnimalMotifs - Well, yeah.
%%* AssholeVictim - Many. [[spoiler:Cassel's forgotten assassination targets, the woman he frames for Phillip's murder, Phillip himself.]]
* AwesomeMcCoolname - Cassel and Barron, in comparison with their older brother [[SpecialpersonNormalName Phillip]]. Justified in that their father named Phillip, while their mom had creative control of the others.
%%* BadAssFamily - Cassel's, naturally.
%%* BadPowersBadPeople - Unfortunately assumed by portions of the general public about workers. [[TheMafia They're right]], to some extent.
%%* BalefulPolymorph - Lila.
* BanOnMagic - Magic has been illegal in the US since the 1930s. As with Prohibition, this lead to the rise of criminal syndicates built around an underground trade in magical services and the use of magic to aid in various criminal enterprises.
* BeingEvilSucks - Growing up in the mob, being a con artist and [[spoiler:being a secret assassin]] have led to Cassel being ridden with self-loathing and paranoia.
%%* BigScrewedUpFamily - Cassel's family well and truly qualifies. So does Lila's.
%%* BlackAndGrayMorality - Pretty much all the characters commit crimes at one point or another.
%%* BlackSheep - Cassel sees himself as this.
* BlessedWithSuck - All workers have [[PowerDegeneration blowback]] to varying extents, some of which can be crippling or even fatal. Having powers is as dangerous to the owner as it is to everyone else.
%%* BoardingSchool - Cassel attends one.
* CastFromHitPoints - Death work blowback withers a part of the worker's own body; physical work blowback makes the worker feel weak and sick.
%%* ChildhoodFriends - Cassel and Lila.

%%* ConMan - Cassel is proud of his skill as such.

* ConsummateLiar - Barron. [[spoiler: For good reason.]]
%%* DaddysLittleVillain - Lila to her father, depending on how you view their family.
%%* DeadpanSnarker - Cassel, particularly towards authority figures.
* DemotedMemories - In ''Red Glove'', [[spoiler:Cassel realizes that something he remembers as a scene from a movie is an actual memory that Barron tampered with.]]

%%* DysfunctionJunction - Cassel's family, due to both their criminal lifestyle and the effects of blowback.

%%* EmotionControl - Emotion working.
* EmpathicHealer - Physical workers can heal injuries and cure or mitigate diseases, but the blowback makes them weak and sick.
%%* EquivalentExchange - 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.
* EvilParentsWantGoodKids - Cassel's grandfather laments not having kept his daughter out of the mob. By contrast, said daughter actively worked (in every relevant sense of the word) to initiate her own sons into the life.
%%* TheFamilyThatSlaysTogether - Cassel's brothers seem to feel this way.

* ForYourOwnGood - [[spoiler:Everyone who was involved in hiding Cassel's power and assassination history from him insists that they did it to protect him.]]
%%* TheFunInFuneral - In Red Glove.
%%* GambitPileup - The end of ''White Cat''.
%%* GrumpyOldMan - Cassel's grandfather, although he also qualifies at the CoolOldGuy.

%%* HiddenWire - [[spoiler:Cassel]] at the end of Red Glove.
%%* IncurableCoughOfDeath - [[spoiler:Agent Yulikova]] suffers from it due to [[spoiler:heavy use of her physical working power]].
%%* ItRunsInTheFamily - Working, although it does seem to sometimes occur out of the blue.
* LateArrivalSpoiler - If you happen to read the dust-jacket to ''Red Glove'' before ''White Cat'' you're treated to the entire plot of the first book.
%%* LaserGuidedAmnesia - Memory workers can inflict this.
* LethalHarmlessPowers - Dream working sounds perfectly benign, but it can easily be used to cause someone to sleepwalk off a roof.
%%* LogicalWeakness - Blowback is directly related to the type of power that causes it.
%%* MafiaPrincess - Lila.
%%* MagicIsEvil - According to some politicians and some members of the general public.
%%* ManchurianAgent - [[spoiler:''White Cat'' tells the story of Cassel's figuring out that he is a variation on this.]]
%%* MemoryWipingCrew - Barron is one. He isn't happy about it.
* MissingMom - 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 [[spoiler: is out of prison at the end of White Cat and in Red Glove]].
%%* MotiveRant - [[spoiler:Barron]] has a small one near the end of ''White Cat''.
%%* MyBelovedSmother - Shandra Sharpe.

%%* ObliviousYoungerSibling - Cassel, due to [[spoiler:Barron editing his memory.]]
* OurNudityIsDifferent - In the US, at least, the custom of wearing gloves to prevent surreptitious magic has been in place for so long that bare hands have become mysterious and titillating.
%%* ThePerfectCrime - Attempted by [[spoiler:Barron, Phillip and Cassel himself in the backstory.]] For the most part, it works.

%%* PowerAtAPrice - Curse work has an equivalent "blowback."
* PowerLimiter - 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.
* RuleOfSeven - Seven types of magic.
%%* SiblingsInCrime - Despite Cassel not being aware of it.
%%* SaveTheVillain - Cassel to [[spoiler:Barron and to some extent Phillip]] at the end of ''White Cat''.

* SoapboxSadie - Daneca Wasserman, who proudly displays buttons expressing her feelings on various causes on her bag, leads the Wallingford branch of a worker rights youth group, and scolds Cassel for his indifference to politics.
%%* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome - [[spoiler:Phillip]] at the start of Red Glove.

%%* SympatheticMurderer - Ultimately, [[spoiler:Cassel.]]
%%* ThickerThanWater - Despite everything, Cassel still feels this way about his family.
%%* TouchOfDeath - Death working.

%%* UnspokenPlanGuarantee - At the ends of ''White Cat'' and ''Red Glove''.
%%* UrbanFantasy - The series. Magic is well and truly public knowledge.
* ViolinScam - Cassel needs to get a cat out of a shelter. He's under 18 and can't just adopt it, so his friend comes into the shelter claiming her expensive white cat is lost and offering a huge reward. Cassel then goes in and claims he has the missing cat, but will need a white cat for his little sister as a replacement. The shelter worker, thinking of the huge reward, is willing to skip the background check and give Cassel the cat, expecting Cassel to return later with the "missing" cat.
%%* WindsOfDestinyChange - Luck working.
%%* YouCouldHaveUsedYourPowersForGood - Nipped in the bud, as working is illegal despite the potential benefits of things like luck work.

* BadDreams - [[spoiler: about killing Lila]] haunt Cassel through half the first book [[spoiler: untill he discovers that he didn't kill her.]]

* AbusiveParents - Shandra Sharpe.
* AloofBigBrother - To some extent, Cassel sees Phillip as this.
* AmateurSleuth - Cassel. Subverted in that [[spoiler:he is directly involved in most of the crimes himself.]]
* AmbiguouslyBrown - Cassel and his family. Even ''they'' don't know what ethnicity they are.
* AnimalMotifs - Well, yeah.
* AssholeVictim - Many. [[spoiler:Cassel's forgotten assassination targets, the woman he frames for Phillip's murder, Phillip himself.]]

* BadAssFamily - Cassel's, naturally.

* BadPowersBadPeople - Unfortunately assumed by portions of the general public about workers. [[TheMafia They're right]], to some extent.
* BalefulPolymorph - Lila.

* BigScrewedUpFamily - Cassel's family well and truly qualifies. So does Lila's.
* BlackAndGrayMorality - Pretty much all the characters commit crimes at one point or another.
* BlackSheep - Cassel sees himself as this.

* BoardingSchool - Cassel attends one.

* ChildhoodFriends - Cassel and Lila.
** UnluckyChildhoodFriend: Cassel. Sort of.
* ConMan - Cassel is proud of his skill as such.

* DaddysLittleVillain - Lila to her father, depending on how you view their family.
* DeadpanSnarker - Cassel, particularly towards authority figures.

* DysfunctionJunction - Cassel's family, due to both their criminal lifestyle and the effects of blowback.
** Also Phillip's family.
* EmotionControl - Emotion working.

* EquivalentExchange - 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.

* TheFamilyThatSlaysTogether - Cassel's brothers seem to feel this way.

* TheFunInFuneral - In Red Glove.
* GambitPileup - The end of ''White Cat''.
* GrumpyOldMan - Cassel's grandfather, although he also qualifies at the CoolOldGuy.
* HiddenWire - [[spoiler:Cassel]] at the end of Red Glove.
* IncurableCoughOfDeath - [[spoiler:Agent Yulikova]] suffers from it due to [[spoiler:heavy use of her physical working power]].
* ItRunsInTheFamily - Working, although it does seem to sometimes occur out of the blue.

* LaserGuidedAmnesia - Memory workers can inflict this.

* LogicalWeakness - Blowback is directly related to the type of power that causes it.
* MafiaPrincess - Lila.
* MagicIsEvil - According to some politicians and some members of the general public.
* ManchurianAgent - [[spoiler:''White Cat'' tells the story of Cassel's figuring out that he is a variation on this.]]
* MemoryWipingCrew - Barron is one. He isn't happy about it.

* MotiveRant - [[spoiler:Barron]] has a small one near the end of ''White Cat''.
* MyBelovedSmother - Shandra Sharpe.

* ObliviousYoungerSibling - Cassel, due to [[spoiler:Barron editing his memory.]]

* ThePerfectCrime - Attempted by [[spoiler:Barron, Phillip and Cassel himself in the backstory.]] For the most part, it works.
* PowerAtAPrice - Curse work has an equivalent "blowback."

* SiblingsInCrime - Despite Cassel not being aware of it.
* SaveTheVillain - Cassel to [[spoiler:Barron and to some extent Phillip]] at the end of ''White Cat''.
** And for [[spoiler:Barron again]] at the end of Red Glove, considering he could have left him to the police.

* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome - [[spoiler:Phillip]] at the start of Red Glove.
* SuperRegistrationAct: Detractors of the mandatory hyperbathygammic testing proposition see it as a prelude to this.
* SympatheticMurderer - Ultimately, [[spoiler:Cassel.]]
* ThickerThanWater - Despite everything, Cassel still feels this way about his family.
* TouchOfDeath - Death working.
* UnspokenPlanGuarantee - At the ends of ''White Cat'' and ''Red Glove''.
* UrbanFantasy - The series. Magic is well and truly public knowledge.

* WindsOfDestinyChange - Luck working.
* YouCouldHaveUsedYourPowersForGood - Nipped in the bud, as working is illegal despite the potential benefits of things like luck work.

* BlessedWithSuck - All workers have [[PowerDegeneration blowback]] to varying extents, some of which can be crippling or even fatal.

* AManIsNotAVirgin - 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 DreamSequence he sees all his previous girlfriends who are all angry at him, because he used them. And there are many many many of them.

A series of YA novels by [[HollyBlack Holly Black]], co-author of ''Literature/TheSpiderwickChronicles''. It includes ''White Cat''[[note]]loosely based off the fairy tale [[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/aulnoy/1892/whitecat.html "The White Cat"]][[/note]], ''Red Glove'' and ''Black Heart''. The audio book of ''White Cat'' is also read by [[Film/TheSocialNetwork Jesse Eisenberg]].

* [[spoiler:BalefulPolymorph]] - Lila.

* [[spoiler:TheFamilyThatSlaysTogether]] - Cassel's brothers seem to feel this way.

* [[spoiler:ManchurianAgent - ''White Cat'' tells the story of Cassel's figuring out that he is a variation on this.]]
* [[spoiler:MemoryWipingCrew]] - Barron is one. He isn't happy about it.

* [[spoiler:SiblingsInCrime]] - Despite Cassel not being aware of it.

A series of YA novels by [[HollyBlack Holly Black]], co-author of ''Literature/TheSpiderwickChronicles''. It includes ''White Cat''[[note]]loosely based off the fairy tale [[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/aulnoy/1892/whitecat.html "The White Cat"]][[/note]], ''Red Glove'' and ''Black Heart''. The audio book of ''White Cat'' is also read by [[TheSocialNetwork Jesse Eisenberg]].

A series of YA novels by [[HollyBlack Holly Black]], co-author of ''Literature/TheSpiderwickChronicles''. It includes ''White Cat''[[labelnote:*]]loosely based off the fairy tale [[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/aulnoy/1892/whitecat.html "The White Cat"]][[/labelnote]], ''Red Glove'' and ''Black Heart''. The audio book of ''White Cat'' is also read by [[TheSocialNetwork Jesse Eisenberg]].

A series of YA novels by [[HollyBlack Holly Black]], the author of ''Literature/TheSpiderwickChronicles''. It includes ''White Cat''[[labelnote:*]]loosely based off the fairy tale [[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/aulnoy/1892/whitecat.html "The White Cat"]][[/labelnote]], ''Red Glove'' and ''Black Heart''. The audio book of ''White Cat'' is also read by [[TheSocialNetwork Jesse Eisenberg]].