Review: Half Bad by Sally Green

Title: Half Bad
Author: Sally Green
Publication date: March 2014
Publisher: Viking Juvenile
Goodreads

From Goodreads:
Half Bad by Sally Green is a breathtaking debut novel about one boy's struggle for survival in a hidden society of witches.

You can't read, can't write, but you heal fast, even for a witch.

You get sick if you stay indoors after dark.

You hate White Witches but love Annalise, who is one.

You've been kept in a cage since you were fourteen.

All you've got to do is escape and find Mercury, the Black Witch who eats boys. And do that before your seventeenth birthday.

Easy.

Nathan lives in a witch society where every witch is divided between two: black witch and white witch. White witches are the good ones who run the government while black witches are those hunted and feared by the white witches. Everyone is either White or Black, but Nathan is the only exception. Having a dead White witch mother and feared Black witch father, Nathan lives his life bullied and hated by other White witches.

The first time I heard about Half Bad, I liked the premise right away. Black and White witches might be a classic idea, but we all love classic, right? ;) Half Bad was interesting and the idea was executed nicely. Nathan is also a very fascinating character with his neither good nor bad personality. I found myself warming up to him very fast.

Half Bad opens with second-person POV. The POV might not be for everyone, but I loved it. It’s strange, intriguing, and keep me reading. The opening of the book is very important since I’m the kind of person who would drop a book in a heartbeat when the opening doesn’t interest me. I have quite an expectation for Half Bad, and I’m pleased to say this book doesn’t disappoint me the slightest.

The bond between brothers is another aspect I really appreciate. It felt real, the compassion between Nathan and his brother Arran. Here’s hoping to see more of Arran in the future book! I found the romance in this book as the only thing that disappointed me. The romance between Nathan and Annalise is sweet and lovely, but it’s not enough to get myself invested emotionally. Maybe we will see more of Annalise in the second book and she will finally grow on me.

All in all, Half Bad was a very enjoyable read on witches and friendship. It is very easy to immerse yourself in the world of white and black witches. I can hardly wait for the second book, and fingers crossed it will be even better with more actions, friendship, and appearances of side characters I really adore!

I have to be given three gifts and drink the blood of my ancestors, the blood of my parents or grandparents. But apart from Gran there is only one person who can give me three gifts, only one person who can defy the Council, only one person whose blood will turn me from whet to witch.

I must go and find my father.

I’m eleven. Eleven is a long way off seventeen. And I have no idea how to find Marcus. I don’t have a clue how to begin to find him. But at least now I know what I have to do.

 

 4 cups of tea!

Perfect for fans of fantasy books.