Half Bad (The Half Bad Trilogy, #1)
Author: Sally Green
Published: March 4, 2014 (Viking ebook)
January 13, 2015 (Speak paperback)
Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal
Other books in the series:
Half Lies (Half Bad #0.5) - November 2014
Half Wild (Half Bad #2) - March 24, 2015
Source: Library OverDrive
Sixteen-year-old Nathan lives in a cage: beaten, shackled, trained to kill. In a modern-day England where two warring factions of witches live amongst humans, Nathan is an abomination, the illegitimate son of the world's most terrifying and violent witch, Marcus. Nathan's only hope for survival is to escape his captors, track down Marcus, and receive the three gifts that will bring him into his own magical powers—before it's too late. But how can Nathan find his father when there is no one safe to trust, not even family, not even the girl he loves? (Goodreads)
At first it took me a little bit to get into the story and understand what was going on. It wasn't the use of third person, it was more of just what was going on. I liked the use of third person, and I kind of wish it had been used more. Later on when the story switches to first person, and there wasn't much dialogue going on, I didn't like the style as much. This might be just a personal thing. As soon as it got to Nathan's family, and we learn about how he lived with his grandmother, brother and his two sisters, that's when it got interesting. I loved reading about how Nathan got to this point, and how his oldest sister treated him.
The magical elements in the story aren't seen as much as you'd think because it's a book about witches. But how this world works is learned through Nathan, and at the rate that he learns about everything. I didn't mind this, because it let me understand Nathan better and how he doesn't quite understand it all either. I wasn't expecting there to be romance. I liked that the story didn't revolve around the romance, but instead added to the development of Nathan.
The middle of the book went a little slower for me, especially the part when he's with Celia. The story kind of rested there, and nothing was really happening. I think it's just because it was Nathan changing physically which maybe would come across better in a movie than in a book. Also I think there was a lot of Nathan's thoughts in this part, which reflects on what I mentioned earlier about the style of writing.
The last third of the book is where it picked up again. We meet a whole bunch of new characters just in that last part. Meeting new witches is exciting, because we learn that there are so many different kinds. It adds to the story, and it allows for other parts to develop. I'm excited to get to the next book. I can tell Half Wild is going to be better than Half Bad because of the characters, and the magic can be used a lot more since Nathan is well aware of it all now.
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